PARIS
Our trip started in Paris to visit our lovely friends, Danielle and Sam, who have lived in this gorgeous city for over six years. They currently live just five mins walk from the Eiffel Tower!
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| At the Eiffel Tower |
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| Paris from the top of Notre Dame Bell Tower |
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| A gargoyle on Notre Dame Cathedral |
We enjoyed seeing many sights of the city, including Sacre Coeur, Montmarte, Latin Quarter and Versailles Palace, as well as visiting markets and just enjoying walking the streets. Of course we had our share of delicious French food too!
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| Andrew tasting moules et frites (mussels and chips)... delicious! |
CINQUE TERRE
Our next stop was the gorgeous Cinque Terre in Italy. It is a stretch of coast in northern Italy that has five villages perched on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
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| Manarola |
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| The view from our terrace - overlooking the terraced vineyards and the Mediterranean |
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| The lovely streets of Manarola - no cars allowed! |
There are lots of walking tracks between the five villages, but unfortunately the coastal paths were closed due to recent landslides... instead we had to take the hill paths, which meandered through vineyards that had to be terraced on the steep hills. The views of the Mediterranean were lovely!
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| Walking down some steep stairs near Manarola |
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| The walking track between Manarola and Corniglia |
The seafood on the Cinque Terre was fresh and delicious. We tasted our fair share just to be sure it was all good!
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| Enjoying spaghetti with fresh clams and some local vino rosso! |
TUSCANY
We caught a train to Pisa and hired a car to tour around Tuscany. Somehow we survived driving on the right amongst the crazy Italian drivers... using an indicator is certainly the exception rather than the rule in Italy!
We stayed in a lovely farmhouse near San Gimignano, with views of vineyards and olive groves from our window!
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| Tuscan landscape from our farmhouse |
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| Olive trees in Tuscany |
We visited San Gimignano for the day, which is a walled city with lovely narrow streets and many tall towers. It is very touristy, but great to just wander around.
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| San Gimignano street scene |
We also visited Siena, which has a magnificent piazza (square), but did not quite have the charm of San Gimignano.
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| Piazza del Campo in Siena |
Another day saw us drive to southern Tuscany to the Saturnia Hot Springs. They were a beautiful temperature and the water was so clear. We lounged around in the various pools watching birds dive for fish below us and enjoying the warm bubbles from the waterfall.
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| Saturnia Hot Springs |
We had to return our car to Pisa, so took a detour to visit the leaning tower. It is quite a spectacle and hard to believe it really is still upright.
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| Leaning Tower of Pisa |
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| The base of the Leaning Tower... you can really see how it is sinking into the ground! |
ROME
Our final destination was the historic city of Rome. The Colosseum was on Andrew's bucket list and we both really enjoyed the guided tour of this almost 2000 year old building. We were amazed that the building used to be covered in marble, but was pilfered by the Christians to decorate various religious buildings that they built!
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| The Colosseum |
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| Inside the Colosseum |
We enjoyed wandering the streets of Rome and seeing the various sights. The Trevi Fountain was as beautiful as ever - and I had thrown my coin in there ten years ago to ensure my return to Rome!
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| Trevi Fountain |
We visited the Vatican in the afternoon to avoid having to queue up with the tour groups. It was a smart move as we only had a 15 minute wait to get into the Vatican Museums. I liked Raphael's rooms the best, but there is no doubting the skill of Michelangelo's work of art on the roof of the Sistine Chapel!
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| Sistine Chapel |
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| Columns outside St Peter's Square in the Vatican |
