This morning we had to say goodbye to Nice make our way out of France as Italy was eagerly awaiting our arrival. Having already visited Monaco we decided to get on the toll roads and get some kilometers under our belts, there were nearly 300 of them to get through, before turning off at the town of Menton so we could cross the border next to the ocean. The border crossing was swift, the street signs simply change language, so we pushed on down the coast road with the aim of stopping for lunch in San Remo.


The coast road here was quite different to the riviera drive, this was a slow push through heavy traffic as we made our way towards our lunch stop. Pulling up at a beach side cafe/restaurant we figured we should have pasta, given that we were in San Remo, which we enjoyed while taking in the views of the beach surrounding us.

It was now about making up some time, the quick toll roads out of Nice had been negated by the slow crawl along the coast from Menton to San Remo, so we set the satnav and hit the highways again to take advantage of the 130kph highway speed limit. With all the traffic moving at these speeds it still feels perfectly safe, particularly as cars only move into the left lane to overtake and quickly tuck back into the main traffic stream. With nobody hogging the "fast lane" it all moves incredibly smoothly and we were able to make good time for the rest of the drive.

We arrived at our hotel with a few hours of daylight left so we decided to have a look at what La Spezia had to offer. A stroll down the marina to get ferry timetables for tomorrow followed by a walk through the shopping district which is in the heart of the old town.


We had a strange experience at dinner tonight. Choosing a nice little restaurant to treat ourselves to a good Italian meal we were intrigued by the 90's soundtrack they had playing. All the hits from the 90's we popping along in the background of this nice Italian restaurant. We reminisced about the very different times it represented in our lives.......