We did a hike through 4 of the 5 towns, starting in Riomaggiore.
A view back of Riomaggiore on the trail to Manarola.
Another view of the trail. The trail between these two cities is the least rugged.
The main street in Manarola.
Me, with Manarola behind me, on the trail to Corniglia.
Part of the trail to Corniglia, leading down to the beach.
Me crossing a bridge and doing something weird with my arm.
Philippe and Corniglia.
Corniglia, from the trail to Vernazza.
Part of the trail to Vernazza. This one is the most rugged and is the longest, taking about an hour.
Vernazza, the prettiest of the 5 towns, in my opinion.
Next we headed to Florence. Since we had done the hike in Cinque Terre that morning, we didn't arrive until late. This is the Duomo.
Ponte Vecchio.
Philippe on Ponte Vecchio.
More Florence at night.
A replica of David.
Back to the Duomo.
The next day we got up super early and headed to Siena for La Palio, a bi-annual horse race. This is the cathedral.
A view of the area surrounding Siena
A typical Sienese street, lined with flags representing which neighborhood we were in.
Piazza del Campo, where the race is held.
The crowds starting to gather.
Two really cool people hanging out in front of the bleachers reserved for even cooler people.
Part of the parade.
People from each neighborhood (I'm sure there's a cooler word for it in Italian) who were in the parade, after their group had marched. They're all dressed in colorful medieval costumes.
Video of the race. Be patient - it's all heads the first lap around but you can see the second two laps, and the whole thing is only 1:47.
Next we headed to the small town of Conselice (near Bologna) to visit some friends. During World War II, Italian planes were shot down in this area and landed in rice paddies. The planes were recovered years later when locals dredged the paddies and swamps to create vineyards. Now if you drive through the fields you can see the original planes on display near where they were found.
Philippe and Gustavo acting really cool.
Philippe, me, Silvia, and Gustavo at Silvia's dad's house.
