This morning was a quiet take-off with at least one of us still in bed at 9:15am. After the busy schedule we’ve been keeping, it was nice to have a slow morning. Our first stop was Pisa to see the most famous tower. We were both somewhat surprised by the size of the tower. It seems to look smaller in pictures than it was in real life. George was going to take to tower tour and walk to the top, but the first available spot was a 90 minute wait. We decided to take a pass and move on to our next stop. I’m glad we did!

 

 

 

 

Cinque Terre is one of the most unique places in the world. Five fishing villages that date back to medieval time are literally perched on the edge of the ocean amidst mountainous terrain. Cars are not allowed in the villages and the best way to travel between them is by train (a 19th century type that travels though the mountains) or by ferry. The first village is Riomaggoire but when we arrived we couldn’t find a parking spot so we moved on to Manarola. The roads down from the higher highway are quite something – lots of narrow passages and hairpin turns galore. We were able to get a spot in a paid lot and so made our way further down the mountain on foot to find a most unique place. Many of the houses are built right into the mountain which is terraced with vineyards, olive groves and gardens. We took a short hike along a higher path to get a view of the town from above and then strolled through town to the harbour. A nice shop with homemade gellato was a welcome sight. After retrieving our car we decided to travel further along the highway to another village – Vernazza. It was quite different since it was an even steeper walk down from the parking area. There was only one main street but there was a beach and people were actually in the water. George managed to talk his way down the hill with the car to “pick me up” for which I was grateful. I don’t think I could have made it back up!

Our stop tonight is Bologna and because of having spent so much time exploring Cinque Terre we arrived after dark. Dinner was at a service centre, which in Italy has proper restaurants attached. George got a kick out of the fact that I bought wine at the service centre. Our hotel is just a 4 minute bus ride from downtown and we each have a suite with a king sized bed and enough room to have a dance party. Alas, no friends to invite and too tired to dance!