Monday - Home sweet home

The plane landed on time at Sydney airport at 8am.

Steph had sent us an SMS message saying she would pick us up at the airport. We were pleased and surprised to find Philip and Nicky waiting there too. It was good to see them all.

Steph drove us home, dropping Philip and Nicky off in the city on the way so they could go to work.

We got home before 9:30am. Cleo was very pleased to see us.

Sunday - Hong Kong & flight home

We slept in again - this time until 10am. We didn't sleep very well. Suzy said it was because of jetlag whereas I thought it was because the air conditioning was not working properly. It was quite hot most of the night and there were no windows you could open.

We checked out at noon, left our luggage with the porters and set off down Nathan Road towards the Star Ferry wharf.

Along the way, we returned to a jewellery store that Suzy went to yesterday and we purchased the jewellery she wanted.

At about 4:15pm, we caught the free shuttle service to the railway station. There was a Qantas checkin counter there and we decided to use it rather than take our bags on the train to the airport. We reached the airport by 5:30pm and went to the Qantas lounge. I read a copy of the Herald for the first time in about 6 weeks.

Hong Kong is a great place if you like colour and movement. There are people and neon signs everywhere. There is never a dull moment.

The traffic in Hong Kong is heavy but it flows OK. The drivers are polite, courteous and restrained. They were a big change from what we saw in Italy.

The service in Hong Kong is excellent. They go out of their way to be polite, courteous and helpful in any way they can. They are well organised and efficient. Things seem to work like a well-oiled machine.

Saturday - Hong Kong

I had no trouble getting to sleep after the long "day" which included the trip from Bellagio. We woke at 9:15am but I probably could have slept all day.

Breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then off to the shops again and the internet cafe.

In the afternoon, we went on a bus tour of the highlights of Hong Kong Island. The bus picked us up from our hotel at 1pm and returned us to the hotel at 7:30pm.

On the tour, we saw a temple built in 1847, Victoria Peak (we caught the tram up to the peak), Aberdeen fishing village (we took a sampan ride through the harbour), a jewellery factory, drove past Repulse Bay and finally to the Stanley Market (for shopping).

It proved to be a very worthwhile tour, partly because all the stops were interesting and partly because we had a live guide (rather than just an audioguide) who was informative and entertaining.

In the evening, we had the buffet meal at the hotel restaurant.

Friday - Hong Kong

We landed in Hong Kong at about 2pm.

Hong Kong airport is a big improvement on the old one that I saw when I was here 17 years ago. The new one is very big, clean and efficient. It is located a long way from town but you catch a train from within the terminal that takes you to Kowloon or Hong Kong. Everything is very efficient - just like clockwork. A shuttle service takes you from the train to your hotel. Most impressive.

Our hotel is modern, comfortable, well organised and has great service.

After a shower, we went for a walk down Nathan Road to look at the shops. Then back to the hotel for happy hour drinks. Then back to the shops for the night market. Then back to the hotel for dinner.

I was most impressed by how helpful the local people are. If you look lost or if you pull out a map, someone will come up to you and help. At first I thought they were trying to sell something but they were genuinely trying to be helpful.

Thursday - Italy to Hong Kong

When we woke up this morning, visibility was zero because of the cloud/mist/rain.

We decided to leave early. So we checked out at 9:30am. We reached Avis at Milano's Malpensa airport at 12 noon. We even got a cash refund from Avis for having more petrol than we started with.

The flight left on time and we arrived at London Heathrow and claimed the tax refund for the goods we purchased in Italy.

Suzy had been anxious all morning because of the things we had to get done and buy etc but this turned into something approaching total panic when she realised she no longer had her handbag. At first she thought she had left it in the ladies or it had been stolen.

As we retraced our steps, the lady we had spoken to at the BA desk told us it was waiting at security. Apparently, Suzy had forgotten to pick it up after going through the security scanning in the transit lounge.

We retired to the BA lounge for a stiff drink.

There was a delay before we took off. The "tug" that pulls the plane out from the terminal broke down. They couldn't repair it and they had to find another one. So we sat in the plane for more than half an hour about 20m from the terminal. Then we took off for the 12 hour flight to Hong Kong.

