Spinning through Italy

We've had a whirlwind tour of Italy which we have thoroughly enjoyed, but will not be too reluctant to unpack our suitcases at the end. Venice was our first taste of Italy and what a wonderful start. We loved the city, the beautiful buildings and artworks within them, the buildings which have been well preserved and the waterbuses which we used extensively. Travelling along the Grand Canal was an experience in itself. We took advantage of the two day pass to visit the glassworks at Murano and to pop across to the Lido and wander down to the beach.

Our visit to the Uffizi Gallery was a highlight of our visit to Florence. The Churches there were also amazing but we preferred the atmosphere of Sienna and its steep, narrow streets and old houses. The Campo there is quite notable, not a Town Square but more a hemisphere sloping down to the Town Hall. We were staying just near the childhood house of St Catherine of Sienna.

On to Rome for visits to the Palatine Hill and Forum, the Colosseum, St Peter's Square and Cathedral, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel then the Catacombs along the Appian Way, plus delving into the past with an Etruscan Museum and a museum of Roman history. We are in awe of the incredible feats those Romans achieved and how remarkabley their huge buildings have survived earthquakes and depradations from invaders as well as the passage of time. However, we found the traffic and general hub- bub of modern Rome quite difficult to cope with. We mostly travelled by train but our one bus trip at peak hour was a real eye- opener plus another from the Vatican at non-peak time. Still, we survived and it was a good visit.

Now we are in Cinque Terre, a group of five towns along the Mediterranean Coast, basically car- less and in a National Park to provide walks. The towns are very steep and set at impossible angles on the hills, with terraces behind them going to the top of the hills. We have used it as a bit of R & R after the busy days spent in Venice, Florence, Sienna and Rome. Today we had blue skies after a windy and grey day yesterday (the first poor weather day we have had) and so we took a ferry around the coast to see all these towns from the sea, with an hour or so to explore the southern- most one, Monterosso; we are staying in the most Northerly, Riomaggiore, so it worked out well. The boat was unable stop at the intervening  towns as it is too rough today- the trip was cancelled yesterday. David has some great photos of this trip including the boarding of the boat which was a little tricky at the exposed Riomaggiore so some time you will be able to see them on thephoto  gallery.                      

Best Regards,

Penny & Dave

Here is a slideshow of a few of the first places we have seen (photos might take a while to appear):

01/23