10D7N Italy | Cinque Terra

 Good Morning Italy!

Last night was quite an experience. We reached our villa hotel quite late. The coach dropped us at a gravel road which was almost impossible to pull our luggage to the lobby. Hubs had to leave me alone at the gravel road and went up on foot to the lobby to check in and get our keys. He went to check our room and on the way there, he experienced a spider cobweb path and found our room in an almost dungeon space. He said he freaked out abit well actually quite a lot and told the recep that we would like to change our rooms. The next room he was brought too, didn't have air-conditioning. But I really didn't care. I was very tired and really was in need of a bathe. We hand carried our 2 big luggage through the long gravel road. Our rooms were quite a distance away.  I showered while hubs went to get the technician to fix our air-con. Unable to fix, they gave us another room. OMG. Luckily the room was just behind us. That night we were so tired from moving room to room.

 above: I found a swing in the same shade as my dress!

Tucked away in a particularly mountainous kink at the eastern end of the Italian Riviera, the villages of the Cinque Terra (pronounced chin-kwe ter-re, with a rolled 'r' sound) were shaped by their profound isolation. Today the villages’ exquisite ruggedness still presents a few challenges for accessibility. The easiest way to reach and travel between the villages is by train. A train line that runs along Italy's west coast connects all five villages with Genoa, Pisa and Rome.

Cinque Terre is a string of centuries-old seaside villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. In each of the 5 towns, colorful houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces, harbors are filled with fishing boats and trattorias turn out seafood specialties along with the Liguria region’s famous sauce, pesto.

 The beautiful and so colour Riomaggiori

 above: Lunch with a balcony view! and we can see the sea from here!!! AWESOME.

 What did we order? Grilled sea bass, pesto pasta and garlic mussels! + 2 glasses of white wine.

 it was one of my best meals in Italy...yums.

 a glass of wine in hand - hicks!

 beautiful views of Manarola

Cinque terrace was a place with few roads, perfectly preserved architecture and a network of stunning coastal and mountain trails. An afternoon here was perfectly romantic and with subtle village vibes.

 Vernazza picturesque harbour

10D7N Italy | Pisa - The Leaning Tower

above: Our usual cold breakfast everyday. I'm not complaining! I'm actually quite happy with toast, scramble eggs, ham and bacon, cup of coffee and juice every morning. After my Italy trip, I gained a total of 2 kgs which I never got to shed it off....

above: view of my hotel balcony in the morning. I was so excited to use my new bought lace umbrella from Venice!

Morning half spent at THE MALL. An outlet shopping area with many branded shops selling past seasons at a very good price. The queue to pay for big brands like GUCCI and PRADA was very very long!!! Waiting to pay took us 45 mins! And we skipped our lunch because we really didn't have much time....

Afternoon was spent at PISA! we took many many photos here but I chose a few here, cos many of them looked pretty much the same....hahaha.
Cathedrals in Italy are always in threes - The bapistry, The Church or Duomo as they call them in Italy and last but not least, the Bell Tower. The Leaning tower of PISA is a bell tower!

The Square of Miracles

group photo of us while we were waiting for our train ride. Some peddlers followed me all the way here and I bought a necklace from them...so much for self restrain!

We paid $2.50 Euros each for the chu chu train ride (2 way)

The triples - Bapistry (far left), The Duomo and the Leaning Tower!