Translation: I love the Cinque Terre!!
I'm a little behind in blogging... but we've been busy traveling. Here's what we've been up to lately.
Thursday October 7th, we left Napoli and headed to Camp Darby (Army base) in Livorno in our tiny rented Fiat Panda since our car's AC decided it needed a break. Camp Darby was our inexpensive little "home base" for a few days while we checked out several other places.
Friday morning, I ran my first real race since foot surgery. It was a 12k that started at Camp Darby and had a terrific finish line at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. What a great and interesting race!! For all you runners, you know how the chaos of registration and packet pick up can be?? Well, there were only two people sitting at one tiny table with about 12 shirts and race numbers. I thought to myself "Hmmm, I guess I should come in the top 12 or so..." We went and had breakfast and headed back to the start line where there were many spandex-clad, warming-up-like-crazy, serious looking runners... I ended up getting a bit nervous seeing how many people were at the official start, 336 so I was told. The gun went off and I was going solo along many larger groups of Italian military men, mostly speaking Italian. We ran past vineyards, kept on route by the Caribineri (military police), had significant others driving along side of the packs of runners to get a photo opportunity... all a bit different than running a race in the US. Coming into Pisa we ran along with what seemed to be regular road traffic, pedestrians and the local bus, but then through the old city walls down the last 1/4km along the Field of Miracles to end at the Leaning Tower of Pisa was pretty amazing!! The Italians that already crossed the finish line all line up as spectators and really rally their incoming friends as they finish, such spirit!! I was really proud of myself to come under an hour for the 7.3 mile long race!! I didn't expect to do as well, so Jamie wasn't expecting me at the finish line for a few minutes later so he, Riann and Lincoln were snapping photos, trying to keep busy and missed me finish. That's okay, I have more races to run!!
After my race, we checked out the sights that Pisa has to offer: the Leaning Tower, the Duomo and the Baptistery, then we headed out for our own little walking with the guidance of Rick Steves. Of course we did the typical cliche photos of pushing down and holding up the tower, Riann probably thought we were crazy but she did a great job of holding poses for us too.
We grabbed some food for a picnic lunch we ate near the Duomo and Leaning Tower, then headed for some gelato... the ending to many of our excursions to places as a reward to the kids for being good, and to us for managing another with touring with little ones.
We ended up packing up a picnic dinner that evening, headed to the beaches of Livorno, and found a nice spot in the sand. Riann and Lincoln had a great time playing in the sand (even without sand toys!), Jamie and I enjoyed the time relaxing, looking out at the rather calm sea and just having great family time.
Saturday, we took the scenic drive into Monterosso. What a trip!! We had about 20 kilometers from the autostrada up, down and around hairpin turns all the way into Monterosso. A crazy drive, but SO worth it to get into the first town of the Cinque Terre!! The views along the drive were spectacular!! I think I fell inlove instantly with the little town, though the largest of the five. Once in Monterosso, we boarded the train and took it to the fourth stop down to Manarola. What a perfectly quaint little town, I fell in love all over again!! We walked down to the marina and all along the water... no beach, not much keeping you from going into the water, but absolutely beautiful! We took the "easy" walk/hike, Via dell'Amore, from Manarola to Riomaggiore.
So many picture perfect photo moments, I could hardly help myself!! We even stopped for a photo at one point and a woman asked if we would take a picture of her with her daughter, and she would take one of all four of us. Long story short, she was originally FROM Syracuse, went and graduated from FM about 8 years before my mom, which meant only 2 years before my Uncle Allen. The woman didn't recall my uncle's name, but still, what a small, small world!!
Once we got into Riomaggiore, we walked around the town and had lunch at a small restaurant with an awesome view.
We left Riomaggiore via train and got off at Vernazza. Each town has its own personality, and each one I loved more! We enjoyed some delicious gelato, walked around the town, checked out a few shops, and found the marina. Riann and Jamie walked out on the huge rocks, took some photos, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Walking around so much and working up an appetite, we shared two slices of local pizza with fresh buffalo mozzerella and pesto... Mmm, mmm!!
By Riann's request, we took the ferry from Vernazza back to Monterosso. What gorgeous views of the coast from the ferry, perfect for more picture taking!! Lincoln fell asleep on the ferry, he is one heavy little man!! The ferry dropped us off in Old Town Monterosso and we walked (me, carrying the Tank the whole way) back to the new town where we parked earlier in the day.
20 kilometers up, down and around hair pin turns, we got back to the autostrada. Good bye Cinque Terre, we WILL be back, next time for a few days at least!!
Sunday, we loaded up the car and headed to Lucca. Lucca is a town that has its city wall still fully intact. There is little road traffic within the city, but there are plenty of bikes and places to rent bikes, too. First we did some walking, found what is left of the old amphitheater that is now Piazza Anfiteatro (eateries, shops, etc), and some sightseeing including climbing the 200+ stairs to the top of Torre Guinigi where there is a small garden and a few trees (yes, on top of a tower!!) and amazing views of Lucca.
We then rented two bikes, each with a kid seat and biked around the town on the wall which was much wider than one might think. I loved Lucca, the bikes were a saving grace for Riann and Lincoln who were both tired from so much walking and gave them a new perspective of sightseeing, but the town itself seemed so much more kid friendly than many other places we've visited so far. A lot of open fields to run and play, several playgrounds and kids just about everywhere you looked.
We had lunch, did a little more riding around on our rental bikes, then called it a day. But Lincoln was beyond tired and fell asleep while I carried him all the way back to the car... again.
4.5 hours later, we were home, always such a great feeling to be HOME after even a fantastic trip!!
