Tuesday, 12 August 2008

11 - 13 August 2008

Milan, Cinque Terre, Portofino
ITALY

Me eating giant slice of pizza in Autogrill - common highway restaurant stops.


11 August 2008

Today me and Michelle flew into Milano (Milan) airport, picked up our hire car (they drive on the right side of the road in Italy) and headed off into the city for a quick look around.

Milan has a pretty huge cathedral (duomo) but as my skirt was too short wasn't able to go inside. I have attached a picture I got off the Internet as when I saw it, it had scaffolding, a popular theme with tourist attractions on our trip!

Milano Cathedral - very gothic looking

After a quick look around we drove to La Spezia (well Michelle did as too expensive to put all names on insurance) where we were met by a 16.50 Euro toll - these became the bane of our existence during the first half of the trip.


Michelle and me in Milano

12 August 2008

Today we drove into La Spezia so we could catch a train to Cinque Terre - The Cinque Terre (pronounced CHEEN-kweh TEHR-reh) is a rugged portion of coast of the Riviera to the west of the city of La Spezia in the Liguria region of Italy comprising five villages, "The Five Lands": Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.

Panoramic view of Monterosso



First stop was Monterosso - the biggest and most touristee of the "five lands" here we took some amazing photos and had a swim in the beautiful ocean. Second stop was Vernazza followed by Riomaggiore.









Monterosso train station

All the five islands had beautiful views of the sea and the lifestyle of Italian people in small villages.










Gossipying old men in Vernazza - Me in main street of Vernazza

13 August 2008

Today we decided to drive up the coast a bit. We headed into Rapollo for a quick bit and some apperitives - snacks you get with your drinks in some bars (you can sometimes pay 3.00 for a drink an enough snacks for a lunch) before catch a boat to Portofino - is a small Italian fishing village, comune and tourist resort located in the province of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town crowded round its small harbour is considered to be among the most beautiful Mediterranean ports. Portofino was again another beautiful seaside village. It was said that George Clooney visited there a couple of days before we arrived, unfortunately we didn't run into him!




Castle in Rapollo - Me in Portofino

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