San Marco Lucca

... on internet and then back to the bar for more wine and tapas.<br><br>Sun 15 <br>Did some chores... yes we have some, we are not totaly void of resposibility. Went to the supermarket to stock up on food and went to an Aire d'service to empty Theo (our Thescott cassette toilet). Enough of that and we were back in the walls checking out the Antiques Market and eating Gelati... YUM!!<br>

... one was also closed, but there were no hours on the doors. Tara had said that she wanted to go bike riding but this time on her own bike which she handled quite well and we rode twice around the wall then walked back to the playground which the girls had seen everytime we rode around the town. On the way home we decided to look for a ...

We had 3 different trains to catch to get to Cinque Terre. We had to change at Viareggio and La Spezia. Cinque Terre means five lands and which is actually five villages which are connected by train and by hiking tracks. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a national park which charges to use the lower hiking path and apparently closes it if it gets too busy. Mountains covered with terraced vineyards and olive groves meet the Mediteranean Sea. Think ...

Just realized those not on facebook haven't seen pictures from Pisa and Florence. No long recap of Anthony and I's weekend in Tuscany, for obvious reasons. Also note that "Anthony and Alison's Great Adventure" was like taking a knife.<br><br>Love you guys! :)<br>

... and also what looked like a whole boned roasted pig which they just cut slices through. It wasn't even refrigerated. We then went to hire bikes and ride around the wall. Tara wasn&#8217;t too keen on it, so her and Greg went tandem. It was lots of fun and we managed to go around twice which was 6 km. We walked through the city, getting a gelato as usual and window shopped (many of the shops were closed for siesta ...

... is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) after the Duomo (cathedral) and the Baptistery of Giovanni. <br><br>Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower presently leans to the southwest.<br><br>Our ...

... We had to give credit to the umbrella sellers. They seemed to morph right out of the walls, or somewhere, and offer you an umbrella (at huge profit to them of course). Once you declined they vanished right back into wherever it was they came from. Once it stopped raining they appeared with something else to sell. We have seen them pretty much everywhere.<br> Also day trip to Florence. I wasn't as impressed with Florence as I was hoping. There were plenty of ...

... the bus station (by railway) and took bus to Lucca. Got talking with very interesting (80+) lady who spoke excellent English. She'd been and interpreter & tour guide and had decided when she left school (during the war) to learn English & German. She didn't say, but I surmised it was because she knew one of them would win the war! Arrived in Lucca and found very comfortable hotel just outside walls. Walked into town and it's a delight. Wandered ...

Hi again folks, Well today I write from Vernazza, the second town in the Cinque Terre. I walked here from Monterosso al Mare which took about 2 hours of very heavy upsteps walking with lots of people of different nationalities. I have seen (and heard) more aussies here than anywhere else. Met a nice young Aussie couple on the train down from Como and they are also staying in Riomaggiore so we had dinner together ...

Drove up to a nice little walled city called Lucca, listening to some classic Aussie rock on my mix CD, and spent a couple of hours there. I'm pretty much sick to death of sightseeing now, so I breezed through the town, skipping a whole bunch of stuff the Lonely Planet recommends, and just did a few things - climbed a big tower for a nice sunset view, walked around the city walls and got my first and only "Ciao Bello ...