We have updated the photo albums from out trip. I know there are heaps of picture already posted – but believe me, this is only the tip of the ie burg… any volenteers for a slide night when we get home?
Anyway, our most recent photos are from Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Rome. Check out the ‘Lucas & Laura’s Trip’ photo album to see them all.
We arrived in Riomaggiore, the southern most town in the group of 5 towns that make up the ‘Cinque Terre’, and were immediately amazed by the bella vista that was in front of us.
We walked through the center of town to find the accommodation office. After a short discussion with the office lady we were off – winding our way through tiny streets and up stairs, to reach our apartment some 300m away and 120 steps up the hill side.
The houses here are all built into the side of the cliff faces that front onto the ocean, and the town spills back up the hill side connected by many narrow winding paths and stairways.
With our Cinque Terre Card in hand, we headed off early on the second morning to walk the path between the 5 towns, a 5 hour, 9km trek.
When we initially saw that it was going to take 5 hours to walk 9km, we didn’t believe the sign. Starting off from Riomaggiore also did nothing for us believing the stated time. The first stage of the track is called ‘Lovers Lane’, and is quite nicely maintained, and a very simple walk.
The next stage of the track degrades somewhat, but remains a simple walk. By the time we reached the third town however, the track had degraded to a very simple track that leads around the hillsides. This stage is a killer, with many long climbs up and down large sets of stone stairs for the 4km that makes up this stage.
The final stage, all 3km of it, is the worst. By the time you get to this stage you are pretty buggered, and your legs are not wanting to propel you forward up and down the never ending stairways. This stage also has some of the poorest, and narrowest parts of the trail, which can become tricky to navigate if you encounter someone coming in the other direction.
Overall, the trek is well worth the hard work – with heaps of beautiful scenery along the way (providing you find the time to look up from looking where your going to make your next step!).
It took us 4.5 hours, so the signs weren’t too far out in that respect. At the end, we were pretty buggered, and sore, but enjoyed it.
As a couple of pointers – defiantly leave early. This will help to avoid the heat of the day. We left pretty early, and it was hot by the end. Also you avoid many of the other tourists who walk along the track between the towns as well. A lot of water is also a must. We drank over 3 liters on the trip, and were still a little dehydrated by the end.
The swimming here is also a great relief from the Italian summer heat – although most of the beaches are made up of big (and hot) rocks and pebbles. For sandy beaches, you have to head to the the northern most towns in the Cinque Terre, although these are black sand, and crawling with tourists – so in a way, the rocky beaches are almost better, as they are not as crowded (the waters all the same!).
On our way from Certaldo to Cinque Terre we made a very brisk stop over in Pisa for the obligatory photos…
To be honest, we’re not sure what else, besides the leaning tower, that this town has to offer. Many others we have met suggested it wasn’t worth saying here, and that you could see all you needed to in an hour or two – we took their advice, and were in an out of Pisa in about an hour and a half, having satisfied our curiosity.
The transport strike has finished, and so has our forced day of relaxation in Bolonga (yes… we did absolutly nothing, and loved it!) – we grabbed the early train out of town and headed for Certaldo in Tuscany.
Certaldo is a cute little town south west of Florence (Firenze), and north of Siena. We are staying in a beautiful agriturismo B&B, come self contained shared appartment – it has everything, free mountain bikes, kitchen & fridge, internet, etc, and is imaculate.
The owners only speak Italian, so this is helping us to hone our skills – and Laura is actually doing quite well.
We spent the afternoon in San Gimignanao, which is a short train and bus ride from here. Its an absolutly beautiful old town that is enclosed in huge fortificatons, and has many towers. The town itself appears to be rather touisty, however this doen’t take away from its beauty at all.
I managed to pick us up some local wild boar salami, which we are looking forward to sampling very shortly.
Tomorrow we are planning to head off into Florence for the day, and then hopefully explore the old town of Certaldo in the afternoon.
If you want to check out where we are staying, their we site is – http://www.ilpianigiano.it
We arrived in Bologna yesterday afternoon, after a short train trip from Venice (2 hours). We managed to navigate the local bus system with the help of a local and shortly after arrived at our B&B which is located in the country side hills overlooking farmland and the city – about 15 minutes drive out of town.
Its absolutely beautiful here. The relaxing surroundings, the peacefulness of the Italian country side… Its just what we needed – a change from staying in city’s.
After a relaxed afternoon of sitting on our balcony overlooking the country side, and having a few refreshing beers… and a nap… it was time for dinner out on the patio where we could watch the sun setting over Bologna.
We selected the local traditional plater and a salad to share for dinner, which was made up of all local produce including; salami, prosciutto, mortadela (which originated here in Bologna), dips and sauces, pickled peppers, pickled onions, pork fat, parmesan, and two types of bread – one a fried flat bread, and the other a small hard bread (resembling a hard flat scone). Our meal was accompanied by a glass or two of wine, and some conversation with the owner.
It really topped of a very relaxing afternoon – it was beautiful sitting outside, eating dinner, watching the sun go down.
Today we have plans to catch the bus into town and look around. Bologna – what we saw briefly of it yesterday – appears to be a lovely city with lots to see, and it has a reputation for amazing local food (Parma – where Parma ham is from, and Modena – where the fine Balsamic is from, are both just up the road).
You can see the rest of our photos from Bologna.
