PATIENCE……. Well we thought we would not be affected by the French strikes!
We checked in at Gard de Lyon for our train trip to Milan only to find out that our train had been cancelled. Quick thinking (and helping out the French rail staff) we re-routed via Switzerland arriving late into Milan for our overnight stay. Next morning, another train ride and we arrived in Monterosso, the first of the village’s in our three night stay at Cinque Terre.
The Cinque Terre is a UNESCO heritage site. There is no worldly activity, just sun, sea, sand and a simple life. This is a place where you can unwind and totally “chill out”. During our stay, we visited the other villages taking the challenging hike from Vernazza back to Monterosso. At the end of the hike our legs were aching and we were tired but it was a fantastic feeling of achievement and a real highlight of our holiday. Our next day was spent enjoying the beachside town of Monterosso as it started winding down to for the winter break.
On leaving Monterosso, we took the local train to the town of La Spezia where we collected our rental car for a 7 day hire and headed off to Venice, actually stayed just out of Venice in a town called Mestre and a ONE Euro train ride took us to the city of Venice. The streets are a maze of twists and turns but soon we came onto San Marco's Square. It's simply breathtaking! We took a water taxi ride on the Grand Canal passing more historic buildings which gave us a glimpse of what life must have been like those centuries ago.
As we left Venice and headed towards Florence, we stopped to visit the town of Pisa and to check out the "leaning tower". It really does have a lean and I left marveled at this piece of engineering. Florence was our next stop, a city of the Renaissance era and home to the Statue of David and the many works of Michelangelo. Florence is an easy city to access on foot and if you’re after leather goods, then this is the place. We took a day drive to Sienna and San Gimignano. We were in Tuscany and totally absorbed in the Tuscan countryside and wished we could have stayed longer but it was time to move on. Rome was our next destination with a detour via the ruins of Pompeii.
Rome, everywhere you turn there is an archeological site, a church, a story, history. A vibrant city full of life, cafes, Alfresco dining and Gellati! Using the Metro was easy and for the pricely sum of one Euro, it was great value. Although a large city, the main tourist attractions are within comfortable walking distance. The Colossseum, Piazza Navona & it's Artists, the Pantheon, St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel with it’s breath-taking paintings are an absolute must see. Be patient, queueing is the norm! Public transport is easy and if you do tire there is always the bus/metro back to Termi Station. This is a huge railway station with services to other European cities but a real benefit was the direct rail service from the city to Fiumicino Airport.
Our holiday was over too soon as we realized that Rome (and Italy) deserved more of our time. It was time to head home. We spoilt ourselves and flew home Business Class (those loyalty points do work!).
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