Before I get full into Cinque Terre, I'll describe my time in Florence.
Florence is an interesting city in the fact that it has the statue of David...or three of them. It's funny how you go to the main area (where the David is) and its packed with tourists. Personally I wasn't that interested in the statue so I decided to take a walk around the city.
During my walk I was able to stumble on a little gem of a museum...the museum of serial killers. It was a very descriptive little museum that depicted all of the worlds most severe killers. Was it chilling? Yes. Did it open my eyes to some of the horrors of our world? Yes again. But all in all I learned more then I thought I would. Some killers I had never heard of, such as the likes of the Brooklyn Butcher, a Russian serial killer and the killer clown.
Besides the museum, I felt Florence was just a basic European city with some large tourist attractions. Nothing really stood out to me and therefore this is one of the few cities I've visited that I would consider skipping next time around. For one there wasn't much for interesting parks, the transit system is extremely expensive and its a tough city to walk.
Now onto the place where walking is only the beginning. Breathtaking views, eye popping drops and a path that's over two hundred years old. Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Cinque Terre.
This place is in the upper north corner of Italy (the one touching France) There are a combination of five little towns jetting out into the ocean, for panoramic views that haven't been seen since the dawn of time. (well maybe not that long, buuut its good to exagerate some times)
However, by witnessing these outstanding views, it comes with a small price...or body punishment...which ever you prefer. This my friends...is the five and a half hour walk, along a tiny goat path, which at times can be straight down to the water. And the hike...ha...let me tell you about the steepness of steep. Some of these climbs had my legs saying...eh buddy...I'm gonna quit if we don't take a break. Basically it didn't help, having the peppiest of girls leading the charge. I think I was wearing triple XL clothing by the end of it.
But for the small price in pain and tiredness, it was all repaied, by the views and a little gorgeous treat. This treat, was none other then yogourt ice cream...Cinque Terre Style.
At first I wasn't going to have any, because...well face it, we've got yogourt ice cream at home, but once the one of the guys travelling with us let me taste his freshly crushed lemon yogourt ice cream...my tongue melted. I was hooked...it was the tastiest of taste, also the owner was the friendliest guy ever. He turned out to be a former captain on Carnival Cruise lines. He had some great stories and the best was how he came to be a yogourt ice cream man. (Ask me about it some time) Unfortunately, he's not much of a smiler.
That yogourt ice cream gave me some much needed pep, to finish the last leg of the journey...or so I thought. As we're waiting at the train station...body feeling like shaken jello, one of the guys in our group, notices that we've only visited four towns...not all five.
Well, I guess Cinque Terre wouldn't be complete without visiting all five, so I pick my jello form off the seat and continue the journey. Funny enough, we get lost, but a nice Canadian couple I met earlier direct us in the right direction...still, the group thinks they're heading the right way, when I insisted that it was wrong. Buuut who wins out...well we live in a democracy, so the majority does. We head further uphill, for over half and hour (when the journey was supposed to take 15 minutes...completely flat) we get to a fork in the road with a sign. The sign reads, further up the mountain take this route, no mans land the other route. I say head back, buuuuut once again majority rules and we push on. After an hour...ohhh...guess people realize this isn't right....soooo who may you ask was correct? Ahhh yes...me, myself and I. Yes, turns out, I'm not as dumb as I may look.
Still it was kinda cool seeing the descending golden crested sun against the still blue crystal water.
Now as the title reads...that was not the only part of the journey. Yes it was now off to Pisa, for some night shots of the leaning tower. Also the day wouldn't be complete unless we got lost in Pisa, before finding the tower.
Night is actually one of the best times to go, as I was able to get some perfectly clear shots, without the head of another tourist in the way. On the other hand, you can't really see anything else of the city, as it's all shut down. Plus you can't see the great parks or other Cathedrals there. Still all in all, the day was outstandingly crazy good. The most walking I've ever done in my life time, and boy was I tired when I got back home...That's a wrap.
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