Wednesday - Bellagio

After a relaxing morning, we caught the hotel's shuttle service at 11am down to the Bellagio wharf and bought a day ticket on the ferries.

It was quite cool and cloudy but we had almost no rain at all. Now I know why I have been lugging my heavy woollen jacket around Europe for the last five weeks.

First we went to Varenna (a beautiful ancient fishing village on the lake) and then caught another ferry to Menaggio (a village on the other side of the lake) where we had lunch at a quaint little cafe overlooking the lake with the mountains, clouds and town in the background. We had pizza and a glass or two of wine. Very civilised.

Next we caught a ferry to Villa Carlotta - a mansion with lots of statues and a large garden. We walked to the next town, Cadenabbla and caught the ferry back to Bellagio.

We checked out the shops again, had a mixed drink at the same cafe as yesterday, met the same Australian couple that are now based in Hong Kong, sat by the lake watching the ferries come and go, etc. Very relaxing.

We found a nice restaurant for dinner in a lane with cobblestone steps up the hill. Another nice meal. We caught the hotel's shuttle service back to the hotel.

Tuesday - Viareggio to Bellagio

We checked out of the hotel at about 9am, packed the car and then went for a walk along the beach. Surprisingly we were the only people on the beach. The beach stretches for kilometres into the distance and the only other being we saw was a black dog.

We wasted a lot of time trying to find a laundromat before giving up and heading off to Bellagio. The trip was easy going (until the end) because we were travelling on good freeways.

Close to Bellagio the road was very narrow and windy as we travelled along next to the lake. The locals still travel at high speed even though there doesn't seem to be enough space for two cars to pass. There were a couple of times when I was sure that a speeding car was going to hit us but we arrived safely in the end.

The hotel is high up on the hill overlooking Bellagio and with a view of lakes on both sides. A brilliant view. We can sit up in bed and admire the view through large windows out onto our balcony. Yet another great location.

After we arrived, we drove down to the town of Bellagio to have a walk around. In the plaza near the lake, we sat down for a mixed drink and met another Australian couple. They now live in Hong Kong and gave us lots of tips on what to do when we reach Hong Kong.

In the evening, we used the hotel's shuttle service to go to a restaurant that the hotel recommended. The driver obviously knew the roads well. The street that the restaurant was in is narrow and windy and has high stone walls on either side. We were hoping it was a one-way street because there seemed to only be enough room for one car. But then we came across parked cars. Without blinking, the driver sailed past them with only millimetres to spare on either side.

The restaurant was very good and the service was great. They had a cat and a dog who came and begged at each table - part of the entertainment.

We met an Australian couple at the restaurant who were staying at our hotel and they gave us a lift back to the hotel.

Viareggio - Italian Riviera

Viareggio is a fascinating place. Quite different from anything else we have seen in Italy. Well worth a visit.

The hotel we stayed at is one of many on the main promenade that runs along the beach front. Some of the hotels are quite grand.

The promenade is wide by Italian standards and has a wide walkway on the beachside of the road. Unfortunately, you cannot see the beach from the promenade because most hotels have a beachfront bar/cafe/change-rooms next to the beach (opposite the hotel).

When you find a public walkway through to the beach, the sand is white and fine - similar to an Australian beach. The beach is very flat and more then 100m wide.

As you would expect there are plenty of cafes along the promenade although some have closed already for the winter season.

In the harbour, there are lots of expensive boats.

We found out later that this is where Italians like to come for their holidays. Apparently, the French and Germans like it too but it hasn't been discovered yet by the general tourist market. People describe it as the Italian Riviera.

Monday - Rome to Viareggio

We checked out of the hotel at 9am.

This time we asked the hotel to arrange for a taxi to the railway station. A good move because it only costed 10 euros this time.

Taxi fares seem to be random numbers in Rome. On the way from the railway station, someone quoted 70 euros but we ended up paying 30 euros. The hotel told us that it should have been only 20 euros. This time, we paid only 10 euros despite the fact that the meter said 12.50 euros. I can't figure it out.

It wasn't easy to find the Avis booth at the railway station. It was next to platform 24 but there were no signs to find it.

