On day seven, we left the romantic gondolas, canals, and bridges of Venice and headed for the home of the Renaissance, Michelangelo’s David and some of Italy’s best gelato. After museum visiting, dome climbing and people watching, we were ready for our, as Rick Steves would say, “a vacation from our vacation,” on the Italian Riviera. From our base in Monterosso, one of the five villages of the Cinque Terra, we hopped the train to the furthermost village of Riomaggiore. From there we started our trip back by way of the shoreline path. Being refreshed and re-energized, “Hedibloom” whisked us off to the Tuscan hill town of Siena by way of Pisa. The best preserved medieval city of Italy, Siena has much to offer the visitor, from a traffic free city center and a café lined main square to its city hall tower and black and white cathedral. Continuing our exploring of the hill towns of Italy, we next visited, by way of Assisi, the Umbria area. With a goods night's sleep in a rural farmhouse outside of Baschi, nearby Orvieto, perched high atop a rocky plateau, enticed us with its fantastic views, cave tours and later, a winery tour.
