We headed off this morning in search of a traghetto which will take you across the Canal Grande for €2 ($4) rather than the €6.50 ($13) the ferries charge, but after lots of walking and asking many times about them and being directed to the ferries we decided it was something the locals kept for themselves and resorted to the ferry to cross to Piazza San Marco (Saint Marks' Square)...us and every other tourist in Venice. There were tour groups everywhere, wit...

After pretty much a full day either on or changing trains, or in train station waiting rooms, we arrived in Venice late in the afternoon, with one sick little girl. Poor Hayley spent most of the train journeys being sick and blamed the gorgonzola cheese ("I throw cheese out when it has mould growing on it." she said) which she accidentally ate on the pear, walnut and gorgonzola pizza we (mainly me) had last night. She's not a big fan of too much cheese at the bes...

After a filling breakfast at the monastery of (no, not gruel) bread, jams, toast, and a biscuit which tasted a bit like a Girl Guide biscuit, yoghurt and coffee, we headed back to the town centre to check out a bag shop we saw yesterday. Unfortunately it didn't open until 10:00am, the whole town seemed to operate at a laid back easy pace, old men sat around in the town square talking and whiling away the hours. I really wanted to do a bike ride in Tuscany but Co...

We caught a train from Vernazza to La Spezia where we changed trains to Pisa (no, we didn't see the Leaning Tower) and then changed trains again at Pisa to get to Florence where we changed trains yet again to Camucia near Cortona. Let me say now, none of this would have been possible without Hayley's careful planning of this leg of the journey (train and platform numbers as well as departure times) and the knowledge she has gained in using the rail system since s...

As we couldn't move our gear into "the room without a view" until the afternoon we decided to explore the hill behind Vernazza which appeared to have a church and a cemetery on the top of it…though this meant yet another very steep walk. We stopped about half way to take photos of Vernazza below and read for a while, then it was onwards and upwards. I guess living on the side of a mountain has its drawbacks and amongst them would be there is very little flat l...