And so we'd come to the last destination on
our whirlwind Tuscany tour - the coastal town of Viareggio. Our
accommodation here was a small summer apartment with two identical
bedrooms and very beachy vibes. My morning in Viareggio began well with
a tasty Nutella filled brioche from Puccinelli Pastry Cafe, but went a bit off the rails
from there.
I made my way towards the
beachfront to catch a glimpse of the sea, but found it completely
blocked off. Not a surprise, as it was the day of Carnevale, but the
road wasn't due to shut until 9am. It was 8:45. Could I go through just
for a look at the sea? Not without a €22 ticket. The main reason of
coming to Viareggio was to see the sea, and now we were being told we
couldn't do so without paying for it?
With no other options, we decided to buy tickets, and through we went, although it turned out that the ticket only really gave you access to a section of the promenade that must've been less than 1km long, but encapsulated pretty much all of the public beach. In fact, arguably the best part of the beach, the Molo pier, was outside of the ticketing area, so we could've gone for free, but alas. The next few hours were spent walking in and out of the ticketed area, sitting by the beach, and making the most of our ticket by checking out all of the floats that would come to life for the parade later that afternoon.
It's no surprise that one of my favourite things about visiting new places is trying the cuisine there, and whilst many might think Italy is just 'pizza' and 'pasta' (guilty), there is so much variety even between these two types of food. I'd been told that a pasta shape called pici was famous from this region, and had been looking out for it as we moved through Florence, Lucca, and Pisa. It was in Viareggio that I finally found it, at a restaurant on the main promenade called Fanatiko. The dish, cacio e pepe, is a simple one with cheese and pepper, and was very pleasant. Glad to have ticked it off!
As the parade drew closer, the area got busier, so we found a spot by the side of the road and waited for the festivities to begin. With three loud bangs that sounded like gunshots (whose idea was that?!), the parade kicked off. Over the next two hours, we watched dancers and performers make their way along the road ahead of huge floats. They were so intricately detailed, with manually controlled moving parts. We saw floats with the likes of an Italian singer dressed as the Pope, Don Quixote, a giant ant, a polar bear, Joe Biden riding on an American flag buffalo, dragons, and so much more. They were all so carefully crafted, and incredible to watch come by, almost touching the sides of the buildings as they went.
As the last few floats passed us, we saw that it was already time to head back to the station for our return home, and even that was something special. Cruising along past La Spezia and Cinque Terre, we watched the sun set over the ocean with beautiful colours stretching across the skyline. And there you have it - a four day whirlwind tour of Tuscany. I can't wait to see what's next.
And there we have it - the final instalment in The Tuscany Diaries (at least until next time...) I hope you enjoyed reading all about them - have you visited Tuscany? What areas would you recommend? I'd love to hear them - drop me a message on Twitter @CiarasCountry, where you can also stay up to date on all of my future travel adventures. Thanks so much for reading!
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