This part of Italy has some of the most picturesque scenery we have seen on this trip. The Cinque Terre coast is UNESCO World Heritage protected and has sensational walking and climbing cliff paths. The Cinque Terre is a magical part of Italy the name meaning five towns. A myriad of paths link the villages with spectacular views of cliffs, coast and cultivated, dry stone terraces. We spent lots of time hiking and did thousands of up and down steps but also en...

We had a two hour stop over at Pisa to see the leaning tower. We had seen this in 1999 but took the time to snap the obligatory photo. We then went to an ATM to get some money and discovered that Heather's debit card (which works on the Visa system but uses our money) was missing! Shock horror! We believe it dropped out of Heather/s wallet in Florence but are not quite sure. We are still waiting to finally be sure no one has used it as transactions take a lo...

Florence is a beautiful hilly city made predominantly of marble, in hues of white, green and pink. There is a light to Florence that is hard to describe. A softer, gentler sky.Known for its art and of course also as the home of famous artists, the most well know being Michelangelo. Again we stayed at a campsite that required public transport to reach the city centre. We are reasonably skilled these days for people who hardly ever used public transport before thi...

 Oh, the island of Capri is so gorgeous! Especially on a sunny day like we were blessed with. A 45 minute ferry ride took us over on a perfectly clear and calm sea but then we were immediately transferred to a smaller boat for a trip around the islands craggy coast and the wind whipped up white caps and made it not so smooth sailing.. Next we took a funicular railway straight up the hill from the marina to the actual town of Capri. There were spectacular views...

We visited Rome in 1999 so for this trip we filled in a few gaps of places we hadn't seen including the Trevi fountain which had been under repair then. We saw a funny thing at the Trevi fountain. A man had a wire rod with a magnet on the end and he was stealing the coins back out of the fountain! (I wonder what happens to your wish if the coin gets stolen!!). We revisited the Colosseum which will always be awe inspiring. Right in the middle of Rome and the ...