Southern Corners 42 - Viareggio, Tuscany - Italy

 

Viareggio

Pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea

It is the foamy waves from the Tyrrhenian on one side and the stark white marble peaks of Massa Carrara on the other which give way for the nickname Pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The access to the sea has always been one of the primary characteristics of Viareggio, causing most of its ups and downs throughout history. Today it reigns as the second largest city in the province of Lucca, and during the season of Carnival and the summer months, its population explodes with visitors far and wide who come to stay at one of the many hotels, tempted by the colors, the energy, the sandy beaches and the delectable menu of fish.

Initially built as the port to the city of Lucca, competing with that of Pisa, the town of Viareggio didn’t really grow into the definition of a full-fledged city until the 1800’s where it started to take on a more permanent and residential feel about it. There are a little over 10km of sandy beaches between the private and public areas in this town along the coast of the Versilia though most of the public beaches are within the beautiful Parco Naturale Regionale Migliarino-San Rossore-Massaciuccoli.

www.discovertuscany.com

In the 20th century the first nucleus of the 3 km long “La Passeggiata” began to take shape, a wide road running parallel to the beach decorated with gelato stores, caffès and park benches in the “liberty style.” This is still the place to stroll for good restaurants, sandy beaches and local shopping. These were the very caffè that Giacomo Puccini would sit at and it was also the very place where inventors of the Carnival - Tuscany style met and dreamed up the idea of 4 weeks of floats and customs!

 

 

 One of the most captivating and wonderful examples of the local liberty architecture is the Gran Caffè Margherita: you could stop here for breakfast, a cocktail, lunch or dinner - food and drinks are always simply delicious ... even if they are a bit expensive.  But then you are also paying for the refined, sophisticated ambiance which will remind you of a country club during the 1920-30’s, when people like the musician Giacomo Puccini or the physician Guglielmo Marconi used to "hang out" at Margherita.

 

 

    “I find other countries have this or this, but Italy is the only one that has it all for me. The culture, the cuisine, the people, the landscape, the history. Just everything to me comes together there.”

— Frances Mayes - American novelist, memoirist and professor

 

 

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more of my posts about: Southern Corners

Linked with:   Skywatch Friday - Image-in-Ing - AWWW Monday - Through My Lens - H2O-Thuesday 

Im Schatten

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"Im Schatten" zum Thema des Monats auf Défifoto. 

Insel Fuerteventura, Sonnenaufgang - weitere Posts -> hier 

Mühlen Museum, Gifhorn - weitere Post -> hier

Porquerolles, Côte d'Azur - weitere Posts -> hier

Menorca, Balearen - Spanien, weitere Posts -> hier

Park Rauischholzhausen - Marburg, Hessen 

 Wo Außen und Innen gleich, ist Wissens Unendlichkeit, 

wo Schatten und Licht identisch, ist der Weisheit Unendlichkeit.

Milarepa, 1040 - 1123

weitere Verlinkungen mit SkyWatchFriday - ShadowShotSunday 

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Southern Corners 34 - Fuerteventura Island, Canaries

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Do you know this special feeling of the first glance at long-awaited destination? I love it so, so much, and I'm sure you too. 

Seeing the dark and light beaches, the blue sea with dancing white waves again is a very special moment.

And driving into a gorgeous sundown is the cherry on the cake, isn't it? 

Fuerteventura that means silent days, full of sun and bright African colors. The great West Sahara is quite near, and the constant winds brings a lot of sand from there to the island. 

 

 “The sea! the sea! the open sea! The blue, the fresh, the ever free!”

– Bryan W. Procter

We have visited the island very often, and it's wonderful to see the beautiful small villages inland. Lovely restaurants and great views!

 

The island has a lot of wonderful valleys and spots to discover. 

 

  Skywatch Friday - Image-in-Ing - AWWW Monday - Through My Lens

These impressions are taken in 2019 during our last visit to Fuerteventura, Canary Islands - Spain. I can't wait to visit this gorgeous spot again. 

 

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Southern Corners 25 - Menorca's Silence

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  “I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. 

It has a quality and a dimension all its own.”

― Chaim Potok, The Chosen

  

Menorca is one of the marvelous Spanish Balearean islands located in the Mediterranean Sea and if you can visit this gorgeous spot during the pre-or after-season. It's incredibly beautiful and silent and it's easy to discover wonderful places only on you alone. 

Skywatch Friday - Our World Tuesday - Image-in-Ing - Travel Tuesday - Through my Lens 

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Southern Corners 23 - Viareggio, Tuscany - Italy

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember 

and remember more than I have seen.” 

~ Benjamin Disraeli

For more of my posts about Italy! 

Skywatch Friday - Our World Tuesday - Travel Tuesday -

Image-in-Ing - Through my Lens No. 289.- Weekend Reflection

Southern Corners 5 - Fornells, Menorca

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Fornells is undoubtedly one of Menorca’s prettiest villages. It’s an old fishing village set in a vast protected bay with a castle at the entrance, and well known for its gastronomy.

Fornells is the temple of the lobster stew par excellence. There, the chef David Coca makes locals, residents and tourists enjoy the star dish of the Minorcan cuisine from a two-storey fisherman’s house with beautiful views of the bay.

Enjoying a stroll along the promenade under the palm trees at sunset is wonderful and romantic experience.

Skywatch Friday - Our World Tuesday 

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Southern Corners 3 - Porquerolles

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The island of Porquerolles, France is one of these places on earth which has become a part of my heart. I know this lovely island for more than 20 years and it hasn't changed its beautiful face.

Located in the Gulf of St. Tropez at the heart of Provence and French Rivera. Here you can see how near ( 5km) the mainland is.

You can reach the island by ferries and shuttles and had to leave your car at the mainland. Or you take your boat ... I think this car-less situation is one of the secrets of the beauty of Porquerolles.

the Telegraph wrote:

Granted, it's a summer crush in the day-time island village. So take a bike, or a pair of legs (the island is car-less), and make for the Plage Notre-Dame. This is the white-sand, commerce-free, pine-fringed, and herb-scented Med beach about which you dreamed all winter in front of the gas fire. The clever thing is to stay over on the island so that, when the last day-trippers have ferried away, you may share balmy Med evenings with the discerning fewer.

.. and we stay and enjoy some peaceful days in September 2015 - we have to refresh it.

Skywatch Friday - Our World Tuesday