Well, the title pretty much sums it up. How is this for Italian tourism on speed and a dime!

We woke up in Tuscany, said goodbye to our friends at Il Canto del Sole and headed back to Firenze to drop off the rental car. A quick taxi ride to the train station had us then on a train ride towards La Spezia and what would be our final destination of the evening, Cinque Terre.

We were headed through Pisa, so naturally there had to be a stop-off. Nona was worried about time, the kids temperament and a number of other things. Trust us, we said…and she did! Nona has been so chill so far on this trip and trusting in the Weatherly Travels nonchalant approach. Think she is loving it and hope it continues! What’s not to love in Italy! After hopping off the train in Pisa and checking our bags, we bee lined it to the Leaning Tower and Duomo. After lunch, snapping endless pics and then letting the kids run every last bit of energy out that they had in their bodies, we headed back to the train station, grabbed our bags and then zipped on towards the coast.

After hopping off at La Spezia and then back on and through the tunnel, we find ourselves just at dusk at Riomaggiore, the first of the 5 towns. Luckily, Luca, our Airbnb.com host greeted us at the station. Now, THAT is service! We did not know which train we would be arriving on but we knew it would be after 3pm. He figured it would have been 1 of 2 trains coming from Pisa and was graciously waiting for us. He took us up to the apartment which had a wonderful view of the marina in Riomaggiore. There was a major storm coming up the coast so he told us that we would most likely have rain during our stay. We unpacked and headed out to find a restaurant. Well, nothing was open and it started to rain, down pour, actually. We ducked into a grocery store, bought groceries, and ran back home in the rain. We were soaked from head to toe. Mylan looked at Nona and said ” Nona, your hair is small ” and laughed. Nona’s hair, like all of ours, was soaked and matted to our faces from the rain. We had a nice dinner and after the kids went to bed, Cierra and Nona ventured out to snap some night pics. The rain had stopped and it ended up being a great evening. All the restaurants were open (apparently they don’t open until 7-7:30pm). Cierra and Nona walked down to the marina and had fun getting some photos before calling it a night.

It was a long day, successful, but long. We just hope our luck holds up for tomorrow with the weather in that Cinque Terre will only be so much fun in Hurricane like conditions!