The Amalfi Coast - 26th to 28th of April 2008

The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline around the point from Sorrento. It comprises a number of small villages, one of the biggest being Amalfi itself. Amalfi town was supposed to be a 1 hour 45 minute bus trip, but ended up being 2 and a half hours due to it being a long weekend and most of the roads more aptly described as "one-way". Certainly very twisty on a big bus.


We actually stayed in Atrani, which is a small village just the next bay around from Amalfi town, about a 5 minute walk. It was nice being away from the crowds of Italians on holiday in Amalfi and having a beach to ourselves (not that it was warm enough to swim!). The Amalfi coast is very similar to Cinque Terre, but it actually has beaches!

Amalfi:

Atrani:

We spent our full day on the Amalfi Coast doing a day trip to the island of Capri, situated just off the Sorrento/Amalfi peninsular. It is pretty amazing to look at, obviously the holiday homes of the rich and famous. We did some bush walking to see some great coastline, then jumped in a chairlift up to Capri's highest point for some chill out time admiring the view.

Sorrento - 24th to 26th of April 2008

Sorrento is supposedly a 90 minute train ride south from Naples. Or, if the trains are on strike like they were on the 24th of April, its a 20 minute bus ride to the port (basically back to our hostel), followed by a bumpy hour ferry, leaving both of us pretty queasy by the time we got to Sorrento.

Thankfully it was all worth it. Sorrento is a pretty town set on top of the cliffs looking west back towards Naples, which made for some great leisurely strolls through the streets and awesome sunsets.




The full day between our two nights in Sorrento was spent at Pompeii (30mins train back towards Naples), arguably one of the highlights of the tour to date. Pompeii is the site of a small town that was buried following the Mt Vesuvius eruption in 79AD. They have escavated 80% of the town and strolling through the streets you can truly picture it being a living breathing town. It is absolutely mindblowing.

Naples - 23rd to 24th of April 2008

Naples is 3 hours south of Rome down the east coast of Italy. We weren't blown away by Naples, it certainly doesn't have the nice feel that the rest of Italy seems to have. It may just be that we've watched too many Sopranos episodes, because it seems very similar. It also appears very poor, we had a guy pull in front of us on his scooter and opens his shirt to reveal a video camera he was trying to flogg off. I'm sure the photos from the tourist he stole it from are still on there!

In saying this, it actually has a pretty nice waterfront (crystal clear water) and some old castles to admire. And we had some of the best pizza on tour (Naples claims to have invented the Pizza).

Rome - 20th to 23rd of April 2008

Three more hours by train south to Rome. We had three nights here, but only really two days. The first was spent seeing ancient Rome, including the Palatine Hill, the Colleseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Piazza Spagna and the spanish steps.

The band was out in full force for Rome's 2,159th birthday:The second day was allocated to Vatican City. We were up nice and early to queue for the Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel. The museums hold some pretty impressive stuff, but it was the museum ceilings that were just amazing. Unfortunately no photos are allowed in the Sistine Chapel.
After two hours in the museums we walked around the corner to St Peter's square and Basillica, the second largest in the world and pretty stunning. We've seen our share of churches on this trip, but St Peter's blows them all away.

San Gimignano - 18th to 20th of April 2008

Three trains and a bus from Lucca lies San Gimignano, approximately 2 hours to the south, but in the heart of Tuscany. San Gimignano was a medieval town known for its towers. Of the original 72, only 13 towers remain. You can imagine how we were took by the place when we walked in the city gates as Ang is below.

It is also fully walled so we once again we did what we are fast falling in love with and explored the city walls, this time by foot.

San Gimignano is a small place, and we had two nights there, so we had a chance for a bit of R&R after several days on the go. By now we were head over heals with Tuscany and just enjoyed the view from this hilltop village.

On our way south on leaving San Gimignano we stopped in at Siena (about 90 minutes later). It really was just a stopover and we only had a short time there. We managed to check out the piazza and had just enough time for Ang to climb the tower while Warren watched the bags.

Lucca - 17th to 18th of April 2008

After our brief visit to Pisa we arrived in Lucca, which is south east (90 min) of Cinque Terre and west of Florence, still very much a part of Tuscany. We arrived early enough in the afternoon/evening to do a bit of sightseeing. What do you do in Lucca when you have a few hours to kill? Why you hire a tandem bike of course and cycle around the city walls! Lucky the town is pretty small and the walls are still original.

