Italy Day 5

We departed from Poppi at 5 am. The man working the front desk at our hotel is a super nice guy, always engaging Bennett whenever he sees him. Joel talked to him the night before and he told Joel he'd have some breakfast ready for us even though they usually don't serve it before 7. Sure enough he made is a cappuccino, gave us some yogurt and brought Bennett some packages of his favorite biscuits. "For my little friend," he told us as he set them down. Like a dozen packages. As we were leavin we too two packages but he said to just take them all. He was by far the kindest guy at the hotel. 

The car ride to Florence was horrendous, just like our trip out. Joel said he even got carsick this time. Welcome to my world all the time! At the station we got an early train to Pisa, about an hour away. 

Once there Bennett had the pleasure of another scenic diaper change:

We took pics with the tower (on Joel's phone), and took pictures of the big duomo there. 

(Yes his hands are always in his pants)

The artistry on the exterior of the church was amazing! 

It was a shame we couldn't go inside because of a wedding. We did go inside the baptistery though. 

We stopped for a quick panini then made our way to Cinque Terre. I have sooo been looking forward to this part of the trip because there is nothing I love more than beach towns on the Mediterranean. 

Our room wasn quite ready so we had lunch. I had a shrimp scampi and Joel had ravioli. The scampi was GOOD. It was almost like a fettuccini sauce since it was a little thick and fishy tasting enough to remind me that it was the real deal. Our goal is to find grilled calamari here, since that was our favorite dish in Greece. 

Then we make our way to our hotel. From the reviews online I knew it's be a lot of stairs. This was INTENSE. 

Flight #1:

Flight #2:

Flight #3: 

Half of flight #4: 

No there were no camera tricks.  It was steep. There were probably 100 steps. It's hot here. Joel had to make the trek up twice since the first time I refused to go up, not knowing if it was correct. He also brought all our bags up. If we don't tone up with all the inclines we're walking and all the sweat we're dripping, then I don't know what kind of regime we need. 

It was worth it though. This place has great reviews. It was also really cheap, about €100/night and has great views. It's called Miguel's Guesthouse and Miguel was here to greet us. We sat on the terrace and he brought us a big bottle of water. This was a surprise as a 1.5 liter bottle of water goes for €4 in this town. Then as we were sitting, waiting for our room to be prepared he brought over a big plate of fruit! 

It was really the best welcoming with the greatest view. Miguel is an artist and I'm pretty sure he painted the artwork in our room. 

After we finished our fruit, as we were leaving the patio, Miguel asked if we wanted some extra bananas for Bennett since he saw how much he enjoys them. His nephew helps him run the place and he's been very welcoming as well. Joel asked if there was a place he could hang some laundry after he washed it in out sink and he said, "Just give it to me and I'll wash it for you." The cost? Free. It's just really nice to meet kind people, and knowing the Stairmaster workout we're going to make daily (multiple times daily?) is worth it when we have a welcoming home to come to.