A few of the places I’ve taken my teacup may have not been recognisable to some of you. But this one will be. After all, how can you not recognise the greatest architectural stuff-ups of all time? The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of Italy’s most iconic landmarks, for all…
While Tuscany and Umbria are the go-to regions when touring Italy, Le Marche is touted as an equally beautiful but less populated alternative. With rich farmland and twisting mountain roads inland and the Adriatic Sea on the coast, it’s the best of both worlds as far as a…
Italy isn’t a big country. You can drive from one side to the other in about two and a half hours. So it didn’t take us long to trade Rome’s crazy, narrow, city streets for countryside. Aside from our brief taxi trips, our experience on the Roman roads has been…
What little knowledge I had of Rome before arriving can be credited to Dan Brown. And yes I know it’s fiction, but Angels and Demons was still educational. To build on that education we joined another tour. This was our third for this city, but Rome is worth…
Another hot summer’s day in Rome and another day marvelling at the city’s architectural feats. Is it possible there’s too much to see here? After a bit of emailing, we’d found a spot on another Walks of Italy tour – this time an early morning visit to the Colosseum. In…
I don’t know where the saying came from, but it’s a good thing the world didn’t take it to heart. If we all did as the Romans do, well, we’d need really good health insurance. The driving here is insane. Not as bad as I’ve seen in China…
Turn any corner in Rome and you come across something impressive – either for its beauty or simply the fact it was constructed hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. Very few man-made sights earn a “wow” from me, but this city is overloaded with incredible things to…
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…
