Cold Caves to Cinque Terre... more Tuscany!

On day three in Tuscany, Doug, Kyle, and I went to Grotta del Vento (Wind Cave in English) about 45 minutes from where we were staying. Thankfully we were prepared for the 10 degree weather inside the cave. We had a 2 hour guided tour inside that was really informative. Unfortunately, I remember about 2% of the information we were told. Here is one little tidbit that I do recall: inside, the humidity is close to 100%. Because the humidity is so high, the cave has been used as a place for a kind of respiratory therapy for people with problems such as asthma. The moisture in the air 'captures' the allergens, keeping the air extremely clean. After a few hours of just being inside the cave, patients were alleviated of some of their symptoms. That's all I got. The cave was nice to look at too :) 

The following day, we roamed through the towns of Siena and San Gimignano. 

Delicious delicacy in Guangzhou; annoying and ubiquitous in Siena.

Silly kids

They were cute. I'm a creep.

Creepy sculpture in both form and placement.

My bro throwing stuff at cicadas.

Next stop: Florence. Before Kyle's flight back to Vancouver, we had some time to wander around. 

It took a while before I realized that Firenze and Florence are the same place. Duhhhhh.

I heard a little girl ask her father "Dad, why are they all naked?"

Gelato stop. Obviously.

A few hours after we said our farewells to my brother, Kyle, I stood anxiously at arrivals waiting for somebody very important who I hadn't seen in far too long. 

Hi Conor!

Back to Bagni di Lucca

Since Conor had spent the previous day traveling, we thought we would take a day off from adventuring and stay in Bagni di Lucca. 

Which meant we could spend two+ hours having lunch...

...looking at views like this...

...and enjoying lots of wine...

and grappa before our nappa (or siesta or whatever an afternoon snooze is called in Italian).

All rested up, we ventured into Lucca for the evening.

Conor and I spent our last full day in Tuscany in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Cinque Terre!

We went to the first two villages of five: Riomaggiore and Manarola.

Stopped for some refreshments :) 

And then for a quick dip in the sea.

Beautiful ceramic tiles at one of the train stations. 

Via dell'Amore is a pathway connecting the two villages. 

That's all for Tuscany! It was absolutely incredible to see my mom, Doug, and Kyle. The next day Conor and I had a full day of travel from Lucca to Bologna by train then Bologna to Palermo, Sicily by plane. It was hard for me to believe that I was only half way through my Italy trip after seeing so much already. 

Italy Part II is next!

Please leave comments :) Ciao for now.