We asked them if we could change from a manual to an automatic. Instead of the little Opel we had booked, they gave us a Mercedes A class automatic. Another great move because it turned out to be a great car to drive.

Avis keeps the hire cars on the top level of a multi-storey car park about 200 meters from the station. We drove out of the carpark at 10:30.

Avis gave us a map and showed us how to get out of Rome and how to get onto the A1 freeway that heads north to Florence.

I had been dreading driving through the traffic in Rome but it turned out to be quite OK (compared to some of the driving we have already done on this trip). Avis's instructions were good and Suzy's navigation was even better.

The trip was pretty easy because it was on freeways most of the way. We arrived at Pisa just before 4pm.

People had told us that the leaning tower was no big deal and we just needed to drive past to say we had seen it. We actually found it quite impressive. The tower leans more than I had expected and it is in a large plaza with several other interesting buildings. Well worth the visit and well worth the long detour.

We had trouble finding the hotel at Viareggio even though we stopped to ask directions a few times. Eventually, we stumbled on it just when we were about to give up and try a different hotel.

A funny thing happened on the way into Viareggio from Pisa. We saw several "women" in fishnet stockings. They were walking along the road in bushland areas. The first one was more than 6ft tall and had no skirt. (The following day we were speaking to some Australians who often come to Italy. They said the people we saw would have been transvestites and prostitutes).

Anyway, Viareggio itself is a great place. Quite a find. So much so, I have created a separate blog entry for it.

In the evening, we had a fabuluous meal in one of the cafes along the promenade. Great food. Great service. A mixed drink followed by lots of wine. We only had to stumble across the road to get back to our hotel.

Sunday - Shopping & Pantheon

After a late breakfast, Suzy & I decided to visit the Pantheon today. Pam & Ralf had different plans.

We set off at about 11am. Suzy managed to find a few (million) shops on the way there and on the way back. The Pantheon itself was very impressive.

Rome is a great place. Every where you look and every time you turn a corner, there is something great to see (in amongst the leather shops).

Today we also made a couple of visits to the internet cafe. We needed to make a booking for accommodation for tomorrow night on our way to Bellagio. We had wanted to go via Pisa to see the leaning tower. Suzy saw a reference in the Michelin Green Guide to Viareggio (just north of Pisa) and we decided to go there.

Finding accommodation wasn't easy - partly because of language difficulties and partly because some hotels were already closed for the winter season. We had success in the end and printed Mappy instructions for our trip.

Originally, we had planned to go to a large park (Villa Borghese) today in Rome but we ran out of time.

In the evening, we had dinner again with Pam & Ralf. This would be our last dinner together on this trip because they were staying in Rome and then going to Venice and Paris while we headed off to Lake Como tomorrow.

Saturday - Shopping and Catacombs

Pam & Ralf have never been to Rome before and so they had different plans for the day.

Suzy and I went shopping. Along the way we returned to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps to take some photos.

In the afternoon, we had booked a bus tour called Christian Rome. We visited two churches (St Maria Major and St John), the holy stairs and finally the catacombs. The catacombs is where the Romans used to bury their death in tunnels under the city.

In the evening we met up again with Pam & Ralf and went out to dinner with two couples that Ralf knows through his business.

Friday - Positano to Rome

Another beautiful morning in paradise. Breafast in the sunshine on the terrace overlooking the sea. After breakfast, we payed the bill and packed our bags to leave this fabulous place.

I can highly recommend the Hotel Buca di Bacco. It has a great location right on the beach at Positano (this is paradise). The hotel itself is very comfortable and the service is excellent. Francesco at the front desk was particularly good.

While Suzy & I were at Pompeii yesterday, Pam & Ralf had organised with the hotel desk for a porter to pick up our bags at 11am this morning and for a taxi to take us to Naples railway station for a train to Rome.

Fortunately we had the same taxi driver as we had on the way into Positano a few days ago - probably because he has a station wagon and so could fit in all four of us with our luggage. He drove slowly again along the narrow windy roads along the cliff face.

We had been warned to be careful of pick-pockets etc at Naples. The railway station was chaotic. Apart from the beggars, we were hassled by porters and some doubtful characters. The train was meant to leave from one platform and then a different one. When it eventually left about 50 minutes late, the air conditioning wasn't working properly.

