Cinque Terre and Tuscany

At 3am on May 30th, my sister and I went on a 2-day journey to Cinque Terre and Tuscany. The drive to La Spezia, the only larger city closest to the idyllic 5 towns. There we bought boat tickets and proceeded to said towns on sea, which has enabled us to see them from both the sea and the shore. After ogling at all the towns from sea, we stepped off the boat in Monterosso al Mare - the largest and most popular of the 5 towns. We looked around, bought some souvenirs, taken some photos, and drank the then very much needed coffee. After that, we went to the railway station, from where we proceeded to Vernazza; another one of the 5 towns, which is just as beautiful as the previous one. There, we were informed about the 2011 catastrophe, when the flood covered the colorful town and turned it into an outright mess. Thankfully, as Cinque Terre are also one of the World Heritage Sights, action was taken immediately, and the consequences of the drought are hardly seen. After some boiling in the afternoon sun and hurrying to eat the ice cream before it melted, we proceeded to the last of the 5 on our list: Riomaggiore. Even though it is quite a pain in the ass to walk uphill while having the merciless sun shine down on you and dehydrate you, once you get to the very centre of the city, it is all worth the trouble and sweat. With only one medium wide street going through the town, it enlargens the amount of tourists in one place and creates a lively and vivid experience which, with everyone and everything that surrounds you, turns into a big colorful chattery mess. There, I had the pleasure of drinking the first sugarful and cold drink that day, and let me tell you, it was heaven. After that we took the train back to La Spezia and proceeded to our hotel just outside of Pisa.

The next day, Sunday, May 31st, very early in the morning, we visited Pisa. The great thing about the time of our arrival was the fact that we were one of the first visitors of the Cathedral Square, which means that we got to experience the Leaning Tower, the Cathedral, and the Baptistry in peace, without having to fight through the merciless crowd of tourists. I must say that the best thing about my visit to Pisa was undoubtedly the coffee we had right in front of the Leaning Tower. I don't mean to brag, just simply share my experience and encourage you, reader, to experince a certain city as greatly as possible, but for the love of sweet God we pretty much had a front-row ticket to the very heart and history of Pisa. You don't get to do that every day. 

After we finished our overpriced-but-worth-it coffees, we left Pisa and visited Lucca - another Tuscan city that makes your heart melt and want to move without a single doubt, also the last stop before returning home. Whilst in Lucca, we checked out Puccini's museum and freely wandered around the typical Tuscan streets shaped by buildings built in typical Tuscan architecture. Truly impeccable. After all that followed the souvenir shopping, pizza eating (give the tiny little girl a break every once in a while), and photo taking. As always, time flies when you're enjoying yourself, thus we soon had to leave for Slovenia. 

As I reside in Slovenia, I am given the great opportunity for visiting the very cores of culture, art... Thus, keeping in mind many who dream of visiting a certain city their whole life and rarely getting the chance to fulfill their dream, I have great respect for it and mean to reach for the light that always shines, and touch it whenever I can. In other words: if I have the chance to visit practically all italian cities, in which almost all history began, I would be the greatest fool to ever exist to miss it. There is a reason why Europe is called the cradle of culture. 

Have you ever been to Italy? Don't hesitate to describe your experience below!

x, Valens