Ciao from Italy

Hey all!  I met up with my friend Mike Harris in Monterossa, Italy. We hit the beach and did some hiking around the Cinque Terre towns of Corniglia and Manarola. From there I caught a train into Pisa to check out the leaning tower, that is really all there is to do there, and then on to Firenze (Florence). I have spent the last few days in Firenze, and today I caught a bus out to Siena. Siena is a little town in the Tuscan countryside south of Firenze. It is the place where they hold Il Palio, which is pretty much a no holds barred horse race around the main square in the city. You should check it out if you have never heard of it, pretty crazy. Tomorrow I hop a train for Napoli (Naples) the home of the pizza. Enjoy the pictures!

Houses in Corniglia

View of Corniglia from the start of the hike

View of Manarola where we are hiking to

Terraced hills full of grape vineyards

Mmmm future vino.

Boats in queue to hit the water in Manarola

Town of Manarola

We finished the day by jumping off of this rock into the sea. The water there was a good 20ft deep. You could see cleat to the bottom.

You know what this is ;)

The Duomo in Firenze, construction began in 1294!!

Frescoe painting on the Duomo.

More Duomo.

Climbing to the top of the Duomo, this was crazy!

View from top of the Duomo.

Copy of David in the Pallazzo Vecchio, the original is housed in the Galleria dell Academia which has ridiculous lines to get into. Good enough for me.

Arno River.

Cathdral, I forgot the name.

Another cathedral.

Cool reflection on the way up to Piazzale Michelangelo.

Sunset from the Piazzale.

Yet another fake David at the Piazelle!

View of the Piazza del Campo in Siena where they hold Il Campo.

Alley in Siena

View of the Duomo in Siena.

Buildings in Siena.

Distance shot of the Duomo.

I like this one!