We reached Rome railway station at about 4:15pm. There was the normal chaos outside getting a taxi. One man tried to con us into paying 70 euros to get to our hotel. We squeezed into another taxi for a much lower fee.

The hotel is close to tourist locations. The rooms are small but I have seen smaller ones.

We went for a walk to the Spanish Steps and then to the Trevi Fountain. After a relaxing mixed drink near the fountain, we went to one of the restaurants that the hotel recommended. It was full but they said we would only have to wait 10 minutes. We got in 50 minutes later but it was worth the wait. We all had suckling pig, the house special.

While we were waiting to get a table, one of Ralf's friends came out of the restaurant - quite a coincidence.

Thursday - Pompeii

Pam & Ralf had decided to have a quiet day at Positano today whereas Suzy & I had decided to go to Pompeii. We enquired at the front desk about using buses and the train to get there but eventually decided to get a taxi to the railway. The taxi driver took us to Piano station and we caught the train to Pompeii.

Pompeii was different from what I expected. There were lots of walls, stonework, columns, etc but not many human shapes. Someone told us that many of the best exhibits are now in the museum at Naples.

We decided to use the audioguide rather than following a human guide. We selected the 2-hour highlights tour. It was worthwhile because we got a good sense of what Pompeii looked like when the volcano erupted back in 79AD.

We caught the train back to Meta and the hotel organised a taxi to pick us up to bring us back to the hotel. This taxi driver drove much faster than the others and we were relieved when he dropped us off.

We had a cup of coffee and a swim after which Pam & Ralf invited us in for yet another lemonchella.

We had dinner at a restaurant on the beachfront close to our hotel.

Positano - Genarro & Salvatore

If you ever come to Positano (and you should), I can recommend the company we used for our boat trips. It is based at Positano and run by the two skippers, Gennaro and Salvatore.

We thoroughly enjoyed both days. On the first day, Gennaro took us to Capri (including the Blue Grotto). On the next day, Salvatore took us along the Amalfi coast during which we had a fabulous lunch. Both days were truly memorable, wonderful experiences. Fabulous scenery. Spectacular settings.

Both skippers are very entertaining. Lots of fun. The other staff are great too.

Wednesday - Amalfi coast

We slept in today because we had planned to take another boat trip today but this one did not leave until 11am.

It turned out to be a last minute panic because there were mobile phone calls coming in from home just when we were getting ready to go.

The trip we had booked was to take us along the Amalfi coast - in the opposite direction to yesterday's trip to the Isle of Capri. We used the same company as for yesterday's trip. Today our skipper was Salvatore and we had a guide called Gloria.

They took us slowly along the coast explaining the sites along the way. We stopped for a swim at a grotto. Gloria led the way and most people joined in the swim. The grotto was 5m or 10m deep but Ralf still found a rock to stand on. Although I could not see very well without my glasses, there were stalactites hanging from the roof of the cave.

We stopped briefly at a restaurant while Salvatore gave them fish he had caught. We then proceeded to other locations such as the kissing arch. This was a photo opportunity - Gloria got us all to pucker up one after another - in pairs that is.

We then returned to the restaurant for a fabulous seafood lunch using the fish that Salvatore had caught. We drank a lot of wine followed by lemonchella.

Back on the boat, we travelled to the town of Amalfi and then back to Positano.

A fabulous outing. Worth every minute. Another day in paradise.

We had a snack at the bar downstairs from the hotel in the evening because we still did not feel hungry after our large lunch.

Blue grotto

I had heard that the blue grotto was great but I had not expected it to be this good.

The tour organisers had told us that people had not been allowed to enter the day before because the seas were too rough. They also said that the grotto is only blue if the conditions were right. So we didn't have high hopes.

As we got close, we realised that it was open. You need to transfer to a small boat operated by a man with a single paddle. You then pay the operators a fee and head towards the opening.

I hadn't realised that the opening was going to be so small. To get through the opening, everone needs to lie down at the bottom the boat to avoid hitting the top of the opening. The boat man then pulls the boat through with a yank on the chain that leads through the opening.

