My most social day yet in Italy! I caught up with my breakfast room friends and compared body aches after our hiking efforts yesterday. I also had a chance to talk for a while with my hosts who are a lovely young Italian couple, the father in law has been bragging every morning that the expresso he makes is the best in Italy. My train to Milan did actually depart (there was some doubt due to the regional strike), and I travelled in a compartment with a Victoria...

A glorious sunny day! The breakfast deck was in alot of demand as everyone wanted to enjoy the amazing view with breakfast, and we were all eating early to get on the tracks before the crowds. There was a popup market in my village with crowds of people everywhere, a complete contrast to last night, I kept going but some of that street food looked great! I arrived at corniglia to start my walk but first explored the village. I got excellent advice to take th...

I woke to threatening skies then rain, not the best way to start my day on the cinque terre track - the famous walk that links the 5 coastal towns. Breakfast is a communal affair at my hotel, so over homemade croissants filled with orange jam and cheeses I met my fellow guests - almost all were from Brisbane! I went to the train station to see big signs everywhere saying the trains are on strike on Friday, the day I am travelling to Milan. I rushed back to the...

Farewell to Florence - today's photo is of David in all his glory for your viewing pleasure. I followed a group of policemen to their usual morning breakfast place and was rewarded with great pastry and mini panini and coffee for €4! Then it was time to say goodbye to my nice florentine family at the pensionne and start catching trains, first to Pisa and then to monterosso. My bag is too big to put in the overhead storage compartments so I left it in the entra...

After a sleep in and luggage repack (how did the bag fill up so quickly?), it was time for a breakfast cappuchino and sacher torte (they had run out of breakfast dolci). The strozzi palace is taking on the big gun art galleries by doing modern informative exhibitions. The one I saw today was the formative years of Picasso, miro and Dali, along with stories of how they came to discover their individual style, rebellion against the established art styles and also ...