More Italy

Leaving Firenze, we still had 24 hours in Italy before our next destination Monaco. We just HAD to see the leaning tower of Pisa!

So we did!

And so did Elmo!

More gelati, of course.

I just love how these famous landmarks are just part of the scenery. 

I think we paid for an hour of parking in Pisa, and we gave our ticket to someone to use the balance, so we were there less than an hour. Lucca was our next desination.

A pizza lunch.

A quick tour around this walled city, and then we walked on part of the wall.

They say you can walk on the wall 'round the city, but I'm not sure this is what they have in mind.

I was glad when we got to the end!

Back on the road, we had no destination in mind. We had been told by friend's of Marc's in Reims that the Cinque Terre coastal region of Italy was a must see, so we thought we would find out for ourselves. We had to be in Monaco the next day, Friday, the 29th of July, and it wasn't much farther, if we overnighted in Cinque Terre.

The mountains were spectacular and we marveled at how they used the steep hillside.

We also marveled at all of the tunnels. I'm sure in these two weeks on the road we've easily drive through more tunnels than our entire lives. Even combining all four of us. There's just not many tunnels where we come from.

We finally reached the coast.

No, Nick didn't take this picture. He had a headache since leaving Lucca, and had stayed in the car. Some kind fellow tourists snapped this for us.

By the time we arrived in the Cinque Terre region, we stopped at the town of Monterosso. After trying 2 hotels, the third try was a charm, and we found ourselves in a room at the Hotel Adrianna for the night. Everyone was already heading back from the beach. We took a quick stroll before looking for dinner.

This was the first time Nick has mussels on this trip, even though its one thing that Reims is known for.

After dinner, walking around, we came upon a football match, so we watched for awhile.

It was an enclosed field on the beach. They played 4 on 4 with a keeper. Looked like fun!

The morning view from our hotel room.

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The morning view into our very green bathroom. And it had a bidet!

Some morning beach time.

I just love this picture. This cute Italian couple were readying for a day on the beach, and he was helping her with her swimcap. Are they not adorable?

Italy

After our cable car adventure, we continued south, picking up a permit sticker to drive through Austria. And that's about all we did in Austria, was pass through. It didn't take long to reach Italy, and we started thinking about our destination for the night.

Marc had a conference call he was required to be on, so we wanted to be settling in around 6, for him to make his 7:00 call. We could have covered more distance had he not let me navigate. To my defense, he did ask me to look for a non-toll road that was a bit off of the beaten track. We ended up driving up and down a mountain, a slow and winding journey that reminded us of a mountain drive we took in Maui with Pier, Nathan, Manon and Nathan a few Christmases ago. Many of us ended up with upset stomaches. We were pretty close to that again this time. But again, it was beautiful. And we got to see some local livestock.

I can see how cowbells are necessary up in the mountains.

Our first gelato in Italy.

The Elefant Hotel, in Auer, where we spent Tuesday night.

We don't see these on the highways back home.

We arrived in Firenze late Wednesday afternoon. Despite the drizzle, the kids, and Marc, couldn't wait to try out the new soccer ball at the park around the corner.

I'm amazed at how, in so many places in Europe, there's little fanfare when it comes to statues, monuments and landmarks. You just round the corner and come across something fabulous.

Our first pizza in Italy.

Desserts were yummy too.

Check out the ceiling in our Arizona Hotel room.

The next morning we took another stroll.

Motorcycles seem to outnumber cars.

This bridge had buildings on it that housed a variety of shops.

Fabulous new art too. How could you not be inspired here?

Another statue busker.