Inside, the cave is pitch black. But then you look back to see the blue water between the boat and the tiny opening. Did I mention that is blue? This is really blue. An amazing blue. Truly spectacular.

We sailed around the grotto looking at it from every angle. I took a million photos. During our time in the cave, the boatman sang to us. The girls liked being seranaded by a young Italian man.

At the end, we needed to navigate the tiny opening again. We lay down and he managed to get us out.

This was an amazing magnificent spectacular incredible experience.

Tuesday - Isle of Capri

Yesterday afternoon, we booked to take a ferry trip to the Isle of Capri which is about 30 minutes away from Positano.

We set the alarm for an early breakfast. Breakfast is served on the same level as the hotel foyer and there is a large terrace above the restaurant overlooking the sea. A very peaceful setting.

We boarded the boat at 9:30am. Our skipper, Gennaro, dropped us off at the main harbour on Capri and we caught the funicular (a cable car) to the top of the hill to the town of Capri. We wandered around the streets, getting lost only once. The girls checked out all the shops as usual and Suzy bought some perfume.

We walked out to a headland that had a beautiful view along the coast and had lunch looking over the Mediteranean. There was a 5-star hotel next to the lookout with a plaque outside referring to Eisenhower and Churchill.

After lunch, we boarded the boat for a trip around the island. The first stop was the blue grotto. This was so spectacular that I have created a separate blog entry for it.

We stopped at several other grottos. Some people went for a swim at one of the stops.

We returned to Positano at about 6pm after yet another fabulous day.

In the evening, we caught a bus up (and up and up) to a restaurant that had been recommended to us. It was dark by the time we got there and so we only had a view of the lights of Positano below us.

Monday - Assisi to Positano

We set the alarm and had the earliest possible breakfast (7:30) so we could get away by 8:30am. We even had hot water for our showers.

We had decided to drive to Naples and return the car to Avis today instead of driving it all the way to Positano and then to Rome.

Most of the trip was on freeways (like the A1) and so the trip was smooth sailing most of the way. The Italians drive very fast on the freeways. We saw a few accidents along the way. Considering the way they drive, it is surprising that we did not see more accidents.

With one accident, we must have gone past soon after it happened. The side of one of the cars had been torn off and a man was still sitting in the car with blood flowing down his face.

Another incident was a brief worry. The couple in the car next to us started punching each other and their car drifted towards us. After we passed them, I could see in the rear view mirror that they were still fighting as they drove along.

We reached the Avis depot at Naples airport at 1:15pm. The Avis people took delivery of the car in no time flat.

Ralf had organised with our hotel at Positano for someone to pick us up from the Avis depot to drive us to Positano. The driver was waiting for us in his nice big Mercedes taxi. He had no problems with the windy narrow roads leading to Positano and stopped a couple of times so we could take photos.

We had heard that the road to Positano was a nightmare but it was better than we had anticipated. We had seen roads that were much worse elsewhere in France and Italy.

We reached Positano at about 2:45pm. Positano is on the side of a very steep hill. The roads and lanes are narrow and windy. We decided it was worth paying porters 20 euros to transport our bags down the lane and down the steps to our hotel.

We hadn't had any lunch as yet and so we went down to the bar underneath our hotel. Like several other cafes, it has tables that spill out onto the pavement next to the beach. Lunch hit the spot, washed down with a bottle of wine.

We wandered around the beach front and checked out the tours that were available. In the evening, we had dinner at the hotel's restaurant.

Positano is a fabulous place. The setting is beautiful. It sits in a narrow valley with houses all the way down the hill. The hill decends straight down to the sea except for a beach at the bottom of the valley. Our hotel is located right next to the beach. The view is amazing from any angle. The sea is a beautiful blue colour and you can see a few small islands off the coast.

I tried to think of what it reminds me of but I concluded that Positano is like nowhere else on earth.

Sunday - Assisi

When we woke up, we discovered there was no hot water. So I got dressed and went downstairs to sort out the problem. My Italian is virtually non-existant but most of the staff could not speak English. Eventually they referred me to Carlos (who was our waiter last night). Initially, he thought I was asking for a jug of hot water. When I said no, he thought I wanted to cancel our breakfast booking. So I stood in the middle of a room full of diners and pretended to have a shower - like charades. He then came upstairs to see what the problem was. He promised to sort it out.

