Cinque Terre - Five days for Five Towns

Monterosso al Mare was our home for five nights for us to explore this beautiful coastline with the colourful cliffside towns.  Our apartment had a beautiful view and we enjoyed going up there most evenings after each day’s journey.  We hiked the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza, went on several boat trips, did a winery tour, swam in the sea (and I got stung by a jellyfish) , had some wonderful meals and have met some great people,  let our European adventures continue!

Terrace view

The hike between Monterosso and Vernazza took us about two hours, but that included snack/water breaks, and lots of stops to take photos of the amazing views.

It was so hot that day!  When we arrived in Vernazza we went straight to a seaside restaurant to relax and enjoy the sights.

Shirley and Ken found a local family winery called Buranco Winery in Monterosso on a morning walk one day so we returned for a wine tasting that evening, it was a beautiful spot.

We asked them to recommend a place for dinner so they told us they also have a restaurant in the old town so we decided to go there and try it out - the food was very good.  Earlier in the day we had been trying to pick a spot for our final night in town, we were so glad we hadn't reserved anywhere else as this little place was perfect.

Florence

Our visit to Florence was en route to Cinque Terre and when we got there it began to pour rain.  We did still manage to check out the famous spots like the Piazza of the Duomo Cathedral but the line-ups to get tickets and go in were ridiculously long.  We settled for wandering about for a while and then going to Gilli's for lunch, which was a great spot to people watch (Coke was 8 Euros!)

The rain did finally stop and blue skies came out again, it was a quick weather change!

Smallest car with the most stuff ever taken out of it!  The guy was selling artwork and it all came out of his little car.

Hilltop Towns in Tuscany

Every hilltop town seems to have a bell tower, cathedral, main piazza, and of course the high fortress walls surrounding the old town.  This makes for some challenges when you're looking for limited parking outside of these towns as you can't drive vehicles inside.  Which you wouldn't want to do anyways as the cobble stoned lanes are very narrow and filled with tourists!

  

 We stopped in at Sant'Antonio Villas in Montepulciano where we stayed fourteen years ago, fun to see it again.

Later on back at our hotel......

We enjoyed a 1.2 kg T-bone steak at our hotel in Siena, the Hotel Garden.  Great staff there too, Ted made friends with the bartender Atla who was a very good host!

Montelcino - Castello Banfi

This day’s road trip took us through the windy countryside of Montelcino to a beautiful castle and vineyard which covers about seven thousand acres.  It’s still owned by an Italian family but they manage it from New York, the Marino family.  Perfectly manicured and wonderful views, and there’s also a glass museum there which we went through and then to the wine tasting rooms.

The entire grounds were perfectly manicured and the feeling of peacefulness could be felt.

Inside the wine tasting room was just as beautiful as the grounds outside.

(View from the water closet window  LOL)

An unusual and interesting find on the property when they were doing some excavating...

In 2007 a whale skeleton was found on the property and after finally receiving the required permission to do the excavating they began working on it just two years ago.  It is in a separate building and it's open to the public to stop in and look at what they're doing, they have quite a few people working on it.

Lucca

Driving from our home base in Siena it took close to two hours, going on a toll highway which was interesting in itself.  It was worth the drive though as Lucca was less busy, and the entire old town fortress wall was accessible to bike around on top and see the views.  The bike rental fellow was old and didn't speak any English and the bikes had seen better days but it turned out to be a good way to get around.  Shirley got a flat tire on hers about three-quarters of the way around but she managed to keep going on it until we made it back to the shop!

After our bike ride we were hungry, and the salads here were so good!  Then it was time to get back into the car and out onto the many roundabouts on the highway for home.

Siena

We arrived in Siena by train, passing hundreds of acres of sunflowers but they were not as amazing to see as they would have been mid-summer in their full glory.

Piazza Del Campo is the main attraction in the center of old Siena so that was our first destination.  We have a rental car for our week here but you have to park a ways away and then walk to the square so that's what we did.

That bell tower in the piazza is a long ways up...

....but we went up the incredibly cramped stairwell to the top.  It's definitely not for anyone with claustrophobia issues!

Here's the view from part way up...

...and the views from the top are unreal.

This is the area where the spectators stand in the centre while the horses race around around them in  the square - the Paleo race.  Lots of restaurants and shops here so we wandered around and then had some gelato at the Venchi Chocolate shop - delicious!

Venice For Two Nights

We had three things on our must-do list while in Venice and we were successful.

Rialto Bridge

Murano Island glass blowing factory - he made a vase and a horse within about 10 minutes.

We took the vaporetto boats to travel between the different islands and they were full of people, but we were glad we bought the 48 hour passes so we were able to get on and off easily when we wanted.

We found a quaint little walking bridge which was a perfect photo opportunity!

Huge bubble gelato!

St. Mark’s Square, gondolas, cute little restaurants- we saw it all.  Now it’s time to take the train to Sienna and stay there for a week while we check out the hilltop towns in the area.