Jenny M

Cinque Terre – Day 2

Date: Sat 15th June
Temperature: Warm/Hot
Mood: Upbeat
Highlight: Hiking Again!

Just when we thought we had hung up the boots, we couldn’t resist the temptation to walk the Cinque Terre famous for its steep walking tracks linking all 5 towns. Well we both agreed that the Cinque Terre’s walking trails were probably tougher than you would get on any one day on the Camino! We initially were going to walk the lower No 2 trail (still steep in its own right). But due to the No 2 trail being closed on one or two sections, we had to divert to the upper trails. We estimated we had walked at least 20km and the trails were both punishing on steepness as well as terrain.

Whilst true to form, we left late in the morning, but we didn’t get back until 8pm! We visited and explored each of the 5 towns and then caught the train back to Monterosso. Each of the Cinque Terre towns are spectacular and unique. We loved every minute of it, other than about 45min of very tough climbing in very hot conditions. The only thing that kept us going was the thought of Gelato at the next town. (2 large scoops for €1.70!).

Oh, and how do you top of a spectacular sight seeing day? Well why not another Gelato!

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Cinque Terre – Day 1 (Back) Cinque Terra – Day3 (Next)

Cinque Terre 2011 Floods!

Cinque Terre – Day 1

Date: Fri 14th June
Temperature: Warm/Hot
Mood: Loving it!
Highlight: Eye Feast

We said our goodbyes to Anne and Daniel and headed off for the Cinque Terre. After getting a good taste for Italy in Torino, we were now off to get a 3 day romantic Italian beach holiday.

We weren’t as confident with the Italian trains as we had been with the French, but with some help from Anne, we did eventually make it. Our B&B hosts arranged for our pick up from the station to save us a very steep walk up to our accommodation. After settling in, it was time to hit the town.

Wow, we were gobsmacked! So let the photo’s do the talking!

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Cinque Terra – Day 2 (Next)

Torino – Day 1

Date: Thu 13th June
Temperature: Warm
Mood: Very Relaxed
Highlight: Not having to make decisions on what to eat

Slept in! A lazy start to the morning until our tour guide for the day put her foot down (literally) and got us moving!

The day started with a tour of the Royal Residence with a great view over Torino (Turin) before we headed down into town to see the sights.

We covered a lot of ground that included a visit to the Shroud of Turin! A number of Churches and the Royal Palace. Apparently “The Italian Job” (1969) was mostly filmed in Torino which included a scene of mini’s driving down the steps inside the Royal Palace. If the movie wasn’t so old, we’d have been easily convinced that our tour guide – Anne, was one of the original stunt drivers for the movie by the way she skilfully maneuvered her Italian yellow Alpha Mito sports car up and down the side of the mountain with its twisty narrow roads!

We lost track on the number of Gelato serves we had during the day, but we ended the action packed day over another stunning home cooked (weber) meal eating alfresco by candle light. How do you top that? Great company, that’s how!

(P.S Thanks Guys for opening your home up, your hospitality and company. It’s much appreciated!)

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Barcelona – Day 3

Date: Wed 12th June
Temperature: Warm
Mood: Cheerful and relaxed
Highlight: Catching up with Anne & Daniel

We had a little over half a day to kill in Barcelona before flying out to Italy. As we had caught the Gaudi bug it was an easy decision to spend this time at Parc Güell, an open space park designed by Gaudi.

We were able to walk from our accommodation to the park and have enough time to enjoy Gaudi’s handy work once more with the added bonus of spectacular views across Barcelona and out across the bay. The more we see of Gaudi’s work, the more we are able to appreciate his unique style and approach to design.

It was time to say goodbye to Barcelona and to Spain after spending nearly 6 weeks in Spain! We arrived at the airport to find that something wasn’t quite right. As it turns out, France were experiencing some sort of industrial action that meant no flights in or across France’s airspace. Whilst most flights were either cancelled or severely disrupted, our flight appeared to still be on schedule. That was until after we boarded the plane! We were politely informed that we had missed the allocated departure time and that the flight path would now be twice as long to avoid Frances airspace. We considered ourselves lucky to get a flight out even if we arrived a couple of hours later.

The day was topped off by catching up with Anne and Daniel, friends from our Pambula camping days who have been living in Italy for the past 4.5 years. We finally enjoyed some great home cooking prepared by both Anne and Daniel together with some of the region”s local wine. Wonderful company and a delicious dinner shared with Australian friends in the most beautiful Italian country side – only 10 minutes drive out is the city. Did we mention that their view is to die for? We are also expecting to be treated to true Italian Gelato just to fill out and perhaps create more bulges that are appearing on our middle aged bodies!

And so our Italy adventure begins!

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Barcelona – Day 2

Date: Tue 11th June
Temperature: Warm
Mood: Cheerful
Highlight: Gaudi Again!

We woke from a restful sleep to the sounds of Barcelona early morning peak hour traffic. After a pleasant breakfast that included cereal (a nice change), our host assisted us by purchasing online tickets for Gaudi’s “Sagrada Familia”. His unfinished Cathedral. This simple exercise probably saved us over an hour standing in a queue to get in!

3 Hrs after entering the Cathedral we thought we had better get moving to take in more sights of Barca. Oh, and what did we think of Gaudi’s Cathedra? Both now being experts on Cathedrals with particular emphasis on the Gothic style, you would think we’d surely have an opinion! Well words cannot even come close to describing this masterpiece. You simply have to experience it to believe it! So hopefully some of the photos can speak for it instead. This Cathedral alone is worth the trip to Barca!

Time for some serious sight seeing, so on to the popular tourist hop on, hop off bus. Another 3 Hrs later covering some wonderful sights that Barcelona has to offer in glorious sunshine, we thought we had better grab some lunch (5pm) and head over to another of Gaudi’s works “Casa Batlló”. Another awe inspiring building that simply leaves you spell bound on Gaudi’s brilliance.

After dinner we headed back out in a wonderful barmy evening to see Gaudi’s works under lights and to take a few more photos!

Tomorrow we will finally say goodbye to Spain. We have thoroughly enjoyed everything that Spain has had to offer. Tomorrow is Italy. Lets see what Italy can offer!