Kevin and I have been in trouble since we first stepped foot into Italy. We have been warned, ticketed, scolded and yelled at. I think we are Italy’s troubled children tourists.
We drove into Siena, Tuscany yesterday (Wednesday). We had some errands to run so we set out for town.
Our concierge warned us that there was a prohibited area in town and we should put that into our GPS so as not to go there with our car. Well, we were on overload with our list of things to do and I had no idea how to put these prohibited places into my GPS. And then there is the language barrier. Even though she spoke english it was with a strong Italian accent and I thought maybe “prohibited” wasn’t exactly the word she meant to use.
So we blew it off. Big mistake!
There are cameras in this prohibited circle of town and we must have been captured on video several times. Then the policia came over to the car and scolded us for driving our car in the prohibited zone. She had us pull off to the side so she could take a picture of our license plate and told us we would be getting a ticket mailed to us. Well, the good news is: we didn’t have to take care of it immediately!!
But if looks could kill 🙁
Apparently this prohibited zone only allows emergency vehicles and taxis. It is an old time gothic sort of renaissance area. Actually very cool and they just limit the cars so people can walk around the shops and cafes without cars trying to make their way down the narrow streets disrupting everything. Kind of a good idea I guess 🙂 And yes there were other vehicles driving about so we had no idea we weren’t supposed to be there until we were approached by the policia.
I did approach a taxi driver to ask if the parking was for taxis only and I got quite a scolding from him. I couldn’t quite make out everything he was saying but I did pick up on the tone and he was not happy with me. Guess there were some red flags we should have picked up on.
Moving on.
Cinque Terre (Chink way tear ray) is the Italian pronunciation.
We took a tour there today and what a treasure!! Cinque Terre means “Five Earth or Five Lands” as it is called. It is a string of seaside villages on the rocks and cliffs of the Ligurian Sea which is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea.
We began by driving an hour from Siena to Florence where we parked our car and met up with our tour group and guide, Marco. We began our drive into Florence at 5:30 AM. From there we took a bus for two hours to La Spezia where we were able to board a train that took us into the five villages of Cinque Terre.
La Spezia used to be revered as one of Italy’s most beautiful cities prior to WWII. Mussolini set up his headquarters there and it took a 33 day bombing, destroying the entire city. Such a shame!
The five villages of Cinque Terre are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Vernazza is considered the most beautiful of the five and is also one of the most beautiful villages in all of Italy. The villages are built on the edge of mountains and cliffs next to the Sea. Marco shared with us that back before Cinque Terre was recognized as a World Heritage site, the people of the villages would paint there houses according to their occupations. It started with the fishermen painting their houses a bold color so they could see it from the sea when coming home. For example, if you were a fisherman you would paint your house red and a farmer would paint their house green. They are no longer allowed to paint the outside of their houses but it is still very colorful.
Corniglia is a very small village that you have to climb over 400 steps to get to. The steps are nicely maintained and actually very nicely built for the trek but over 400 steps just the same. But at the top is a very quaint little downtown area with shops and restaurants. Actually, all five villages are loaded with steps. I was exhausted by the end of the day. But well worth the trip!!
We began the morning at the second village to avoid the crowds at the first village. That is where we got yelled at. Carlos, our tour guide warned us that the locals don’t like tourists in their towns everyday and they are very verbal about it. He said not to take it personally. It was kind of hard not to this time because it was directed specifically at Kevin. We hadn’t even been in the town for five minutes and Kevin was standing in the road trying to get the perfect picture and didn’t hear the van coming up behind him so he didn’t move. Not only did the guy honk but he also yelled at him both verbally and with non-verbal queues. It was kind of ok at this point though because we were getting used to the scoldings and looks of disapproval 🙂
All in all, a great day! Perfect weather, beautiful scenery, full of adventure and fun being the bad kids!!
Se sorridi, viene meglio
This is such a treat! Fabulous photos and a wonderful narrative. It’s very kind of you to share your experiences. Thank you Denise and Kevin!
Thanks for joining us Kate!
Naughty kids can’t take you anywhere 😂🤩
We are so bad!
We did a tour of Italy some years ago. Cinque Terre was one of my favorites! You can’t beat the scenery!! You’ve captured it beautifully in pictures!! I love your posts. Keep them coming! ❤️❤️
Beautiful photos and history lesson!!
Nice work getting pulled over! 🤣
Yep, get the bail money ready 🙂
The scenery was the best! So far my favorite in Italy!
Wow wow wow! What an awesome travel blog you guys have made. Everything makes me so jealous! (Especially sagrada familia, long time bucket list for me.) At the risk of outing myself as a millennial, can I get a few more food pics? That pizza in Cinque terre got me going.
Thanks Owen! More food pictures to come!
I’m laughing reading this! Reminds me of Sean & me driving in Rome where we later found out we were definitely not supposed to be! We didn’t get caught though – not sure how not! 😃
You got lucky!!
Amazing scenery and stories.
Our only experiences in Italy occurred in Rome, so I’m really enjoying hearing about the places you’re visiting.
Speaking of Rome, we had seen Roman ruins in Germany, but in Rome, they are abundant. They love their cats and have made a sanctuary for them in some of the ruins, we walked by a few times and even went inside once. They have a clinic there. We appreciated the police presence in the crowded areas. I felt very safe and ventured out on my own during the daytime while Richard attended business meetings. On our last evening, we just happened upon a free concert in the Pantheon, which was near our hotel. It was wonderful! Perfect ending to our time in Rome. The history is fascinating.
Looking forward to hearing from you on Rome.
Yea it’s super crowded. We walked around tonight and it was nice. I felt safe also.
Reminder:. It’s good to have the goal to stay outta jail😂