My longest day of travel this week, when I traveled yesterday from Siena to Cinque Terre, was one of the most pleasant. I left Siena at 7am, finding the correct bus just as I got to the bus stop, and an early train when I arrived at the train station. Travel by train is a dream compared to my bus experience.
I rode three trains in one day, and it was easy to find my way around the stations and the tracks I needed to get to. I made a brief stop at Pisa, and it was worth the effort. I parked my luggage at the train station and walked across town to view the leaning tower. An impressive sight! There is also a basilica (another huge chiesa, or church) next to it. I had hoped to climb to the top of the leaning tower (it was recently re-opened for tourists), but learned it would cost 15 euros and entail hours of waiting, so I moved on.
In enjoyed the walk across the town of Pisa...avoiding the main thoroughfare with hordes of tourists, choosing instead to walk the quiet side streets. The Arno River flows through the middle of town, and there were some beautiful views from the bridge I walked over. This is a town I would visit again.
On the train from Pisa to La Spezia, I sat across from a 30-something radiologist, now living in Montana, who grew up in my hometown, Wichita, and went to KU. Talking with Joel made the 45-minute ride fly by. Like me and many others, he was headed to Cinque Terre because of Rick Steves' travel guides, and the "back door" approach to travel that he advocates. And as you'll read in the next post, I met up with Rick Steves several times in Cinque Terre!
But before I get to that, I did want to mention the marble mines of Carrara, that we passed by on the train ride. Huge slabs of marble lined many areas by the train tracks, and we could see the mountains where they acquire this famous marble.
I arrived about 3 pm in Cinque Terre and found myself in paradise!
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