Getting to Cinque Terre isn't exactly straight-forward, but it wasn't too difficult to get to either. For the main train line, Trenitalia, the stop closest to it is La Spezia, and from there we took a local train, Regionale.
Our accommodation was at Riomaggiore, and it wasn't an easy choice considering there were 5 villages/towns we could choose from. Prior research showed that Riomaggiore was very scenic, and considering its closer proximity to La Spezia, as well as the accom being along the coast, I took a leap of faith... And found it to be one of the best decisions made! The other towns each had their own unique appeal, but I wasn't sure if it was the accom or the view which took my breath away staying at Riomaggiore.
It reminded me of a pastel Burano set on a cliff, and checking out the other towns, all but 1 other, I found it to be the most scenic. Further down the cinque terre trail is Manorola, pastel cliff-side houses which seemed to be a mirror image of Riomaggiore, but allows a more open scenic path. In comparison, Manorola seems to be the big brother of Riomaggiore.
The only town not near the coast is Corniglia which is located on top of a mountain top. Though it wasn't the scale of Mt. Everest, climbing up to the town from the train station wasn't an easy task considering we had to climb 365 steps to get there. How do we know there's 365 steps? Did we count them? Nope, I sure don't doubt the credibility of Rick Steve's guide.
Thinking we'll get a better view of Corniglia higher up the mountains, we decided to trek up, only to turn back 30 mins later when we saw yet another female trekker by the name of Krista - got to know her name because we spend the rest of our town-hopping expedition bumping into her.
Btw, the trekking trails were all closed but one, thankfully so if not we might not have even been able to quatro town hop unknowing of how long each trail took - Krista told us she spent 2 hours trekking from simply from Monarola to Corniglia.
Vernazza's port seemed to be the widest, and what made it different was that it had what looked like an enclosed quarry.
Due to the not-so-frequent train timings as it was during the low peak winter season, we only had about 1-1.5hours at each location. And considering it turned dark early and that our train ride from Cinque Terre to Florence took about 3hrs, we hurried through each town hoping to cover as much ground as we could.
The one night we stayed at Cinque Terre, was the coldest night spent in Europe. Not because the temperature hit a record low, but the room's air-conditioner heater just wasn't powerful enough to heat up the icy cold floor. It theory, it made sense since the hot air had to defy physics to keep us warm. Though cold and almost shivering through the night, the hospitality of the owner and his amicable Italian speaking mother made my stay at Cinque Terre one of the most unforgettable.
When we finally arrived at Florence, we holland-ed a bit, actually about 45mins to an hour. The weight of our luggages took yet another toll on me, and thankfully, we managed to find our accom by asking the locals there... it took us 3 different sources to finally get us there because the elusive street name was reminiscence of Harry Potter's platform 9 and 3/4 (one of the important landmark street was signless, causing us to walk back and forth).
It turned out our accom wasn't pretty near the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence's famous Duomo. Even though I've seen many cathedrals, not just during that one honeymoon trip but due to several of my past trips to Europe, the Duomo easily climbed up its ranks to be the top 3 Duomos I've ever seen.
It wasn't love at first sight, it was.. baffling at first sight, curiosity at 2nd, and finally love at 3rd sight. When I first saw the white Duomo in the distance, it reminded me a glowing cardboard-like 2D structure. On closer look, it turned out that the "optical illusion" was due to the mainly white marble panels used to construct the exterior of the cathedral instead of the usual stone bricks. Inching even closer, we discovered colorful bibical illustrations carved on almost every individual marble panel.
However, despite the awesomeness on the exterior, the interior... was disappointing. It was big and spacious, but not grand inside.
The next day, we embarked on a one-day "The Best of Tuscany Tour". It was our first and only guided tour during our trip, finally giving us somewhat of a mental breather. Physically, it was still rush, rush, rush. We stopped by the mist shrouded Siena, an ancient medival city which looked... monotonaly boring. Despite it being a UNESCO heritage site, and housing the first and oldest bank in the world, as well as a sloping Piazza del Campo (very uncommon), I just know it as the brown city. The only amazing thing about it is that it's a honk-free city. That means cars are not allowed (don't think it's by law) to honk, even if car drivers encounter inconsiderate pedestrians hogging the narrow roads. But generally, most of the pedestrians were considerate, with a few oblivious exceptions.
