From France onwards to Italy – as a stopover I had booked a place in Finale Ligure, though a bit outside of town up in the mountains. Luckily Fred took over the mountain road – steep, curvy, that is nothing for my nerves. I had read that the parking was a short walk from the accommodation, but the photos on booking.com had instantly convinced me. Once we arrived at the top, we walked off in the wrong direction with all our bags. We ended up in a small, picturesque village. We thought we had found the key safe of our accommodation and were puzzled that the code did not seem to work. Then the courtyard slowly filled with people dressed up for a celebration, and we had wandered right into a wedding venue. At the latest when the bride and groom appeared, it became clear that something was not quite right. After Fred took over the navigation, we finally found the place. It was a simple room with a bathroom, but the view from the window delivered exactly what the photos had promised.
In the late afternoon we set off to explore the surroundings a bit. Down to the next little town there was a trail through terraced plantations on the hillside – a half-hour walk, the path lined with huge aloe vera plants. After a short stroll we turned back and went looking for a restaurant. A bit further up from our accommodation we found the restaurant of our dreams: atmospheric lighting and a breathtaking view over a sea of city lights along the coast below. The only seats left were on the backup "here you only get pizza" bench. Exactly our style. The pizza and the wine were delicious. A really lovely evening.
The next morning, once back down at the coast, we jumped into the sea one last time, then headed home. We made one final stop at Lake Garda (but the hotel was rather disappointing, so there is no text about that).
