Florence - Firenze - One of my favourite cities....Assisi and the Tuscan Hills

This is the 4th time I have been to Florence - once when I was 21, again with M&D the following year, then in 1997 with the family, then the following year with mum and dad and Rosie, then now.....J'adore Firenze....

Florence is full of the most magnificent art - the Uffizi Gallery is the next most important art gallery after the Louvre, David is the most magnificient work of art - it is said that you only need to see David - after that every sculpture fades into the background.....since 2005 the government has ruled that no photos can be taken....shame as it is difficult to see how a non-flash photo can ruin the statue.....I think it is so that people will buy postcards etc....

I was very fortunate there as a friend of a friend's allowed me to stay in this tiny unit - no bigger than a small caravan - for gratis....right in the centre and within walking distance to everything....so I bought a sketch pad and pen and tried my hand at sitting in the Plaza Signora and sketching - I realise that I am soooo hopeless at it and because I get embarrased easily, it was difficult to do it privately as there are heaps of tourists it was challenging to find a quiet spot, so I sat and people watched....another pasttime I love to do.......

Plaza Signora, Duomo, St Lorenzo leather markets, Marios for bean (fragiolo) soup where they sat me at a table with a Florentine who lives part of the year here and part in Florida so we had a lovely conversation...he eats here 3 times a week and it's always packed...a great sign...
The next day I decided to go on a bike tour into the Tuscan hills - it was a beautiful day - sun shining - probably a little too much for a ride but the tour started easily with a van ride to a castle, wine and olive oil tasting then on our bikes to ride around in a huge circuit taking about 4 hrs.  The last stretch was a gradient of 14 then 16 then 18 and needless to say, some didn't even try it, others, like myself ended up walking the last stretch - only 1 made it without getting off......pretty impressive....

Met some lovely fellow Western Australians - Nicki and Stewart from Denmark and Neil and Sandy from Kojanup - had a lovely time with them - will catch up when I return!

Then after a day with the flu and a chance to recouperate I trained it to Assisi - the town of St Frances of Assisi - a beautiful town but a bit touristy for me - the best and most spiritual part was the Tomb of St Frances - a place of peace and an atmosphere of holiness......I was happy to visit the whole town just to be there for that....

The Cinque Terre - beautiful one day, fantastic the next...

The Cinque Terre – 5 lands literally translated – 5 beautiful villages perched on the edge of the Mediterranean – How much better can you get?

The Cinque Terre is part of the Liguria coastline and the Parco Nationale delle Cinque Terre – just north of La Spezia, made up of (starting at the top) Monterrosa, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.  I stayed in Riomaggiore at the Affittacamere Patrizia.

I was pretty ignorant when I arrived so found out how to get into the village through the lovely tunnel made by an artist – spectacular, I thought, up a very steep street (the main street and on first appearances the only street) and asked the first guy near a sign saying Camere for rent and I just happened to meet the lovely man who took my passport (as security until I paid in cash) then carried my bags to my room near the church.  A great spot although no view – a view is great but you have to climb to get it…..Just 3 of us there - a lovely Dutch couple Hans and Norah, having a 2nd honeymoon - the first time away from their kids....

First day did the “blue trail” of the whole Cinque trail 12kms – bought a National park pass (with unlimited train 10Euros – without train 7 euros) – first part - Riomaggiore to Manarola is like a walk in the park – easy, flat. Next section closed so trained it to Corniglia then walked a more difficult walk to the other towns, only stopping for rain and water to drink.  A good walk – taking about 4 -5 hrs.  Stayed and went for a swim and lay on the pebbles they call beach.

Next day a slightly harder trail – Riomaggiore to Porto Venerra – started alone at 10:30am and met a guy who became a friend, Travis, a 35yr old American – nice fellow who just was going for a short walk and ended up doing the whole thing with me…finished about 5pm ie 6.5hrs of up-hill, down-dale, also getting lost in prickly country and I ended up with thorn scratches and dirty from falling on my bottom – he looked quite clean considering what we went through…beautiful scenery though.

My next day was a day of rest so caught the ferry from Monterosso to Porto Venerra and return – just beautiful to see the same villages from the water and only 17 Euros return – well worth it…

Now in Florence but that’s the next chapter……. 

Antibes, Juan-les-Pins and La Côte d’Azur

Hmmmm - do I go to the Juan-les Pins or not - is there even a place for me.."You go to Juan-les Pins, with your carefully designed topless swimsuit - you get an even suntan on your back and on your legs da da dadar"....Peter Sarstedt...from "Where do you go to my Lovely"

This is one of the private beaches and a lot of the holiday people have already gone back....hmmmmm what to do??  There is actually room - you either go with the private beach or public beach - both are wall to wall people of all shapes and sizes and most of the women are in bikinis - nobody cares and most are very brown - sun baking is a big past-time here.....I am living only 10 mins walk from here so I feel like I am a local.

The day trips for there:  Eze Village, up a pretty steep climb from Eze-sur-Mer for about 2.5 hrs to the scenic village of Eze with it's winding streets, albeit filled with touristy shops but the views are spectacular of the Mediterranean - then return from the back of Eze village, across the pont and up a hill with fabulous views  again even overlooking Eze Village - challenging due to the height, heat and rocks on the way but scenically beautiful.
Another day trip was a walk from Biot Village (the home of some great glass blowing factories) to Valbonne -   a lovely, old, oroginal yet less touristy village - this walk took us alongside the river Brague - a lovely, shady, easy 2.5 hr walk.

There are also short trips to Cannes (film festival fame) and Monaco if you want.

Bus fares are so cheap here - 1 Euro from beginning to end even if you change buses.  So cheap!