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...