Di and Cam

... The second half of our summer holiday was seeing some of Italy - the Cinque Terre, Pisa and Florence to be precise. After leaving Nice by train we travelled into Italy. Genoa was our first stop where we were meeting our train to Le Spezia. As our train was late into Genoa our visit literally consisted of running from the train to the ticket machine, buying our tickets to Monterosso al Mare, then running to the Monterosso al Mare train which we made with only about a minute to spare (thus we can't give you any tips on Genoa).

On arrival in Monterosso al Mare we changed and headed to the second village in the Cinque Terre, Vernazza, where we were staying. The Cinque Terre ('Five Lands') consists of five little villages on the coast of Italy between Genoa and Le Spezia. These small villages (which have been declared a natural history site) are all built into the hillside and cliff top. For hundreds of years these were sleepy fishing and farming towns but now cater for the many tourists that visit throughout the year.

Before I desribe what we did I have to say we absolutley loved the Cinque Terre and would highly recommend it to anyone

On arrival we found our little house that would be our base for the next two days. We then explored our little village Vernazza. What we discoved was an old town oozing in character. The pictures below are of Vernazza's main street, its little beach and the whole village.

The next day we got up early and headed out to walk the track between all the villages. We thought this was actually harder than it was described in the guide books. It took about 8 hours all up but that included lots of little stops and a delicious pizza lunch at Corniglia. The photos below are Cam stopping along the way to the first village (Monterosso al Mare), grape pickers (and the little train that carries the buckets up and down the hillside), Monterosso al Mare, and Manarola:

After soaking up as much of the Cinque Terre as time allowed, we were off on the train again - this time to Pisa (via La Spezia). Diana's Dad, Rob, picked us up from Pisa station and we headed off to Musigliano where he had rented the top floor of a villa for the week.

Ron and Barb stayed for one night, and after the cliche photos of the Leaning Tower they headed off to Rome and then Croatia.

We spent the week hanging out with Rob and Fiona, visiting Florence on several days and Livorno (a port city where Di's great grandparents came from).

Florence is a beautiful city, we walked around and saw alot of the usual sights (Piazza Republica, the Duomo and cathedral, Michaelangelo's 'David', many bridges (including the Ponte Vecchio) and we also drove up to Piazza Michaelangelo for an awesome view of the entire city. The photos below are a scooter line-up, a replica statue of David in Piazza Republica, EURO8 icecreams(!), the Ponte Vecchio, the view from Piazza Michaelangelo and our Bistecca al Forno (a huge t-bone steak - a specialty in Florence):

As you may be able to tell, we've left out quite a lot of detail of this trip. Suffice it to say that both France and Italy were fantastic and we plan to spend a lot more time in both countries while they are so close to 'home'!

Until next time...