Cinque Terre to Florence

Surprisingly breakfast at the monastery didn’t start until 8:30am and we had to be an hour away at Pisa for our slot to climb the tower at 9:15am.

First stop Pisa, to climb the tower…

When convincing the family to take the cliche shot, I never thought it would end up being mum left holding up the tower 🙂 but I happily took on the mighty task…

A special treat for our hard work!

And see the sights of Pisa.

Then through Tuscany

to San Gimignano, a medieval town to soak up the atmosphere…
(San Gimignano is a UNESCO world heritage site, famous for its perfectly preserved Medieval layout and streets, as well as for its stately towers which have given it the name of Manhattan of the Middle Ages)

Eat more yummy Italian food…

Climb the bell tower…

Admire the views over Tuscany

A little gelato of course after the huge steep climb…

Then back to the car to head to Florence our final destination.

At the rental car company, Eli did an impressive job checking the car for our items before we handed it back. The she used Google maps to guide us the 15 minute walk to our accommodation. She really has grown up since our last trip and we appreciate having such a good helper. (Lachie helps too in his own way remembering he is two years younger).

A little down time (i.e. enjoying wifi!!!) in our apartment.

Then we hit the streets for our first wander around Florence (a truly gorgeous city!), to grab our train tickets for Thursday to Venice  🙂

…and for dinner in a local pub.

Back for showers and to recharge our batteries (literally – the phones aka maps, pokemonGo gadgets were flat), before a final stroll along the river bank.