Day 16 of our Eurotrip and we’re FINALLY going to check out the main icons today via the touristy double decker buses in operation (we had a blast in Barcelona and thought we’d try our luck with the offering in Paris).
So, prior to brekky, took a deep breath so that Ee Laine and I could both fit in the world’s smallest elevator.
Hotel that we stayed at – highly recommended at $222 Euros a night (compared to other places that charge this amount for shoddy accomodation)
Today we’re leaving beautiful Cinque Terre for Paris and we started our journey pretty early in the morning (those stairs ensured we took AGES to get to the station with all this luggage in tow)
The last sight of Vernazza before we boarded the train… We’re going to miss you Vernazza!
Forecast for today was rain so it wasn’t a good day for hiking.. instead we decided to make our way to visit Pisa and it’s famous leaning tower.
This is the day that we’ve been waiting for since we first booked our flights 9 months ago… We’re doing the famous Cinque Terre walk today!
Expert tip – if you’re planning on doing this walk which takes you on a hiking path to all of the 5 towns, you’ll need to buy a day pass which is about 5 euros a person. If you get the pass from the train station, you have the option of purchasing this ticket bundled with unlimited train rides in between the 5 towns for 10 euros which isn’t a bad deal (you wouldn’t want to hike back where you came from… believe me)
Taking the staircase behind Vernazza trainstation which takes you onto the path, after about 15 minutes we got to a lookout which had a spectacular view over Vernazza.
This is one of the reasons why I hate travelling… If only the airlines and trains worked around MY own personal timetable. How inconsiderate… I’m sure the journey ahead to Cinque Terre will be worth it (that’s what I kept telling myself over this 12 hour journey)
OK, if you’re ever visiting Barcelona… Expert Tip… Don’t plan to do ANY shopping on a Sunday because, with the exception of bakeries and emergency services… EVERYTHING IS CLOSED! And when I mean everything… I mean EVERYTHING… even ZARA is closed.
Unless you want to fill your shopping suitcase with bread based products… do your shopping Monday to Saturday… You’ve been warned.
With our 2 day bus passes now expired… we had to do today’s exploration of Barcelona on foot. We decided to visit the “Gothic Quarter” and then swing past the Chocolate Museum (Ee Laine’s eyes lit up when the tour bus mentioned “chocolate” and “museum” together…
Walking down La Rambla towards the sea, we turned left and ventured into some small alleys to get to the Gothic Quarter.
People in Europe have it good.. they don’t work very hard… I mean this was one of the 3 coffee shops in a 6 block radius that was open for business at 8am in the morning. Seriously…
The coffee there was so atrocious I didn’t even bother taking a pic of it.
Anyway, we were off this morning to see the jewel of Barcelona (well… i’ve been told it’ll be pretty amazing when it’s finally finished in the next 500 years)
I’ve been told that the Tour buses which runs loops around Barcelona are the best way to see the sites around town. With the little research I did prior to this trip, I think this was one of the best decisions I made.
There are 2 main tour bus operators.. there’s the Red Bus or this (Bus Turistic) – we opted for this bus because they cover a larger area along 3 different routes compared to the 2 on offer by the Red Bus. The Bus Turistic is by far way more popular. If you’re only in town one day, perhaps the Red bus is the way to go as it’s not as congested with other customers and they cover the main sites anyway.
Today was the last day we had in London - had another wander around Oxford Circus before making our way to the airport.