When we went down for breakfast, we had several blackouts. It reminded me of Fawlty Towers.

We walked up the hill to Assisi, walked through the town, visited several churches including a Roman temple that was built more than 2000 years ago.

In the afternoon, Suzy and I found a laundromat in the new town of Assisi to catch up on our washing.

In the evening, we drove part of the way up the hill and then walked the rest of the way up the hill to have dinner.

Saturday - Tuscany to Assisi

Prior to leaving Australia, we had not booked anywhere for the two nights between Tuscany and Positano. Instead we decided to workout where to stay when we got here. A few days ago we decided to book at a hotel in Assisi.

We packed up at our Tuscany castle, bade farewell to our trusty servants and set sail (in our hire car) for Assisi.

We had decided to visit some towns along the way. The first one was Montalcino. It looked like a nice spot because it was high up on the hill but the weather was not great. Because of the cloud, we couldn't see the view and it was too wet to wander around. So we just had a cup of coffee in a coffee shop and moved on.

At lunchtime, we passed through Pienza and decided to stop there. An excellent decision! We went to a restaurant that had been recommended by a friend of Graham & Joan. His recommendation was perfect and the waitress who served us was full of fun.

The rain had eased when we left the restaurant. We discovered the old part of town about 100m away. What a great discovery. It had great buildings and fabulous views.

Next we stopped at Montepulciano, another old town. This was the best stop of the day. It would have been worth the visit just to see an old couple drive out of a tiny "garage" in the old stonework. It looked more like a cupboard. I took lots of photos as a little man put a timber ramp outside the opening and drove his tiny car out of the tiny opening and drove off.

Further on, we heard music and a brass band came marching down the street towards us. A very fitting welcome for people who had become accustomed to living in a castle for the last week.

Then, we stumbled across the entrance to an old hall and realised the reason for the band. Inside the entrance was a flight of stairs lined with men in medieval costumes. A friendly local explained that they were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the local Catholic church's newspaper. He invited us to have a look inside the hall. It was magnificent. Just like you see in the movies. Three or four levels of balcony seating overlooking the auditorium and stage. We took some quick photos and left before the ceremony started because we needed to get to our hotel at Assisi.

We reached the hotel at about 6:15pm. It was at the foot of the hill leading up to the old town of Assisi. Fairly comfortable.

We had dinner in their restaurant downstairs. It was a set menu but gave us a good range of food. Ralf thought the waiter looked like someone out of Mission Impossible. We thought he was probably the owner but we weren't sure.

Friday - Florence

We got up early again and caught the 7:55am bus at Bacciano for Florence. We arrived at about 8:40am and Pam & Ralf dashed ahead because they had 9:15am tickets to visit the museum that houses the statue of David.

Suzy and I went to look at the Duomo (cathedral). After a cup of coffee, she went off to look at leather shops. I went in the other direction to take photos and then tried to find the internet cafe again.

But I got thoroughly lost. Instead I found another internet cafe under the railway station. This one was useless because of the speed of the connection but I then found another one close by (also under the station) that had good connection speed. Success at last!

I got lost again trying to meet Suzy and by the time I found her it was almost 2pm, the time when we had booked to go to the Uffuzi Gallery. We met Pam & Ralf there just in time. We spent about 90 minutes there looking at statues and paintings.

Ralf and I agreed that the statues in the plaza outside were more interesting than the paintings inside. We all had coffee in the plaza and checked out the statues.

Suzy and I went shopping. When we bought the leather coat for Philip. Suzy managed to find the internet cafe I had gone to on Monday. She left me there and went off to do more shopping. She managed to find lots of little gifts for people.

We caught the bus back to our castle at 5:15pm.

For dinner,we went back to the restaurant at Montagnana and had another fabulous meal. Our waiter, Stefano, did a great job of looking after us. We met the owner briefly. If you are ever in Tuscany, it would be worth a trip to this restaurant.

Thursday - Cinque Terra

We had postponed our trip to the Cinque Terra for several days because of the weather but we had decided we had to go today no matter what. We had decided to go by train rather than driving.

