Garden Levanto

We will be staying Riomaggiore (one of the five villages) and have booked our accomodation already at Casa Lorenza  We will be staying in apartment Nettuno.

What shouldn't we miss while we are here?

... randonne de 4.5 heures avec des vues incoryables sur la mer et les falaises.

avec le retard du train, nous somme revenue a Pise en debut de soiree. Apres un autre excellent repas accompagne d'un chianti local, je me lance a la recherche d'une auberge pour notre destination de demain : florence

... so we decided it was best to settle away from the centre of town for a change and park in a residential district about 1km away... much more tranquilo!!

Splashed out on take away pizza for dinner but ate it in the shop and washed down with a bottle of beer. We became the hot topic of conversation when owners and local patrons found out we were Australian and were ...

... bad so we were just happy to be indoors. Due to the weather and the amount of traveling and transfers we decided to save our exploring for the next day. We split a litre of wine (which would later be supplemented with another 1/2 liter) over a game of Monopoly after catching up on emails. Off to bed and hoping to stay dry and see more on our second day in Cinque Terre.

Day 7: Thursday

The view from our hostel room was absolutely breath taking. The church tower with ...

Tuscan Riviera Portovenere
Had seen it on Getaway and looked very pretty.. Found a hotel with sea views and have spent 2 nights here resting , climbing around local castles… eating sleeping and watching the boats go in and out… not much English here but we are not hungry or thirsty so all going well….
Tomorrow we are off to the South of France.. 3 nights planned in Nice.. Really looking forward to it but have loved Italy…

... is one of the most picturesque places we have ever been. Today we left with heavy hearts as we could have stayed for weeks. We are now on the mediteranean coast at a place called Levanto. We are here to see the Cinque Terre and we set off by train tomorrow. We had a really hard time getting Big Mama into the camping ground as it is a tight squeeze so it could be fun getting her out. The weather is still good but not as hot as before. Hope to see a full moon over the ocean tonight.

... and you shall receive". I got exactly what I asked for.... exactly. I received this news while sitting on a set of outdoor rock stairs on the cliff face of Riomaggiore, one of the Cinque Terre. Looking out to the pristine blue sky, the clear, calm water and the glistening of the sun on the surface I realised that this was the only perfect place for this to happen. Life is perfect. Every experience I have had is perfect. And Cinque Terre is beyond perfect. God truly is a genius. Angus ...

... the region. There are also palm trees; palm trees are not something I normally associate with Italy, maybe Greece or Egypt, certainly Florida, but not Italy. But that gives you an idea of what the climate is like, warm, not cold, in the winter. It was great wandering around in a sweater and having the sun shine down on us. The other great thing about Cinque Terre is that it is famous for hiking. It was a nice change to be out hiking, instead of looking at important places or things ...

... its amazing terraced vineyards. After about 1.5 hrs we came to Corniglia, and a huge flight of steps to get to the village on the other side of the headland. Another very picturesque village, with narrow streets and colourful painted houses. Wandered the streets for a while then had some lunch at a small cafe which was yum! Back onto the train for the next 5 minute journey to Vernazza. Walked around the town and onto the beach where we had a swim, and then some Gelati. Another quick ...