Twice a year, Daniel has a work conference when everyone from the region gets together. In the past, the conferences have been held in Ireland and Bavaria... this spring, it was held in the tiny town of Tirrenia, which is just south of Pisa in Tuscany. Since Daniel planned the entire conference, he had to head down early on Saturday, April 3rd, and then I joined him there on the afternoon of Easter Sunday. That evening the dinner we had was one of many great meals we'd have in Italy during the conference... it was a very nice start to the week!
Monday was a low-key day for me. Since Daniel was busy coordinating everyone else's arrival at the conference, that morning I spent some down time reading a book while listening to the waves wash up on the beach outside the hotel. In fact, the hotel has a pretty nice view of Tirrenia's beach and up toward the next town of Marina di Pisa. In the afternoon, I went with my friends, Jan and Sarah, also from Frankfurt, to walk along the waterfront in Marina di Pisa. The Monday after Easter (aptly called "Easter Monday" over here) is also a holiday in Europe... therefore, many Italians were out taking in the sun, sea, and the town market, and we enjoyed doing the same. Then the three of us walked back to Tirrenia. After grabbing a gelato, I walked along the beach by the hotel for a little while too... it was wonderful to be near the water again. I really miss living near the ocean.
On Tuesday, there was a spouses' lunch for all of us in attendance at the conference. Following lunch, the whole group of us took the bus into Pisa... some of the families decided to go check out the Leaning Tower, while the rest of us jumped on a train to the nearby town of Lucca. Even today, this quiet little city is surrounded by a 16th century Renaissance wall... originally Roman walls protected the settlement. Now the walls are topped with paths perfect for biking and walking. Once inside Lucca's walls, we strolled past churches, squares, stores, and market vendors.
One of the town's unique features is the Guinigi Tower, which actually has a garden on top of it. Eventually we found ourselves at the Piazza Anfiteatro... due to its oblong shape, it is believed this was once a Roman amphitheater, but now it's home to cafes and shops. Following a lovely afternoon in Lucca, we made our way back to Tirrenia.
Wednesday was dedicated to hiking the Cinque Terre, which I was really excited about. The Cinque Terre is a cluster of five towns hugging the coastline in the Italian Riveria, just north of Tuscany. There's a trail right along the water that connects the five towns, allowing you to hike from town to town while enjoying the gorgeous views. Jan, Sarah, and I were all thrilled to have an opportunity to see this region, so Wednesday morning we hurried into Pisa (thanks to a very interesting taxi ride!) and made it just in time for the 9am train. About an hour and a half later we arrived in Monterosso al Mare, the town furthest north in the Cinque Terre. As soon as you debark the train, you are greeted by an awesome view of the sea and rugged coast to the south. We couldn't have asked for a better day either... the sun was shining brightly and the warm air felt so welcoming after months of winter. Eager to get started, we headed to the trailhead on the south side of town.
The first part of the hike was pretty strenuous, but the beautiful views of the surrounding area definitely helped take my mind off the burning in my lungs and legs! As we climbed up along the hillside, we could see back towards Monterosso as well as ahead to the rest of the Cinque Terre.
As noon approached, we caught our first glimpse of the next town, Vernazza. It really was a sight to behold... a picturesque little town nestled into the shoreline below. I couldn't help but take dozens of photos... plus I was trying out our new SLR camera for the first time so I was even more shutter happy than normal :) In Vernazza, we decided to have lunch at a cafe where we could also take in the lovely harbor.
After such a pleasant stop, we got back on the trail, once again enjoying the view of the town behind us as well as looking forward to what lay ahead. The next town in the Cinque Terre is Corniglia, which is actually perched high above the coast on a plateau, making it the only one of the five towns that does not have direct access to the sea. Once we arrived in Corniglia, our main aim was to find the town's one gelato shop and get a cone of the yummy stuff... we finished off our gelato while relishing the breathtaking perspective from the Santa Maria Belvedere.
