Highlights of Tuscany–Heading Home

We said goodbye to the lovely staff at the hotel, I must say they have been really charming, friendly and helpful all week.
At 0815 the coach was waiting outside the hotel to take us to Viareggio to catch a train, the start of our journey home, our party was depleted slightly, two people had left us at Siena to continue their holiday in Italy for a bit and three Americans would be flying home from Florence airport.
We had to change trains at Genoa which gave us the opportunity to get something to eat on the station. The station is a real mixture of old and new and is situated right on the mouth of a tunnel. Italian railways spend a lot of time going through tunnels.

Beside platform one I spotted a train made up of old carriages and trucks. Unfortunately it was coupled to a modern engine, that would have been the icing on the cake if it had been a working steam engine. One of the trucks was carrying a gun carriage and several old rifles. Unfortunately I didn’t spot this until we were waiting for our train to Nice so couldn’t get any more information.

At Nice a coach was waiting to take us to our hotel for just the one night, we were greeted with nibbles and wine up on the hotel roof terrace and given information about the town. The hotel have managed to fit a small lift within the shaft of the original lift, the only problem was it could only accommodate 2 people.  
 

We have stayed in Nice before and this church is a very good landmark for spotting how far up the main street you are  to get back to the hotel.

The views from our third floor window weren't’ great but they did show the local architecture quite nicely.

      The next morning there was a coach to take us to the station, but it was only a small coach with no luggage hold so the driver insisted on taking all the passengers to the station first and then going back for the luggage and Kate while we stood outside the station. It would have been OK if they hadn’t missed a bag and had to do a third trip to find it. With the one way streets and traffic it would probably have been quicker to walk and get it. Thankfully Kate being well organised had us at the station in good time to catch our train to Paris. We were traveling first class on this part of the journey which was just as well as it was around 6 hours long, The coach was waiting to take us to Gare du Nord where we caught the Eurostar back to the UK, this one was on time. As it was well into the evening we had booked into the Euston Rd Premier inn, The staff there were the most friendly I have come across in the UK.
Next morning it was a Minicab across to Victoria Coach Station , this was frustrating with the traffic and then waiting for the mounted Horse Guards to pass, only to get behind 3 horse drawn open carriages heading for the back gates of Buckingham Palace. As our driver said, the newest emission free transport stuck behind the oldest .
Things didn’t end there, as our coach was late getting in due to the weight of traffic and our driver needed a break before his return journey to Norwich. When we did finally arrive in Norwich, the coach station was full of police cars, armed officers and dogs looking for someone who had robbed people armed with a knife.