A magical Meditteranean vacation - the Italy road trip COMPLETED - Page 30 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Friday 18 July – part two: is this pedestrianized?
We ended up in Piazza Antelminelli in Lucca by accident, and we weren’t sure if it was pedestrianized or not, but heck, we were here, so we made the best of it, and at least got some photos, including of Lucca’s cathedral.
We managed to make our way out, and Mark decided to give it one last go, looking for parking, this time following the signs for visitor parking. Well, us and the rest of the world! I guess had we arrived at 9:00am, we’d be fine, but we were getting there at 11:30am, and we weren’t fine. There was just nowhere to park, so eventually we gave up. It would’ve been nice to have walked around, but at least we’d seen some of the city from the car, which is something…
We headed back towards the motorway, meeting these guys on the way…
Once we were on the motorway, the scenery was pretty impressive again…
I requested a restroom stop at the next set of motorway services, as I had planned to go in Lucca, and well, we all know how that worked out… Let’s just say these weren’t particularly pleasant, but needs must etc…
Back on the road again, there was more stunning scenery…
… then we started to enter marble country, near La Spezia, where we’d docked with Disney all those years ago on the inaugural Med cruise that had started off this wonderful adventure together.
We all marvelled at how far away La Spezia is from Florence. Well, no wonder they were rushing us all around like mad things when we made it there!
We saw this amazing village, perched on a mountain top just outside La Spezia…
Then we were heading into La Spezia itself. None of us had particularly fond memories of it as a city. I certainly don’t remember it being particularly beautiful, but I have to say that today we saw a different side to it.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
It's crazy, isn't it, that Florence is included in Med cruises, since it's nowhere near a port! I guess it doesn't make sense to go to Italy without seeing Florence, but it does make for a very rushed day and only a cursory visit to Florence, which really isn't right. Much better now doing the region at your own pace.
It's crazy, isn't it, that Florence is included in Med cruises, since it's nowhere near a port! I guess it doesn't make sense to go to Italy without seeing Florence, but it does make for a very rushed day and only a cursory visit to Florence, which really isn't right. Much better now doing the region at your own pace.
Definitely! When I planned this trip, that was one of the first things I knew I wanted to do - I wanted to go back to Florence and spend more time there, as you're right, it was a very rushed day and we didn't really get to see the place, but I do understand them putting it on itineraries. It's one of those places you have to see when you go to Italy!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Soon we were heading out of La Spezia again, and climbing up above it. Mark managed to find somewhere to park, and we hopped out to get some photos:
We went a little higher still, and got even more impressive views…
Soon we were arriving in Cinque Terre…
At first, the views weren’t that amazing, but wow, did that change shortly afterwards!
The stupid thing was that there weren’t really many stopping points, and all too often, where they did have them, they’d be somewhere with no view. It was such a shame, as it was something they could’ve easily rectified a long time ago… We did find this wonderful place, with an amazing view down to the cove below – look at the colour of the water!
I was fascinated by the islands off shore and the amazing terracing we found at our next stop…
The views as we drove along were pretty impressive too…
We headed into the first village along the coastline, Riomaggiore, which my guidebook told me had lot of seafood restaurants, so it sounded good for lunch.
It looked beautiful, but sadly it wasn’t to be. We got down as far as we could, and then we sat in a long line of cars to get into the car park, which was full. We waited a few moments, but it became clear no-one was leaving, so we gave up. We figured we’d carry on along the coastal road, having already seen some restaurants on our drive. Surely there would be more?
I see that's a military area. That's a sight to see - those giant ships!
Cinque Terre is postcard perfect. Wow! How odd though that there weren't good views where the pullout areas were though. I could look at that blue water all day.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
About This Page: 
Love the gate you entered through. Very cool!
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I guess had we arrived at 9:00am, we’d be fine, but we were getting there at 11:30am, and we weren’t fine. 
There was just nowhere to park, so eventually we gave up. It would’ve been nice to have walked around, but at least we’d seen some of the city from the car, which is something… 
It was such a shame, as it was something they could’ve easily rectified a long time ago… We did find this wonderful place, with an amazing view down to the cove below – look at the colour of the water! 
Linear Mode
