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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Pisa

I was sooooo stiff and sore after my mega effort to do the Cinque Terre in a day, so I had a lie in and left the lovely place I was staying just before check-out time of 10am. When I headed off for the Cinque Terre, it was early morning, 7.30 and the station was empty. Not so at 10am....

Hot steamy noisy station at 10am.

I had already worked out the ticket I needed so I got a train to Pisa, and off I went. I tried my hardest not to be a generic tourist, focusing only on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but really, it is the most amazing thing to behold! Now that its stabilised, they let people go up and so I went up and got panoramic views of the city. Pretty cool.

Leaning almost 4 meters from its center point at the bottom

It's a bit hard to hold up the tower while taking a selfie

The view from above

So yes, impressive how it leans. But there was a few more photo worthy sights in Pisa...

Street art

Street

Archaeological site - 'Baths of Nero' dating back to 1st or 2nd century AD

Baptistery

View from above with miniature effect

Fallen Angel

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Cinque Terre in a day

Yesterday, starting out at 7.30am and getting back at 8.30pm, I did the Cinque Terre (pronounced Chinka Terry).

This is a world UNESCO heritage site due to the unique way the locals developed the terraced gardens on the hills over the last few hundred years, and how they carved out their villages on rocks overlooking the impressive coast.

So Cinque means five and Terre means land so it refers to the five villages of; Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso.

I was staying at La Spezia, and my host recommended taking the train to Monterosso and walking to Vernazza, and then Corniglia. The coastal hiking routes between the other two villages were closed but the pass I bought gave me unlimited travel.

As it turned out, I hiked the hill routes (I didn’t use any maps and just wandered and these were where I ended up). They were big climbs with spectacular views and it was very hot but absolutely amazing.

(ran out of time to do captions but will do so next wifi!)

Vernazza from the track

Manarola

Riomaggiore

La Spezia port

La Spezia

Monterosso

Looking back at Monterosso from the track

A Cinque Terre 'Busker'

Please cuddle the cats

Corniglia

Swimming in Vernazza. It was divine!

Vernazza

Looking back on the coastline

Corniglia from above

On the way to Riomaggiore

On the way to Corniglia

Heading to Riomaggiore

Friday, July 21, 2017

25 days with Jeremy, and slightly less with Susan, and Barry

So this trip was long in the planning and hard to believe its over already. Arriving in Trento on the 26^th June seems like months ago. The image below shows the general route we did (I started in Venice, Jeremy started in Milan, and we met up in Trento. Barry started in Bergamo and met us in Bressanone, and Susan started in Vienna, meeting us in Nuremberg)

Highlights and/or memorable moments:

Meeting Jeremy at the Airbnb knowing we had both made it!
Walking up the hills with luggage in stinking hot weather to find our first Airbnb
Getting totally drenched on our very first hike and arriving back to our place, via a subway filled with the dodgiest ‘druggies’ we saw on the whole trip, like drowned rats, to our Airbnb
Leaving some of Jeremy’s honey he got from a Chinese person who couldn’t take it home, at each Airbnb to say thankyou (we ran out so only the first few were lucky enough to get some).
Meeting Davida and Giu in Trento, for a huge pizza each, the first of many, and asking for Aqua Frizzante for the first time.
Stumbling upon a saint’s day celebration and watching the joyous crowds and street bands on a warm and balmy evening.
Taking half an hour to find the handbrake and work out how to use it before we could drive off in the hired car.
Hair raising travel in the jeep along the very windy, very high (as in 1000m sheer drop) narrow switchback Italian roads through the Dolomites.
Spectacular Dolomites views at every turn for weeks
The mountain hikes, mountain bikes, and via Ferrata over several mountains, dolomites, and river tracks
ELECTRIC bikes. What a lot of fun to be had on electric bikes!
Spectacular, absolutely mind boggling, almost overwhelmingly beautiful views
Gelato gelato gelato and good coffee in Italy
The Airbnb in Moena
The Airbnb in Como
The hotel in Innsbruck and the best breakfast we had ever seen
The gorgeous wee towns of Moena, Bressanone, Annecy and Chamonix
Barry arriving
Susan arriving
The fireworks on Bastille Day in Annecy
Getting from Heidelberg to Annecy on a non-ticket, and having Susan explain and receive a valid stamp and then a nod from the conductor so that we didn’t have to buy a replacement then claim for the ticket that didn’t turn up like it was meant to.
Being literally a stone’s throw from Mont Blanc!
Sunshine, sunflowers, and pretty shops
Having Susan to shop with
Seeing family on video messaging so it always feels like we are close to home!
Reaching the end of the trip safely and without any illness or injury (touch wood).

I think I could add much to this list but this is a good start. For Jeremy, Barry, and Susan, if you read this and want to add to it, message me and I will add.

Barry and I are off to Rome and then will head to Barcelona. We also plan to visit my lovely penfriend in Finland and see their beautiful country in the Summer.

And then its back to work, earning some money and studies!

Ciao

Lake Como

We spent the last couple of days in Lake Como in Lombardi, Italy. The lake was originally formed from a glacier and is shaped like an upside down 'Y'. Yesterday we took a cruise down to Bellagio which lies at the center of the Y, and today we took the funicular that travels up to the mountain town of Brunate, and walked up to the lighthouse for panoramic views.
Sadly we said Goodbye to Susan this morning as she headed off home to NZ via an overnight stay in Vienna.
Tomorrow Jeremy heads home too.