In building the world’s most famous bell tower, someone stuffed up royally. But if they hadn’t, would anyone bother visiting Pisa? Against all advice, after leaving the Cinque Terre, we went to Pisa for the night. From what I read, the consensus on Pisa seemed to be “by all means visit, but don’t bother staying”. After 24 hours in the city, I’d agree – almost.
Last Sunday, as we explored Monterosso after travelling along the Cinque Terre from Riomaggiore, we stumbled across a beautiful piece of flower art. I really do mean stumbled across – I very nearly trod on it. This mosaic of petals was on the footpath. The flowers continued along…
In its entirety, the walk connecting the five Cinque Terre villages would be spectacular. 12km of rugged cliffs along the coast, olive groves, over-burdened lemon trees, grape vines and beautiful Italian summer weather. It wouldn’t be an easy walk, but it would be special. Unfortunately, the trail between…
The population of Riomaggiore is about 1700, but that will swell in coming weeks. The Cinque Terre is one of Italy’s top destinations. Visiting such a place has its pros and cons. Sometime’s it’s not great to visit a place everyone else is also visiting. Any more into peak…
Gorgeous. Stunning. Spectacular. Unique. With a decent thesaurus you’ll find 15 like words to describe the Italy’s postcard: The Cinque Terre. Five little villages clinging to the coast of the Italian Riviera. Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso are so similar, yet so different. Each a wonderful town to…
In a couple of weeks, the Cinque Terre will be a mad house. But for now, these five little villages on Italy’s coast are somewhat accessible – without the craziness of peak season. With my teacup in tow, I explored Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Riomaggiore was…
When you’re backpacking, and particularly CouchSurfing, small things become luxuries. A bed. A meal in a café or restaurant. Sleeping in. Clean clothes. So to experience something like the Blue Lagoon is, well, wow. The Blue Lagoon is THE attraction in Reykjavik. Try and find a visitor to…
The Icelandic horses aren’t big. They stand at about 13-14 hands. But visitors are warned early on. Do not call them ponies. More than 1000 years ago, Iceland banned the importation of horses. The island’s settlers required horses of excellent breeding to handle the conditions and terrain and…
Three weeks and 5031km. It’s been a big trip. I’m not sure that measurement is exactly right, but it was the distance given to Vancouver from the top of Signal Hill in St. John’s. After two days driving around the Avalon Penisula it was a bit disheartening coming…
My little SGTC tea cup has travelled about 5000km since leaving Vancouver three weeks ago. Actually so have I. Funny that. But once we touched down at St. John’s Airport in Newfoundland, my teacup and I found a new way to travel: by car. I hadn’t driven since…
