Day 7 - Florence Day Four: Pisa and Cinq Terre

We scheduled a full day tour to Pisa and Cinq Terre today. We were told to arrive 30 minutes before start time which meant we would be up and at em’ bright and early! We proceeded to wait for our tour guide until 7:40am 😡. Once found, we hopped of first train of about 200 trains that would be used today! 🤣

The first stop was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Incredibly, the tower looks even more slanted than anticipated. We strolled leisurely through the monuments- they are so beautiful. Many attempts at the perfect fun photo were made. Some were even modified to cut Christine out! It was crazy to be there all together.

 

The LEANING Tower Of Pisa

Don't Worry, We Got It!!

Pisa Group Shot

We hopped aboard our next train heading for the first village stop of Cinq Terre - Riomaggiore. We felt a bit like cattle today, being ushered onto and off trains, through chutes and tunnels and down narrow streets. The views however, did not disappoint. The villages were unbelievably picturesque and full of quaint shops, cafes and restaurants.

Cattle Drive 😂

Bakery/Cafe

Christine and Julie sampled the local seafood cones- they chose calamari! Erica, Lori and I stuck with fries! The schedule was very tight with snippets of time for photos and quick jaunts and then onto the next!

Julie And Her Calamari Cone

The villages were once only accessible from the water, seafood was a staple of their lives. Once train access began the villages were open to many people. Today was cloudy and cool, perfect for our visit and maybe kept a few visitors at bay.

Christine Keeping Cool

Manarola was the second village visited followed by Vernazza. The Instagram worthy options were plenty. The steep cliffs are dotted by coloured homes and man made gardens. The gardens grow all types of produce for the villages. Even the boats are colourful and beautiful.

Our guide - Ned was calm and kept us on track all day long. Our group was tiny and enjoyable.

Ned And The Gang

The train ride back was about two hours long with more chatting and dozing. Our chats are truly therapeutic and comforting, some of the best parts of the trip. As we reached the train station in Florence the rain was easing up - great timing for us.

To take us back, way way back we opted for a quick dine in dinner at a Florence McDonald’s! It really was a dip back in time! Full circle!! We needed to get home before midnight tonight!!! Wow.

Well, winding this up before 11 pm tonight is a high, I see a bit more sleep in our future. Tomorrow afternoon we have a tour into the Chianti region to visit two different wineries. Looks like rain for sure but it won’t change our plans!!!

Ciao for now!!!!

Julie
High - That beautiful places like this actually exist and we get to see them.
Low - The chaos of the train stations.

Erica
High - View of Vernazza with my fav ladies :)
Low - Effing up the Pisa pic 😩

Amanda
High: Introducing our points system and competition to the crowd of passengers getting into the train- as we finally head towards seats complete stranger already seated says: We won!
Low: Lining up to take a group shot and Lori encouraging me: “Don’t have an ugly face”.

Christine
High: Cinq Terre was everything her eyes wanted to see!
Low: Approaching the Leaning tower of Pisa and Julie primed for a photo. Chris jumps in and skews her hands as a joke picture. Christine says let’s see? Julie without hesitation: you are not in it, I cut you out! 🤣

Lori
High: Being pleasantly surprised and enjoying the Leaning Tower of Pisa so much
Low: Missing an extra hour of valuable sleep this morning to ensure we were “on time” for the tour