Back from holiday – Beware the words “exclusive” and “Riviera”

Actually I should have posted this last week, as I’ve been back from our disappointing holiday for a week now. It has been the first holiday for us in over 2 years – the last time we’ve been on was our honeymoon in June 2007 and we spent a week in Ischia, which was great. So we thought to stick with Italy as a destination, after realising that Madeira might be a bit rainy and not necessarily a destination for younger people. We decided on the Tuscan Riviera, because I thought you could combine a bit of swimming in the sea with sightseeing trips to Pisa, Lucca, Siena and Florence. We chose Forte dei Marmi, which we renamed “Forte dei Money” – because it’s essentially an “exclusive” resort for celebrities, such as Andrea Bocelli, who owns a villa there, and rich people, mostly from Germany and Italy. There are not that many British tourists there. The resort itself is tremendously boring if you are not into designer boutiques and wasting money. There is little to do and see, apart from hiring a bike and ride around. If you are a cat lover – this place is definitely not for you. There are hardly any cats, but mainly dogs. In Ischia we met loads of friendly cats. I really missed Bobby like crazy.

 The biggest shock for us was actually the realisation that we had to pay for the use of the beach – you can only use it by renting loungers and umbrellas. The charges vary according to season and the most expensive cost about Euros 50! It’s not too bad if you have family, but for only two people sharing? The beach also looked incredibly dull and it was too hot – even in September. We only walked along it and when you looked inwards you could see the mountains.

The hotel we stayed in was a 4-Star called “Maribeau”, we requested a quiet room with a balcony and a view -what we got was the complete opposite. Our room was dark, on the ground floor next to the kitchen and dining area. It had a balcony but it had no view and there was no privacy as people walking along the path could look into our room. Needless to say we complained and two days later we moved one level up. And that room was bizarrely separated from the next room by a door. We couldn’t sleep at all the first night, because the German woman stayed up all night until about 3 to watch crappy German telly while moving furniture about and packing. I actually got up and knocked on her door to tell her to turn the telly off (in German). Didn’t really help that much. We should have told reception really (you can tell we rarely travel).

We were really exhausted after that night and wanted to go home. In the end the woman left the next morning and thankfully no-one else got booked into that room.

The good things about the hotel were the generous pool and the really delicious food.

The stress and the heat triggered a migraine and my holidays were truly over. Despite that we went on two day trips (note to self – avoid any tours which are guided, as they are rubbish, hard to follow and a waste of time). To Siena and San Gimignano, which was nice (apart from my migraine and the heat). And to Florence, which left a bad impression on both of us – overcrowded and filthy. I’ve been to Florence before when I was 18 and visited a language school there. I stayed 3 weeks and was homesick for whole time, but I had so much time on my hands that I got to know the place pretty quickly. Florence is not that big and it’s Duomo and other buildings quite mpressive.

The tour guide sounded more like the teacher of the Peanuts and went on for far too long. We finally found the Beaded Lily shop ( http://beadedlilyglassworks.com) I read about in Bead magazine and was keen to buy a few beads from them, as they are handmade. They even do courses and teach you how to make glass beads. I spend a little fortune on gorgeous beads. Unfortunately they were about to close the shop for lunch and we had not much time to come back later to watch them creating those beads.

 All in all this was a dreadful holiday – but at least I got my beads and we met some nice Brits who had a similar impression of the resort.

 For next year we decided to go in May/June instead of September and either go for a holiday where you learn a craft or to stick to islands, which have more interesting beaches. You holiday and learn.

Back home I was so happy to be reunited with Bobby and she has missed us too. She spent the nights during the whole week we were away sleeping on my side on the bed under the bed cover. She did this also on the first night of our return and I thought it was so cute that I didn’t dare push her away. Since our week away she has been much cuddlier. Just goes to show: absence makes the heard grow fonder and that goes for cats too.