When we were booking our tickets to catch the train from Rome to Cinque Terre, we made sure that we had a little pit stop in Pisa. I had seen many a leaning tower photo in my life and I was excited to get mine. Something I didn’t realise about the tower is just how pretty it is. Again, just like everything else in Italy the quality and detail was exquisite. We only had enough time to travel to the Leaning Tower by bus, have a quick little stop at the markets where we picked up a few souvenirs and head back to the train. Check out some of our tower pics below. 😊
A couple more hours on the train and we arrived in Riomaggiore just in time for a sunset. We got some accommodation this time that would give us beautiful views, and they were just that. I can’t believe just how much I took lifts for granted in Australian accommodation, because Cinque Terre was FULL of stairs!
The past two weeks had been spent going from one sight to another and the next two days were going to be spent looking at gorgeous views and leisurely taking in all the charm of these colourful little towns.
Cinque Terre is made up of 5 little towns just a few km’s from each other. We were staying in the first of the 5 towns running up the coast line. Before heading out to see the others, we headed into La Spezia to go to church. We had to pay about $50 AUD to go to church and back. It was a quiet Sunday morning and I remember saying to Nathanael just how easy it would be to not purchase tickets and save money. Not that we were going to, but you could easily see the temptation. We bought tickets for every single bus/train/metro we went on for our trip, the cost of which can add up, but our tickets were only ever checked on the long train trips. When we were at church we met a couple from America who were also waiting for church to start. We got talking and they shared how one day they decided to instead of walking ONE bus stop they just jumped on the bus and thought they would try and use their tickets from the night before if anyone was going to check. They also hadn’t been checked in their almost two weeks of holidaying. Well they were checked and both were fined 75 EURO each which is about $240 AUD for not having a ticket for a couple of hundred metres walk. We left church and jumped on the bus, validating our tickets as usual, and then within seconds there were workers there checking our tickets and nearly every other mode of transport we took for the rest of the trip they were checking our tickets. We were so grateful that we had paid $5 AUD for those tickets and done the right thing. Sometimes we make mistakes and there are consequences for those choices but there are also opportunities to learn so that we can make a better choice next time.
Over the couple of days we were in Cinque Terre we wanted to explore the 5 towns. There are actually hikes that you can take to each of the 5 towns instead of taking the train. Some are an easy 30min walk along the shoreline (however at the time we went this was under repairs), others were a little more challenging but we wanted to enjoy every bit of this experience.
We hiked between the fourth town and the third town and it was quite the challenge. Taking about 3 hours and some very steep hills I was SO proud of myself for taking the opportunity. We enjoyed stunning cliff views and walked along the sides of mountains. Some of the paths even went through peoples back yards as they lived on the side of the mountains. This was such a unique experience and one I will forever treasure. Nathanael was so supportive of me and encouraging me when it got hard. Even Nathanael found parts of it tiring.
We also did another hike the next day from the third town to the second and that took about 1.5-2hrs. These hikes were some of my top memories from our trip. The emotions and bonding time I had with Nathanael took me back to my dating/early days with him. On the sides of those mountains as he asked me his signature “would you rather” questions and filled the conversations with his annoying ‘supportive’ comments that make my soul happy and irritated all at the same time. This was us. Without kids and without responsibility, this was who we were as a couple and at the end of our trip it united us stronger and gave us the courage to remember to ‘hike’ for the rest of our lives.
Cinque Terre was filled with colours, glistening oceans, warm sun, homemade lemonade on the cliffs edge, so many stairs, the best gelato of my entire life, port hole windows, a broken bed that leaned, oh and that time I fell off a cliff. Okay, so it wasn’t that drastic but I had climbed up on a ‘cliff’ (a small rock face) to take this photo of Nathanael and when I jumped down my toe caught a little fleck of broken rock and I fell. I was blessed with an ordinary landing which kept me and baby safe but I had definitely earnt the ‘fell off a cliff’ label.
Just the other day Annabelle saw a photo of Cinque Terre and said “I want to go there” it was an awesome feeling to tell her that I had been and that one day she could go there too if she wanted. What a blessing my life has been and that my husband can work hard to provide us the opportunity to budget, save and go on these adventures.
I was very sad to be leaving Cinque Terre and to be heading into our last night in Italy, but also knew that going home meant a new chapter would soon be starting in our lives and that was one we had waited for for so long too.
