I am closing in on the home stretch of my travels, with just
a bit more than two weeks left before I return to Canada. And I am nearing the
end of my time in Italy, as I decided to slip back into France for a week in
the Alps, before meeting up with an old friend in Germany. It makes me a bit
sad to think of leaving Italy, since I managed to actually pick up some basic
comprehension and basic vocabulary in just a few weeks, and because there are
so many beautiful places I have not yet visited. But my last few days have been
fantastic, so I feel that I will end this part of my trip on a high note.
I spent a few days in Florence, which has such a world-renown
reputation that I thought it might be hard for the city to live up to its fame.
However, I was blessed with two mild sunny days there, so exploring the streets
was lovely. The warm colours of the city seemed to glow in a special light. A
cynical side of me acknowledges that the warm glow might be due to smog hanging
over the city. Or perhaps not. In any case, there just seems to be this lovely
quality to the light. Climbing the 463 stairs to the dome at Basilica di Santa Maria
del Fiore, better known as the Duomo, was 100% worth it for the
panoramic view over the city.
For the last couple of days, I have been exploring the
villages of Cinque Terre along the northwestern coast of Italy. I have been
interested in coming here for several years now, and I am so glad that I
finally made it here! I would recommend it to anyone you likes to be outside -- and it's very nice in the "off" season now, as there aren't too many other tourists crowding up the villages (hypocritical, I know, to complaint about tourists!) I have had a couple of great days of hiking in the area, even though most of the main coastal trail has not been accessible. I will
let the pictures do the talking, although the photographs do not quite do
justice to the beautiful scenery here, with a series of villages perched
between the Mediterranean Sea and the steep rocky coastline.
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| The view along the trail I hiked on today. |
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| In Manarola, the village where I have been staying. |
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| The marina in Vernazza |
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