We got up early and set off in the car at about 7:15am to drive to the railway station at Empoli. We caught the intercity train to La Spezia and changed there for a local train that took us to Monterosso which is the most northern of the five towns in the Cinque Terra.

After taking some photos, we headed off to walk to the next town. It was easy going at first but then we started to climb stairs. The path got narrower, muddier, steeper and harder. Just when we thought we must be getting close to the top, we went up and up and up again. And then up a lot more. It was heavy going. Ralf was having trouble with his sore knee too.

But when we got up the side of the mountain, the views were great. The trip to the next town took about two hours and we were well and truly ready for lunch. We decided that we wouldn't try walking to any other towns - it had been much harder than we had expected.

At Venazza, the second town, we had lunch at a nice cafe next to the Mediterranean. The waiter was quite a character.

We caught the train to the next town, Corniglia but when we got there, the town was up a steep hill and so we decided to catch the train to the next town instead of climbing a mountainside again.

The plan was to get to Manarola and catch the ferry back to Monterosso to catch the train home and to see the towns from the water. We decided not to go to the last town, Riomaggiore.

Best laid plans of mice and men. The train was late and the ferry we planned to catch had gone by the time we reached Manarola. So we found a coffee shop next to the sea.

Suzy had received an SMS message from a lady called Judy - a fellow student from the Italian class in Sydney. They exchanged messages trying to organise a meeting. It seemed to be getting impossible to organise but then we ran into Judy and her husband David on the station platform at Manarola. They later joined us for coffee.

We caught the ferry at about 5:30pm to Monterosso. It was a great ride. Despite the fact it was getting dark, we had a fabulous view of the towns as we went up the coast.

We had to reorganise our return trip by train at the ticket office because we had missed the original train we had booked for. This worked out OK. We caught the local train to La Spezia and then the intercity train back to Empoli. It was about 10pm by the time we got home. A very long day.

Wednesday - Factory outlets & Vinci

Suzy wanted to go to factory outlets to look for clothes - especially presents for people. She figured that this is the heart of fashion and we might be able to save money at a factory outlet.

Ralf did not want to go (he isn't a keen shopper) and so he stayed behind. He slept in and did some reading. Pam agreed to come and so I drove them there.

I thought I was doing pretty well at first because they walked past all the shops without going in. It turned out that initially they only wanted to check out which shops were there. Then they proceded to visit each shop in turn. I retired to the coffeee shop to read my book.

Suzy managed to buy a nightie for Nicky.

We got back to our castle at about 1:30 and had a quick lunch.

In the afternoon, we planned to visit the Leonardo da Vinci museum at Vinci which is north of Empoli. We also planned to go to see the leaning tower of Pisa if we had time.

The museum at Vinci wasn't as big as we had expected and most of the documentation was in Italian. They had lots of models on display and there some some videos demontrating the way certain machines worked.

We decided it was too late to get to Pisa. Pam & Ralf were not worried whether they saw it or not. Suzy and I decided we would go through Pisa in a week or two on our way from Rome to Lake Como.

On the way back to our castle, we found a new route home. There seem to be so many roads you can take. Unfortunately, the signposting is not great.

We stopped at a supermarket on the way home to buy food. We cooked our meal in our suite at the castle tonight and drank lots of wine followed by lemonchella.

Tuesday - Sienna & Monteriggioni

We decided to visit Sienna today. It was about an hour by car south of our castle.

It wasn't as crowded as San Gigmano had been on Sunday but this was probably partly because today is a weekday. The duomo (cathedral) was very ornate. We spent quite a while looking through it and then had lunch at a coffee shop in the large plaza. The coffee shop was one that Graham & Joan had suggested we visit.

On the way back we decided to stop at another walled city, Monteriggioni. It turned out to be quite small but it had lots of character and it did not have many tourists.

In the evening, we had dinner at the restaurant at the castle. Most of the people in the restaurant were attending a conference. We sat at a table with a family from the US who were just tourists like us. They were a retired couple with one of their grand-daughters. They were great company for dinner.

