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Tuscany

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Several small trattorias (a small informal restaurant) were located near Marina Piccola -- this one just below our window.
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Several small trattorias (a small informal restaurant) were located near Marina Piccola -- this one just below our window.

Italyscenictravel

  • The dome is 300 feet high and is covered with a vast fresco of the Last Judgment.
  • The outside of the dome is covered with 4 million bricks. We decided not to wait in the long line to climb the 436 narrow steps to the top of the dome. Maybe next time!
  • The Piazza del Duomo is one of Florence's busiest, with lots of tour groups, shoppers, . . .
  • . . .and of course -- a Ben and Jerry's.
  • After our visit to the Duomo, we packed up and said good by to Il Villino -- definitely a place we would return to. We took a taxi to the train station for our journey to Cinque Terre.
  • After a 3 hour train ride from Florence, we arrived in Manarola, one of the five villages along the Northwest coast of Italy that are known as Cinque Terre. The villages are all located a few miles from each other along the rocky coastline and are linked by train, ferry, and hiking trails.
  • The main street of Manarola is lined with small fishing boats on small trailers, which the owners wheel down to the boat ramp at the end of the village when they want to go fishing. The villages of Cinque Terre used to subsist on fishing; now they subsist on tourism.
  • The hillside above the small village is terraced with vineyards.
  • Untitled photo
  • The view across the narrow main street from our room at Marina Piccola ("small marina"), just a few steps from the water.
  • Marina Piccola.
  • Several small trattorias (a small informal restaurant) were located near Marina Piccola -- this one just below our window.
  • Another Trattoria just up the street.
  • A small breakwater protects the tiny harbor at Manarola, where a few boats are moored.
  • On our second day in Cinque Terre we took the train up the coast to Corniglia. We had planned to take the trail along the water, but recent heavy rain had caused landslides and the trail was closed. The train travels mostly through tunnels along the coastline, emerging at each town. You can see Manarola on the first point of land in the distance.
  • Corniglia is perched on a cliff above the sea, and to get to it from the train station you either have to take a bus or climb the 380 steps to the village.
  • Corniglia is even smaller than Manarola, and the streets are lined with cafes and shops . . .
  • . . . and wine bars.
  • Corniglia street scene.
  • September is harvest time and we saw lots of grapes being harvested . . .
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