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Published: December 20th 2011
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The Leaning Tower of Pisa
I'm holding it up with my legs! Florence
Three things I couldn’t escape in Florence; rain, sickness and statues. I was in the vicinity of the famous ‘David’ and although my energy levels were low, I still managed to walk to the city’s highest view point Piazzale Michelangelo. Here I stood side by side with David’s double however the man himself was housed in Galleria Dell Accademiaand I wasn’t feeling up to queuing for an hour or two. Plus if I didn’t tell you the truth who would have known it was his fake twin!
A look inside one of the world’s largest cathedrals, the Santa Maria del Fiore Duomoand walk through the markets lanes of leather goods, I learnt the art of telling the difference between real leather and fake and it’s not that easy!
Of all the places I have been, I think I timed being sick in Florence quite well. Although it was a nice place to see, the museums were not at a loss for me not coming and the rain was a good excuse to sample some little Italian delights and have some down-time at the
Santa Maria del Fiore Duomo
..and a little red package of Italian treats hostel. My role as ‘Full time traveller, part time blogger’ has kept me busy and I think another day off was just what the Doctor would have ordered!
Just a short 2 night stay and I was back on board the big blue bus. We stopped at the leaning tower of Pisa, a couple of hours outside of Rome, to challenge the craziest pose; pushing it over – done a million times, holding it up with our feet – surely done before and eating pizza for breakfast – well I think that’s been conquered as well. The happy snap creativity will come later!
The Five Villages
Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the
Italian Riviera, to the west of the city of
La Spezia. "The Five Lands" is composed of five villages:
Monterosso al Mare,
Vernazza,
Corniglia,
Manarola, and
Riomaggiore. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all part of the Cinque Terre National Park and is a
UNESCOWorld Heritage Site. When something receives a World Heritage Site status it usually means there is something extra special about it, so Tammy and I were in for a treat!
Over centuries, people have
carefully built
terraces on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea. Paths, trains and boats connect the villages, and cars cannot reach them from the outside.
A beautiful place does not mean it is without a challenge to get there. Until this day, my travels have been smooth, safe, easy and without a worry. My travel buddy Tammy and I did some research and decided to ditch a hostel and stay in a cosy self-contained apartment.
The bus dropped us off at the train station and the plan was to simply catch a train and arrive in paradise a short time later. A train strike meant there were very few trains operating and our plans turned to trouble when we ran and missed the last train by 30 seconds. Deliberating how we would get to the village of Vernazza in time to meet the apartment owner to get the keys, an expensive taxi ride was the only way. On our way, late for our meeting, we saw the beauty of the Italian coastline; the blue ocean sparkled a hundred metres below us as we followed the winding road around the cliffs. We
arrived at our meeting point 30 minutes late and just sat, waiting and hoping that the apartment owner would somehow realise the train strike might make us late. We couldn’t get through on the phone and wondered where we would sleep if we didn’t see him. A chance encounter telling a passer-by what we were doing, our man of the moment walked past and overheard the conversation and we got the key! Thank you Lord!
And to say this is the biggest challenge I’ve had, it was manageable and not all that bad. I have heard much worse travel tales than that, so I’m lucky mine had a happy ending. Our little blue apartment was located right in the centre of the village and only 40 metres from the water!
So I bet you are more interested in what we got up to in this beautiful part of the world! On arrival, we followed some stairs to the Castello Doria and enjoyed the extensive views over the ocean and villages in the distance. A delicious apartment-cooked meal of the local speciality – basil pesto and pasta gave us some energy for the next days physical challenge.
Our first hike was from Vernazza (4th town) to Monterosso (5th town), a 1hour 45minute journey involving lots of big steps (thankfully we were going down most of them , we felt sorry for the people in the opposite direction who didn’t know what they were in for!). Spectacular ocean views amidst vineyards and cliff top houses were a highlight. A train ride to the 1st town,
Riomaggiore gave us access to the ‘Lovers Walk’ where hundreds of couples tied, twined and twisted a piece of lace, padlock or plastic bag to symbolise their love. The path between Manarola and Corniglia was closed due to a mudslide, so we took the train again – the mornings walk was enough exercise for one day anyway! The sun soon set and what an amazing vista we had while we waited for the train to bring us back to village life.
Although we only spent two nights here, another two would have been perfect! We met a local friendly feline before we set off and made a pact to return in the summer to take a dip in the sparkling blue ocean. Sadly,
just two days after we left, heavy rain resulted in a mudslide killing 9 people and destroying 2 villages (including the one we stayed in). So our dream of returning could result in a different experience to what was had.
My time is Italy has come to an end, on a high note there has certainly been no shortage of gelato, historic sights, pizza, statues and good times with new friends.
Some extra ‘Nice’ French flavour is on the menu next.
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