Towards the end of the meal, another thunderstorm struck and we realised that we were unlikely to get to the Cinque Terra tomorrow yet again because we figured it would be raining tomorrow again.

Monday - Florence

At one stage we had planned to go to the Cinque Terra today but the weather forecast last night convinced us we should go to Florence instead.

We had decided to catch the bus to Florence rather than driving. This turned out to be a good decision - much easier than driving. The bus leaves from Baccaiano, a small town about 1km from Montegufoni, and only costs 2.40 euro each. You have to buy the tickets from the tobacconist across the road from the bus stop before catching the bus.

We caught a bus at 10:15am that went direct to Florence via the freeway and so it only took about half an hour. It dropped us at the bus station next to the main railway station.

After a visit to the nearby tourist information office, we caught a sightseeing bus that took us through the streets of Florence and up the hill and back again. Although it was hard to see some things from the bus, at least we were out of the rain.

After lunch at a nice little cafe, I went to a nearby Internet cafe, Suzy went shopping and Pam & Ralf went back to do another sight-seeing tour by bus.

Suzy fetched me to go shopping with her mainly because she wanted to buy a leather coat for Philip and she needed me to try them on for size.

We caught the bus back to our castle.

In the evening, we had difficulty finding a restaurant that was open. We drove from town to town until we found a pizza restaurant at Montespertoli. Not a brilliant restaurant but at least it was open.

Sunday - San Gimignano

We decided to drive to San Gimignano, a small town south of our castle and we thought we might also go to Sienna if we were feeling up to it.

San Gimignano is a beautiful ancient town (with heaps of tourists - so much so, it was very hard to find parking). Lots of cobblestone streets, stone buildings, shops and cafes.

We received regular SMS messages from James and Tamarra about the score in the NRL grand final.

Towards the end of our walk through the town, it started to sprinkle and so we decided not to continue on to Sienna.

Yet again, the trip back was an adventure. The shower turned into heavy rain and then into a thunderstorm. The freeway was slow because of roadworks. Finally, our navigation device (Gabriella) led us up the proverbial garden path. We followed her instructions until we decided we were lost. When we stopped, she thought we were still travelling and kept giving us instructions to turn left, right, etc.

We concluded that the thunderstorm must have affected the satellite communication. We turned her off and used sign posts, intuition and a little luck to find our way back to our castle.

For dinner we went back to the same restaurant at Montagnana for yet another fabulous meal. We told the owner that we will be back later in the week.

Saturday - Santa Marguerita to Montegufoni

Breakfast at the hotel was just like you would expect in a hotel but it did the job.

We headed off for Tuscany at about 10:15am. This time we stuck to the freeways all the way to the turnoff to Montespertoli. Our route took us past Pisa but we decided not to stop there today.

For the first part of the trip there were still lots of tunnels and, as Kristina had warned us, it wasn't easy motoring. The second half of the trip consisted mainly of open, straight(er) freeways. But the freeways were still narrow and full of drivers wanted to travel at ridiculous speeds.

We arrived at Montegufoni at about 2pm. Wow! It was a genuine castle built about 900 years ago. A magnificent building. You enter through a huge doorway into a huge courtyard before finding the reception. The views over the valley are beautiful.

They told us that it was siesta time and the office would be open again at 2:30pm but suggested we come back after 3pm. He suggested a nice restaurant for lunch about 1km up the road at Montagnana.

He was right about the restaurant - it was great. Great Italian food and great Italian service. At the end of the meal he brought us an extra dish that he told us later was tripe. We booked again to come back tonight.

We booked in at the castle and were taken to our suite that is in a building about 100m from the castle. The suite consists of a common area and two double bedrooms. Quite spacious. Nice Tuscan architecture with quarry tile floors, timberwork and timber furniture. But no modern luxuries such as TV, radio or toaster.

After unpacking the car, I decided to go to bed because I was feeling quite sick. We concluded the culprit was the tripe we had at the end of lunch. Pam and Suzy did the washing and then Suzy decided to go to bed because she was feeling sick too. Pam & Ralf went back to the restaurant by themselves while Suzy and I recovered in bed.

I decided to go back to my normal practice of refusing to eat food until I know what it is. Better to be safe than sorry.