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| World's first oldest bank (in the background) |
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| Piazza del Campo |
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| The Cathedral of Siena |
We had our lunch at a farm, coupled with a wine-tasting experience. We tried 4 different wines in total, 1 white, 2 reds and 1 dessert wine, all of which we drank only a cup of 2 each. The other tourists sitting together with us were more indulgent on the wines, while we, actually I, was more indulgent on the food - farmmade fusili bolognese and thinly sliced pork fillets, ooooolala!
Our next stop was San Gimignano, one of the most anticipated portion of my trip... and the main reason why I chose Tuscany Tours over the other guided tours (they were one of the few, in fact the only one I found to make a pit stop at San Gimignano). Why San Gimignano? This fairly unheard-of little town? Because... wait for it... *drum roll*... wait for it.... *drum roll*.... It supposedly has the best gelato in the whole of Italy, gelato's birthplace. Until then, we, strangely enough, didn't try a single gelato probably due to the cold weather.
I headed straight for it when the bus alighted an entire load (40-seater coach) of us tourists. We were first in line, as if running a get-to-the-gelato-first race. It was the only time the "kiasu" Singaporean spirit possessed me. And when we finally found the shop, I experienced the most exhilarated, orgasmic... wait a minute... was my eyes playing tricks on me?
I walked a few shops down and back, and I couldn't believe my eyes... The "kiasu" spirit inside of me obliterated from spontaneous spirit combustion, even the little kiddo in me who had been craving for his ice-cream even before his trip melted away. "FUCK! NO FUCKING WAY! FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!?" Yup, no censorship here, for once. That was what I said, more or less. I couldn't hold back, if I knew a rap of F* words, I would have blurted it out.
There was a piece of semi-crumpled paper pasted on the front glass door, with pictures of the owner plastered all over on the inside. The text on the paper was in Italian, indicating a date range... and that date range happened to be the day I stood outside his shop looking like an idiot and being mocked at by this one big picture of him with an over-the-moon expression offering the viewer a gelato... Priceless.
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We chilled out at some small park with a scenic view, but that didn't mend my shattered heart. Settled for some gelato nearer to the meeting point, which also wasn't enough to salvage the fuelling hatred boiling inside my then heated body.
*
Pisa took my mind off the detrimental disappointment I suffered, and with each silly pose I took with Pisa in the background, I inched closer and closer to accepting the reality of not, and never being able to try the "best" gelato in Italy (yup, I ain't going back to San Gimignano again). We only spent like an hour at Pisa, but that was more than enough time since it was already very late and the attractions were all closed by the time I goofed around with the silly shots.
True enough, as I've heard, spening half a day, or even an hour or 2 max is more than enough time at Pisa. I didn't feel like I had missed anything much.
That night back at Florence, we visited the Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio. There, we say a copy of the famous Statue of David, and it was huuuggeeee! The original Statue of David could be found at the Accademia Gallery, which we decided to give it a miss because we didn't find much value in paying for the entrance ticket just to see a statue. Personally, I think Piazza della Signoria is one of Italy's best Piazza, with many interesting statues erected all over.
The next day we visited the famous Uffizi Museum, which has an impressive collection of sculptures and famous works of art, and the iconic Ponte Vecchio, a medival stone bridge with shops built allowed it.
While Florence did have the arty feel due to the works of art scattered all over the city, I expected more... I mean I didn't see any buskers along the streets (I had fantasized about having a portrait of us hand-drawn in Florence which we could bring back to Singapore as a meaningful souvenir) and somehow the "arty air" were like chained prisoners locked up inside the museums.
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| The compounds of Uffizi Museum |
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| Ponte Vecchio |
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