Pisa and the Cinque Terre

Pisa and the Cinque Terre

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After a few days sightseeing in Florence it was time to get back on the bikes and cycle to Pisa. We had been keeping an eye on the rain that was forecast, but decided we could handle 20mm of rain with a good old "she'll be right" Kiwi attitude. The first kilometre went pretty well, but it then started pouring rain with a bit of thunder and lightning thrown in for good measure.  We biked 35km to the next town with a train station, and got ourselves a train to Pisa. We learnt our panniers are very waterproof and all of our stuff remained dry. However, every piece of clothing attached to our bodies was saturated and we were both rather cold! We ditched the tent for the evening, for something with a roof and ventured into Pisa to find ourselves a laundromat.
The Arno river in Pisa 
The photographic genius of Sarah at work 
Dave took this one 
We spent the next morning exploring Pisa and took the standard tower pictures before getting another train to Levanto (rain again!). We used this as a base to spend a couple of days hiking the trails around the Cinque Terre (the Five Lands).
Levanto sunset
We headed over the hill to Monterosso and we were rewarded for the uphill slog with some awesome views. These trails were not part of the UNESCO world heritage area, so we spent the first hour or two in relative solitude. We then headed into Monterosso; the closest village of Cinque Terre.
Quiet trails north of the Cinque Terre
All five of the towns of Cinque Terre 
Monterosso
The next day we joined the masses of tourists on the much more famous Trail #2 which follows the sea and joins the five villages (unfortunately two parts of the trail haven't been open since a landslide a few years ago).  We headed off from Monterosso to Vernazza which started with a narrow set of stairs.  It was a tad frustrating following groups of geriatric hikers who seemed to have little inclination to let those who where going a bit faster past them. I distracted myself by mentally rehearsing my CPR skills (I wouldn't have been surprised if I needed them!) and we were at the top of the hill in no time. 
View back to Monterosso
Vernazza

The views were awesome and it was great to have the chance to see the coastline on a sunny day as well as on a stormier day. We continued with our hike after an awesome seafood lunch (fresh anchovies and grilled fish) in Vernazza. 
Vernazza
Corniglia
Riomaggiore (two shot stitch) 
Although we hadn't really given our legs a rest, we had benefited from a few days off of those hard bike seats and were ready to get back on the saddle and make our way towards the Italian/French border.

 -  Sarah



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