So, a few days worth of blogging to catch you up…after our crazy first night in Cinque Terre we woke up to rain and had to make our way back down the stairs of hell one more time. Luckily the trains were back up and running in the morning and we were able to finally get back to La Speza. After a short trip to the pharmacy Cierra was able to reload on her makeup gear. She was crying when she discovered she had left the makeup bag behind and I was crying when I had to open up the Weatherly wallet and pay to refill it! Mama mia! The lady at the store felt bad for Cierra so she even threw in a free lipstick (which I was pumped about, anything free is good right, but as Cierra soon discovered, it was a free tube of USED lipstick). The sun came our around lunch time so we made our way back to Cinque Terre and Vernazza, finally having dinner at a cute little winebar in Riomaggiore overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. This time we made sure to catch an earlier train back to La Spezia…which was 30 mins. late of course.

The next morning we took the train to the last town of Monterossa and hiked the 2 hour trail back to Vernazza. The trails between the other cities weren’t that much, but this trail was the mother of all trails. You literally had to hang on to the side of the mountain as you made your way over and under bridges, through brush and all kinds of vegetation, the whole time walking on a footpath that was literally that, a footpath only about 6-12 inches wide! To be honest with you I was a little worried a few times for Cierra more than me, but she proved once again how strong and resilient she was constantly pushing on. About half way through the trail she started traveling at a mini-sprint knocking other tourist out of the way…why you ask…well you know the answer…she had to use the bathroom and there were no W.C.’s to be found! I’m not gonna lie, I could barely keep up with her towards the end once Vernazza was in sight, she was hauling ass down the mountainside! One of the funniest parts about the trail was once we finally made it to the top of the mountain between Monterossa and Vernazza there was the old man with a basket of grapes selling them by the bunch for 1 Euro. He called them energy grapes. He was the cutest little old man and Cierra and I thought it was so cool to see a farmer out here working hard, struggling to get by, selling his grapes to tourist on the trail…….then all of a sudden as we’re making the purchase he bust out his cell phone and starts talking to one of his boys…this cute little old farmer was doing pretty well for himself after all (out in the middle of nowhere on his cell phone, classic I tell you)! Anyway, after we finally made it to Vernazza and Cierra found a bathroom we caught the train to Manarola and lounged on the rocks for a while before taking a dip in the Med. It was very refreshing. We then walked the Via del Amore one last time, had dinner at the cute little wine bar again and then headed back to our room which by the way was on the top of Riomaggiore. The view was amazing and only 60 Euro a night. Our adjoining terrace to the room overlooked the marina, pastel colored homes on the hillside, and the Med itself, a beautiful view, and worth it too because I had to carry my bag and lug ‘the beast’ which I’ve now nicknamed ‘Bertha’ up about 100 steps to get there!

And then there was yesterday, our three year anniversary. We took a chance on this one and booked a bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere in Tuscany called Il Canto del Sole. I say we took a chance because we have no car, so we were contemplating how we were going to get there. We were thinking of renting a car in Siena but the owner of the B&B Luciano picked us up from the train station and has been providing free transportation ever since. Making our way into the Tuscan countryside we marveled at the landscape, a real life representation of the paintings you typically see of Tuscany. As the car rolled up the driveway we were amazed to see the most beautiful 18th century restored farmhouse named Il Canto del Sole, complete with a swimming pool, private garden and vineyard, wine cellar and terrace to look out over the surrounding hills, and fields where horses, chickens, dogs, cats, and sheep roam. It was like something from a movie or storybook I guess. Needless to say we are now very happy that we took the chance because it has paid off abundantly. We would recommend this experience to anyone! With Luciano and his family last night (wife Laura and 13 year old son Marco) we made our way back into Siena to a wonderful little restaurant owned by their friends called Ostello di Barbazufa which served Medieval dishes, the food was perfecto! We shared a bottle of wine (which of course I drank the most of) and then when the owner found out it was our three year anniversary and that we were expecting a little one she got all excited and gave us a bottle of really nice champagne on the house…you’re thinking great right? Well sort of because I was already buzzing and you know Cierra couldn’t have any, so I drank about ¾ of the bottle by myself before I made Laura and Luciano share a glass. Needless to say I was feeling pretty good last night!

Today we are going on a Chianti wine tour in the surrounding region and then when we get back I’ve managed to convince Luciano to let me help him harvest grapes and take part in the wine making process, bonus! I think he thought I was kidding or half in the bag last night during that conversation but we confirmed it again this morning, later this afternoon we’re going grape picking! And then domani (tomorrow) we are going to be partaking in a Tuscan cooking class which comes complete with dinner and wine afterwards! We’ve decided to book a few extra nights so we will be hanging out in Tuscany until Sunday. From there…..who knows? Until later, ciao!