The following morning before we shipped out we had a bit more of a wander around Lucca and climbed the tallest torre ("tower") for some great views.

Pisa - 17th April 2008

We were advised (and quite rightly) that there isn't too much to see in Pisa except for the leaning tower. So we stopped in for a few hours on our way from Cinque Terre to Lucca to get the standard snaps.

Cinque Terre - 15th to 17th of April 2008

Three hours northwest to the western coast of Italy is a small group of 5 villages known as the Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre translates to five towns, all of which are perilously stuck to the side a a very dramtic coastline. We stayed in the southernmost village, Riomaggiore. Due to the cliffs there are no beaches, but we had a stunning view from our "deck", the neighbours roof. Only accessable through a tiny window from our room.

The 5 villages are seperated by a 9km walking track, which we attempted before the weather caved in at the fourth village. Luckily a train runs through all the towns to take us to the fifth, and to bring us home afterwards.

Florence - 12th to 15th of April 2008

One hour southwest from Bologna by train to Florence. Immediately you are captured by the beauty and the buzz of the place. On a recommendation we splashed out on a dinner at a fancy restaurant on the river near the Ponte Vecchio (famous Florentine bridge). When it came time to ask for the bill ("Vorrei il Conto Perfavore") however, we learned that the californian couple that we were sitting next to and who we had a brief chat to had already paid it on their way out. Unbelievable! And they were long gone, so we didn't even get a chance to say thanks! What a nice start to our Florence experience!

We did the things in Florence you have to do, namely see Michelangelo's David and visit the Uffizi art gallery (after a 90 minute queue). David in particular was quite awesome up close. Waz walked up the 414 steps of the Santa Maria del Fiore tower (next to another of the world's largest basilicas) for some fantastic photos of Florence, while Ang nursed her tired legs from all the other stairs we had been climbing!

The highlight of the Florence leg however came the following day with a cycle through Tuscany tour. The tour was based 45 minutes out of Florence at a castle where wine is still made and a count and countess still live. The cycling took us down into the valley through olive trees and country lanes for a genuine Tuscan lunch and wine experience. In total we did around 23 km on the bikes. A fantastic day!

Venice - 10th to 12th of April 2008

Further east to Venice, but still couldn't escape the rain. We stayed on the mainland, but it was only a 15 minute bus ride to get to the island, and the water ferries or "vaporetti" down the grande canal. Venice is an impossible city, with the water lapping right up to front doors and little alleys leading every which direction. Was nice to be somewhere where no cars are allowed (or would fit!). Topped it off with a lovely pizza next to the canal for dinner.

Apart from the canals, the main thing to see in Venice is San Marco's Basilica and Piazza, built in the 15th century.

On the way southwest to Florence, we stopped in at Bologna, world famous for Bolognese sauce or "ragu". After visiting the worlds 5th largest basilica and Bologna's own two leaning towers, there was only one thing we could have for lunch..

Verona - 9th to 10th of April 2008

Off to Verona, 2 hours east of Milan, and more rain. Verona is an absolutely beautiful city, with an arena (like a mini colleseum), city walls, castles, towers, a pretty river, and of course Casa de Guiletta (Juliet's house). Shakespeare set Romeo and Juliet here, which speaks volumes about the beauty of the place! Verona is definately much more of a small town, rather than a big city, something we have come to enjoy.

The famous balcony: Where for out thou?

Milan - 8th to 9th of April 2008

Our first taste of Italy and it was raining. So a nice walk from the train station in the rain with our packs. That saying we had some exploring to do, so off we went to the Duomo di Milano and the Castello Sforzesco (Castle of Milan). You can walk the roof of the Duomo which has a capacity of 40,000 and is the worlds largest Gothic Cathedral. Awesome!

Locarno - 7th to 8th of April 2008

4 hours southeast to pretty much the most southern point of Switzerland, Locarno. Locarno, again lakeside, felt just as much Italian as Swiss. Much warmer climate but still chilly! We stayed at an awesome hotel overlooking the Piazza Grande (the city centre). We even ate lunch and dinner (from the supermarket) on our balcony watching the locals. Another very pretty town which we walked around following the tourist map. The highlight was climbing up to Madonna Del Sasso which had an awesome view of the city and lake. The church was nice also.

On our way to Italy, we had a stopover for a few hours in Lugano (50 minutes from Locarno by train). Again very Italian feeling, with most of the locals seeming to speak Italian rather than Swiss.