We headed on the 5hr+ train to Saronno where we would spend the night before flying out. We walked around the town and it was very charming. It reminded me of Christmas time. It was cold so we were rugged up and there were twinkling fairy lights throughout the town centre. It was quiet and as we listened to the music play in the street it felt romantic and simple.
After way too much deliberation on dinner we finally decided on a place. There actually weren’t too many options and my desire for the last night to be ‘perfect’ was coming at a cost of us getting hangry. After we decided on, of all places in Italy – an Argentinian restaurant, we sat down and looked at the prices. Why had we already committed! It was an expensive place, but we were there and we were going to roll with it. Well, aren’t we glad we did that! It was incredible! It was one of our food highlights from the trip. So tasty and the service made me feel like royalty. Turns out that all that deliberation made for a ‘perfect’ last night.
Oh, did I mention we actually stayed in a hotel that night, so I got a proper bed and regular sized shower. Hurray!
The next morning we headed for the airport. We were in the line to check in and it was going to take about an hour. I said to Nathanael that if I got everywhere else quickly with this bump why not try again. Nathanael being the type of person he is was happy to stand in line for the WHOLE HOUR. No sir, not me. I walked right up to the fancy business class line that is pretty much always vacant, flashed my bump and was told to go get my husband and his bags and come right up. YES!
We had asked for a spare seat on the flight to Italy and told we couldn’t get one. This time we asked again and we were told the same thing. After knowing that I really needed a spare seat and if they only had a couple spare on the flight I would truly be grateful for one I persisted. I wasn’t dramatic about it but I did share how much of a struggle the flight had been and if they could do anything I would be so grateful. The lady understood and called her supervisor and asked for one of the spare ten seats to be allocated to us. She agreed and it truly made a massive difference. I was able to get sleep, stretch out more and avoid any unwanted bodily fluids exiting.
I made a commitment from there to only ask for things like spare seats if I were really in need of one because I would hate to ever take away a seat that I only WANT from someone who really NEEDS it.
On our flight home we chose a cheaper option that would give us an 18hr layover in Bangkok. The city was only about a 30min train ride from the station, so we decided to have a day in town. In planning our trip, we were perhaps a little bit more optimistic about how much energy we would have when we arrived -we were absolutely smashed. So we decided to get a little hostel pod for $40 and spent a couple of hours napping before heading out.
Our time in Bangkok was quick but we were able to go to some markets, shopping centres and walk around and enjoy our time. It was SO hot. We had gone from 10-15 degrees to almost 40. We had lots of fresh juices that day! We headed into a shopping centre and grabbed some gifts, tried out a whole bunch of new items at their Maccas and then before heading back we enjoyed our second massage for the day.
When we finally arrived at Brisbane Airport we went to collect our bags but someone else had taken one instead. Travel tip: double check it’s your bag before taking it away because you are responsible for getting it back to the airport if you get it wrong. The poor guy that took ours travelled 1.5hrs away only to have to bring it back and return home AGAIN. The airport then couriered it out to us the next afternoon.
Arriving home late Friday afternoon we called it a night early. I was awake from 2am due to the jetlag and by the time 8am rolled around (with Nathanael was still sleeping) I decided to head to the gym for the Saturday morning class.
I’m really glad I just jumped straight back into it. It meant that when Monday came I was ready to get back into the routine and not waiting for ‘next’ Monday to happen.
Mid Saturday morning came around and my baby girl was driven back home to me. During our video chats in Italy she really hadn’t seemed to care much that we left, but when she saw us you could see it all over her face just how important we were to her.
The whole day and for the next week or two later Annabelle stayed pretty close to us and made sure that we were touching constantly. Sometimes she would come over to touch us to make sure we were still here in the flesh.
Going back to earlier in the part in the post when she saw the pretty coloured town and wanted to go there, we told her that we had been there and she asked if she went. We reminded her of her time with Grandma and her cousins and that we were gone, but she couldn’t remember. Although she has individual memories of times with her cousins in Rockhampton she doesn’t remember us leaving, but we sure do.
Now I’m not saying this is for everyone, to go overseas without their little ones, but I hope sharing our story might give you the confidence to go if you are unsure how your kids might handle it. We never thought we would be the kind of parents that would leave like that, but things change and it’s okay to revaluate your thoughts.
It’s been a real blast sharing our journey with you. I am so glad that I will have these memories for us and our future generations but truthfully, I am excited to be free to go back to writing about what really excites me….the nitty gritty parts of life.
Vi voglio bene, Sarah Kay, xx
P.s. See below for some more photos of our last legged adventure.
