When we decided to build our new home, we decided that we really wanted a master bathroom with lots of marble. So, what do you do when you know you are going to end up in Italy with some time on your hands? Why go to the source of where the marble comes from, Carrara, Italy – of course! I decided since we are going to visit the town, we would stay for a few days. Read on to learn more about the time we spent in the town, and about our marble mine adventure.
Finding a Marble Mine Tour
First and foremost, the marble mine was the main reason I wanted us to visit Carrara. I had a feeling we would talk about how we went to see where the Carrara marble, that is used by so many people in their homes, came from. I went in search of how to do this, and found what looked like a fabulous tour on Trip Advisor (one of my go to travel sources). I was really excited when, after only a few emails back and forth, I was able to confirm our tour within a few days.
In case you’re wondering, the tour wasn’t very expensive, and I was glad we booked it on a Sunday (when there wasn’t much traffic on the roads) I’ll get more into that in a little bit.
Hotel Carrara
When trying to decide where to stay, I booked Hotel Carrara for our arrival, which is right across the street from the train station. It’s not a fancy hotel by any means, but it was clean and easy to get to when you are using the train for your only mode of transportation. In case you are wanting to check it out, you can find it at www.hotelcarrara.eu. It’s an older hotel, and not by any type of night life or down in the midst of action. So if that’s what you’re looking for, this is not the place for you. It’s not too far to the beach from the hotel, but it’s a pretty good hike if you want to walk, which is exactly what we did! We did take a taxi to the downtown area one day, and it was definitely worth it!
As a side bonus, since we didn’t have a car, I communicated this to the folks with the marble mine tour and they told me they would meet us outside the train station to pick us up.
Where to Eat Near the Hotel
Something you should know if you book this hotel, there really isn’t a whole lot to do or restaurants really close, and the town is a bit aways. However, we were very thankful that the daughter (at the front desk) gave us recommendations for dinner both nights. Believe it or not, there is a restaurant to the right of the train station – it doesn’t look like much, but we managed to get a reservation our first night and were very pleasantly surprised at how wonderful it was, even though we sat at a table at the back that looked like an overflow area. The saying “never judge a book by the cover” definitely came to mind that night!
The next night, they recommended another little restaurant that was a short walk through from the hotel. Amazingly enough, we were the only ones in there that night. They didn’t speak much english, and we told the owner to surprise us for our dinner. Beware when you do that, we had NO idea they would proceed to bring out enough food for an army! And all I can say is WOW. Everything was amazing, I didn’t want to stop eating, but was worried I may not make it back to the hotel after eating so much!
Downtown Carrara and the Open Market
Downtown Carrara is really charming and has a ton of history. If you get a chance, make sure to take time to explore the town. It was really relaxing for us to walk around and take in the statues as well as all the beautiful architecture the city of Carrara has to offer.
We were really lucky to find a fantastically huge open market while we were there. It had almost anything you can imagine to stock your home or pantry with. We spent a few hours walking around looking at all the food and wares for sale, and even bought lunch from a street vendor that was amazing!
Our Marble Mine Adventure!
Needless to say, we got up that morning pretty excited to see what we were going to discover on our tour. When the vehicle came, to say I was surprised would be an understatement. It was a jeep, and I think my mouth dropped to the ground when the driver opened the very back where there were two wooden seats (one on each side) with no seat belts. Many things were going through my head, mainly how the heck do we hold on sitting sideways in the back of a vehicle with makeshift seats, but we hopped in and off we went!
Everything started out just great. The view from the back was wonderful, and the road wasn’t even that bad. We got to the bottom of the mountain, and were told that this was the first stop. It was a gift shop that also had restrooms since there wouldn’t be any after we headed up the mountain. After finishing in the gift store, we all piled in and took off for the second part of our adventure up the mountain. And when I say adventure, I really mean it!
Oh boy, was it something. More than once we looked at each other and said “why did we do this?” We were going straight up the mountain, and the road was barely wide enough for one vehicle, but we were told that on every other day of the week (weren’t we lucky it was a Sunday when they take the day off) there were cars and trucks going up and down the road at the same time. Oh my!!! Remember what I told you? We were in the very back of the vehicle holding on for dear life! I was so scared the back was going to open and we would topple out and over the side of the mountain (that had no guardrails and was just a rocky dirt road).
We finally got to a stopping point and I’ve never been so happy to get out of the back of that truck and on to solid ground. But I have to say, the view was amazing!
We learned a little about how they cut the marble, and got to walk around before getting back in the truck. Just when we thought we were heading back down the mountain, the truck turned and headed up even higher! I was holding on for dear life, with my head down so I couldn’t see how high we were, and that there was a drop off out my window that was making my stomach drop! Yes, as you’ve probably guessed by now, I am extremely afraid of heights!
Needless to say, we made it to our second destination which was mainly to point out how far up the mountain they have to go to mine the marble. We finally headed down, and although I was petrified during most of the trip – I wouldn’t change the experience. Once in a lifetime for me!
