Visiting Sardinia ...
... or at least on our way
For the last couple of weeks we have travelled around Sardinia. We left Innsbruck in the beginning of September. We went via Vaduz, Lichtenstein and had coffee with friends we have not seen for a long time. It was so nice to catch up on family and life. We continued into Switzerland and drove south to the little village of Splügen where we stayed for the night. We had dinner at hotel Badenhaus and it turned out to be a real gourmet dinner.
The next day we drove over the mountain and Splügenpass into Italy. Serpentine roads stretched over the mountain. On the Italian side, going down in other words, there were about 60 curves. It took some time, and it is not my favourite kind of roads. We continued south in Italy and stayed for a quick lunch at beautiful Lake Como. Continuing southwards and after having checked out a few campings (very touristic and over full) we continued to Viareggio and stayed at a camper space in the harbour area. Quite primitive, but we enjoyed a good dinner at a restaurant along the shore.
Checking out the area we discovered that Giacomo Puccini had a house in the neighbourhood. We headed over there, had breakfast (cappuccino and croissant) at the café and visited his wonderful and personal house named Villa Puccini. It is situated by lake Massaciuccoli, in Torre del Lago, a part of Viareggio and he lived here from 1900 to 1921. The family, who came from a nearby village, spent their summers here around the lake, and in 1899 Puccini purchased the property. The house was renovated to become his permanent residence, and he wrote many of his operas here.
It is a very personally decorated house and the living room is decorated with his desk and piano where he used to work. There is also cosy area in front of the fireplace with a couple of armchairs for intimate talk. There is also a grand piano for more official functions, as well as many personal photographs. Unfortunately, it was not allowed to take photos.
Puccini died in Brussels in 1924 after a throat operation. His son Antonio turned the villa into a museum in 1925 and created a beautiful chapel in memory of his father. His parents, he and his wife and daughter are also buried there, as well as Puccini’s granddaughter Simonetta Puccini who established a foundation in memory of her grandfather.
This was one of those surprise visits that happen from time to time when you discover interesting attraction where you happen to be. But, we had an itinerary, and headed on towards Livorno where we stayed at a camper site inside the harbour. The next day, in the morning, we were heading for Sardinia.
The harbour is situated close to the old city, so we walked over there to have something to eat. We found a nice trattoria by a canal, enjoying both water, bridges and old buildings. As we were eating the sky opened and there was a heavy rainfall. We added a dessert to the dinner in the hope that the rain would cease. It slowed down and we ventured back to the harbour. However, on the way the roads were already flooded and we had to walk in around 10 cm high water to come back to the car. My shoes were totally wet, as was my clothes. I add a small video here to show you.
I think this will be all for now, but I will be back with an account of our time here in Sardinia.
Så backert Puccinis hus. Vi åket till Neapel och Scario 9-26/10. Har du några tips runt den regionen? Hur är vädret på Sardinien nu? Är vattnet ok att bada i temp?