Day 21 : Thursday 26 September 2019 : Portofino kayak tour Today was a bit of a free day and the sun is out so we decided to do a kayak tour (€210) back to Portofino in the afternoon. ☹ Not as calm as it has been previously but the water is so clear, inviting and warm. The kayak was great, Portofino was so much quieter but 2 hours later I was seasick!. Yep, on a kayak no less, turns out that the girls weren’t far behind me. Still had a great time. Can’t tell you how beautiful the water is. Had to stop and settle the tummy, so we stop at the bar at Paraggi Bay with beautiful views, what else would you do? But I had to have a coke, no wine ☹. Morning ... read more

Day 19 : Tuesday 24 September 2019 : Portofino We wandered into the heart of Santa Margherita, and thought about bussing it to Portofino, but decided by the time we worked it out, we could already be there. Besides, it’s another beautiful day in the land of Italy and the sun is shining off the water. Okay, long walk, but so worth it. Paraggi Bay on the way to Portofino was magnificent and should never be missed. If I had to do it over, its definitely worth a swim…just dive on in. Never seen such inviting water, so deep, calm and clear azure blue. You just want to jump in. We decided we would swim on the way back, but you should never wait, take the moment! Magnificent walk over the hill and through the trees ... read more

Day 17 : Sunday 22 September 2019 : Riomaggiore and Manarola The rain has come. More like drizzle but we’re taking the train to Riomaggiore (€16 OW). Sensational and very hilly. Strangely quiet. Not many places open on the main street, (not sure if it’s because it’s Sunday or the rain) but morning tea is great, calamari! Riomaggiore is everything that you see in the photos. The photos of the Cinque Terre are mostly of Riomaggiore. Its easy to see. There’s some dark clouds hanging around. We walked around through to the little beach. On the way there were some big waves washing over the rocks, and the ferries stopped operating, must be expecting rough seas. Walked right around the bend to the little pebble beach (Riomaggiore beach). Hard to believe that we were swimming yesterday. ... read more

Day 15 : Friday 20 September 2019 : Florence to Pisa to Vernazza Off we head on the train (AUD102 prebooked) to the Cinque Terre with a stop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Getting on the train was the most difficult as we didn’t know if we had to get our tickets validated. Started to worry, but its too easy if you’re tickets are pre purchased. Just walk on through and find the platform. We get off at Pisa (yay – the correct stop) and head to the Leaning Tower. Dumped our baggage at the station drop point (€20) and headed off, quite a walk but glad we went and saw it, we were so close. It’s really quite cool to see. Heaps of photos….yes you have to push it over in a photo. Head ... read more

Day 13 : Wednesday 18 September 2019 : Tuscany Tour We headed off on our tour (€240) and the day is overcast, our first cool day. We visited Sienna first which we loved. The walled cities are just so endearing, with cobble stone roads and an old worldly look. Siena has extensive views over the green Tuscany landscape. The Piazza del Campo is huge and was famous for hosting the Palio horse race. It is a bare back horse race that last about 75seconds. All they get is a banner. Onto have lunch and wine tastings. Even the girls get wine tastings so Graham and I had double ? . The host was very interesting and we learnt about the limited Chianti Classico region. Then to the Castle Monteriggioni which was really gorgeous. Quite tiny but ... read more