Pisa

After having our fill of Florentine art and churches, we headed on the Pisa. We heard they have some sort of tower there that leans. After a short train ride from Florence to Pisa, we made our way to the Square of Miracles and there it was. It really does lean.



The first order of business was taking the obligatory pictures of holding up and leaning on the tower.











With that done, we moved on to a visit in the cathedral, which was beautiful.

We chose not to climb the tower as it would have cost us 15 euro each. My mother tells me that I have been there, done that, at the age of 7 so I do not feel that I have missed anything.

Bright and extremely early the next morning, we arrived at the Pisa airport for our 6:35AM flight back to jolly old England.

Florence

Ah, Tuscany. Such a wonderful place!! We arrived around 4pm in Florence and still had plenty of time to walk around after checking in to our hotel. We stayed near the train station and all of the important sights were within walking distance. So we, along with about a million tourists of all varieties (many Americans), headed to the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio and to see the statues in the Piazza del Signore.



On the way, we passed through Cararra - at first we thought there were glaciers and then we realized it was mountains of marble.




The next morning, we were ambitious and climbed up a hill over town for the nice views before the museums and churches were open for visitors. There were great views and a charming church at the top of the hill. Then, we headed down to see what there was to see. We started with Santa Croce, the final resting place of Michelangelo and Galileo (once he was allowed in by the Catholics).













Next, we tried to see the original David (having already seen 2 copies) but the line was just too long. So, we hit the museum at the Duomo, with part of the original facade and a fantastic unfinished Pieta by Michelangelo.





Of course, throughout our time in Italy we had many stops for the famous gelato. They just do not make it anywhere else like they make it in Italy. Wes would have even had it for breakfast if the shops were open that early.

Cinque Terre

Early Sunday morning, we head on the tube, then the train...all the way to Stansted airport. It was a long ride but we made it. Then, we flew over the Alps all the way to Genoa, Italy. There, we caught yet another train and were on our way down the Italian Riviera to Riomaggiore. The scenery along the way was great and at least we arrived around 3 in the afternoon.







Riomaggiore is one of five small villages that make up the Cinque Terre. We visited this area back in 2000 when we were backpacking - so long ago!! It is possible to hike the full distance between the villages, perched on the hills over the Meditteranean. Angela and I did it all in one day back in 2000. This time, we were less ambitious and had a later start. So, we did the first two short hikes on Sunday evening and then headed back to Riomaggiore for dinner. The food was fantastic!! You do not get better pesto anywhere in the world.





We stayed in a small apartment up the stairs in Riomaggiore (everything seems to be upstairs in these villages). It had a great view.





On Monday morning, we got an early start so we could do some hiking without our bags before checkout time. We were alone most of the time on the way from Vernazza to Monterosso - about a 2 hour hike. It was beautiful - the pictures speak for themselves.








After spending some more time in the villages and having lunch, we were on our way to Tuscany.