Feeling quite satiated, we continued south heading towards the town of Manarola, and of course, delighting in the beautiful views all the while. Manarola is another quaint village of colorful homes balanced on a foundation of seaside rocks. As we walked through the town, it was so funny to see that instead of parking cars along their streets, they park boats! We also went by the train station... I must say that the people waiting had a pretty nice view of the ocean stretching out in front of them.
After walking through the town, we headed toward the Via dell'Amore, the portion of the trail that connects Manarola to the town of Riomaggiore. The entrance is marked with two hearts covered with locks... these "locks of love" are placed there by couples to symbolize their undying love for each other and then they throw the keys into the sea. Many more locks can be seen along the path, and I've also seen locks of love in other Italian cities, such as Florence and Rome. As we neared the town of Riomaggiore, we found a cute little bar with a fabulous overlook of the water, so we stopped and had a drink... it was a great way to end our hike. Soon we made our way to Riomaggiore, the last town in the Cinque Terre. We arrived just in the nick of time to grab the train back to Pisa. On the train ride, despite our sunburn and weary legs, we reflected on what an amazing day it had been... the Cinque Terre is a spectacular place.
Thursday was set aside for another wives' outing. Over 50 of us, wives and children, climbed onto a bus that morning looking forward to our first destination, Siena. Since I had been to Siena back in December with Daniel and his family when they were visiting, I was excited to get back to this charming Tuscan town. Unfortunately, the ride there was, shall we say, interesting. The bus ride was a bit bumpy and hot, so one little girl's breakfast decided to come back up and a few others almost did... it's never a good sign when plastic bags start getting passed around! Needless to say, the rest stop we took lasted quite a while... almost three hours after we started, we finally arrived in Siena. Since the bus ride there took longer than expected (not even taking into account the extra long rest stop), we found out that our second stop of San Gimignano would have to be taken off the agenda for the day. Even still, at least we had a couple of hours to take in the sights of Siena, so I went by the magnificent cathedral and then leisurely meandered around the main square, Il Campo, eating and shopping and appreciating the afternoon.
As we loaded the bus to head back, the mishaps continued. Since Siena is set up on a hill, large buses must park outside the city and passengers take a shuttle into town... unfortunately, when it was time for us to take the shuttle down to our bus, a few of the wives were lost, so they missed the shuttle. In order to reunite the group, I ended up running back up the hill into Siena, finding the wives at the shuttle stop, and leading them back to our bus... at least I got a pretty good work-out in that day :) On the ride back to Tirrenia, not surprisingly the "fun" continued with a few more people feeling sick, so a couple more rest stops were in order. Despite these setbacks, I tried to pass the time by admiring the Tuscan countryside as we drove by. By 5 0'clock that evening we had returned... thankfully, everyone more or less survived our very interesting day :)
My husband and some of his co-workers had barely left Tirrenia during the conference, so that night a few of us went to eat up in Marina di Pisa. Before dinner we walked by the town church and along the waterfront and enjoyed the quiet, which was followed by another excellent meal.
Friday morning was spent preparing for a retirement ceremony for one of Daniel's co-workers... I didn't have my camera during it, but it was a very nice event. Below is a picture of the Frankfurt wives taken after the ceremony. Following the retirement, everyone got to relax at a BBQ and field meet. Unfortunately, Daniel didn't get to stay the whole time as he had to go back to the hotel to attend to some conference details. While he was gone, I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the egg toss, "Dizzy Izzy," the fireman carry, and tug of war... even the wives got in on the action during the tug of war. As you can see below, I got a little bit into it :)
The BBQ was an enjoyable way to end the conference... on Saturday, we were on our way back to Frankfurt. While I had a great time over the course of the week, I really wish I could have spent more time with Daniel exploring the area. Maybe we will be able to squeeze another trip down to Italy during our time over here... and if not, we already have plenty of wonderful memories of time spent in Italy together. As always, thanks for reading... I hope you'll be back again soon!
