We left you in Makarska, Coatia, from where we had 2 more nights in Split before taking an overnight ferry to Ancona, Italy. The floor was surprisingly comfortable, and both of us got a reasonable nights sleep.
From Ancona we took a train to Venice, and arrived late afternoon. A nice American couple gave us a free water taxi pass each, so we spent the afternoon on the Grand Canal seeing the city by water, visiting San Marco Piazza and Basillica, and watching the gondolas go by. We didnt fork out the 100 euro for the ride as we couldnt muster up the necessary romance.
We caught the shuttle out to our digs at the campground, and enjoyed an outdoor shower and the live band that played at the neighbours till the early hours. When we say enjoyed we mean scowled at from our beds...
The next morning we got up early to see some more of Venice amazing race style, taking the city by storm stopping at the Rialto Bridge and markets before making our 12 pm train to CinqueTerre. This took us 9 hours because our second train was late so we missed the third and fourth ones too. We got to know the Parma train station and its self service bar aka vending machine well, enjoying the sandwiches that dont expire for three months. We loved them so much we bought them again.
Cinque Terre was a beautiful surprise. From La Spezia we wound our way up some hills into a small village called Biassa. Our hostel was the only place to stay in the town so it was nice and authentico with heaps of Italians and not many tourists.
Early the next morning we headed into Cinque Terre to explore the five gorgeous towns of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We hiked between all five, on a track that followed the coastline. We have never been so hot and exhausted but it was well worth it.
We got back to the hostel and tried some local cuisine in Biassa - the choices were Pizza, Pizza or Pizza. We tried all three and loved them all. With an early start the next morning we jumped on a train to Pisa, detoured for an hour to get the standard shot of the leaning tower, then got back on the train to Florence.
Florence isnt totally what we expected, but we have seen all the main attractions including the Duomo, San Lorenzo Markets, Piazza Michellangelo, the Ponte Vecciho and the Academia where the Statue of David is. We also took advantage of Italian wine, taking a wine tasting tour out to the Chianti Region of Tuscany this afternoon. Chianti is all red wines, and the tastings were more than generous, so we left feeling on top of the world and a wee bit tipsy. The wine was also served with delicious salamis, cheeses, bruschetta and a desert wine which you dip biscotti in. Of course we had to finish it off with our daily gelati. Belissimo!
Tomorrow we are off to Rome for two nights before heading to Sorento and the Amalfi Coast to visit Pompeii, Positano and Vesuvius. We are loving Italy and the sunny weather!
Ciao for now
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