Italy 2012 - Rome, Florence, Siena, Cinque Terre and Milan

[alexljy]

The Cinque Terre - 5 villages on the seaside of the Italian Liguria. For those whom are interested in visiting Cinque Terre, remember that it is a village, dont expect any good hotels or wifi etc. But nonetheless, it's a beautiful part of Italy, especially if you slow down and appreciate the life around you.

When you come out from the train station at Riomaggiore, this greets you

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Sunbathing on the rocks, a common thing to do in the Cinque Terre

Sunbathing on the rocks by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And the scenes on the easiest walk of the 5 trails - Via Del Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr


Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Seagulls patron the walks too

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

[alexljy]

Lowering a boat into the water in Manarola Harbour. The harbours are really busy in the summer, be it people driving boats out, or just swimming and cliff jumping

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Cliff Jumping

Cliff Jumping by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Manarola town.

Manarola by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Vernazza town:

Vernazza by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Riomaggiore town:

Riomaggiore just before sunset by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

[alexljy]

The water around the Cinque Terre is famous for being unpolluted and perfectly clear

The water is beautiful by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr


Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And the towns are of course famous for it's hiking trails in between each other. I didnt have the time, well more like didnt have the energy to do all the hikes avaliable, so I took the morning to hike from Cornigilia to Vernazza - a 4km hike which is relatively easy on the slope.
From the top of Cornigilia town, looking back on the train station.

Top of the stairs, Corniglia by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Apart from tourism, this is the main stuff that keep the villages alive nowadays, Cinque Terre wines

The many wine terraces on the seaside hills by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Cats are the common household pet in the 5 villages

Cats, a common attraction in Cinque Terre by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

[alexljy]

During the hike, you get a topdown view of some secluded beaches all around the coastline

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And seaside broadwalks

Seaside broadwalk by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

The towns from afar are the main highlights of the hikes, however there is not distinct viewpoints, so remember to always stop and take a look

Corniglia by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Vernazza

Vernazza by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

[alexljy]

Monterrosso Al Mare and it's famous beach rock

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And after a morning of walking, I took a boat ride across the whole of Cinque Terre, stopping at most towns and all the way to Portovenere
Here are the towns from the water, which IMO are a more beautiful view for most towns
Starting with Vernazza

Vernazza by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr


Vernazza by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And some sailing boats along the way

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Corniglia

Corniglia by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

[alexljy]

A shot of a cliff jumper in mid air

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Riomaggiore

Riomaggiore by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And a fellow traveller on the boat, enjoying the ligurian sun

Relaxing by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

The keep protecting Portovenere

Portovenere by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And Portovenere town, which I didnt have time to walk around in

Portovenere by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

That marks the end of Cinque Terre. I ll post up the photos for Milan soon. Feel free to leave any comments about the photos. Thanks

[alexljy]

Now for Milan, the world's fashion capital, and also my last stop. Milan as a city really can be covered in 1 day, but it has beautiful day trips out to Lake Como, Bergamo or Venice. Or if you prefer to do a uber long day trip, I did one up the Bernina Express into Switzerland's St Mortiz

The Duomo, Milan's tourist icon

The Milan Duomo by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Candles aplenty inside the Duomo

Lighting a candle by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

Piazza Duomo from the roof

Duomo Square by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And the main shopping gallery, Vittorio Emmaneule

Untitled by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

And a street shot of a lady as she spins on the famous bull's testicle on the gallery

A beautiful girl spinning on the bull by Alex - Lexphotos, on Flickr

[drewyaks]

nice pictures... may i know what lens you used for these shots?

[alexljy]

nice pictures... may i know what lens you used for these shots?

Thanks for your comments. Most of these were shot with a Nikon 28-300mm, with some shots done on a Tamron 17-35 f2.8-f4.

[gy92gy95]

Thanks for sharing the nice places. I am planning a trip to Italy too. May I ask the no. Of days you spent there? Hopefully you could send me your itiniery too. thanks very much.

[drewyaks]

Thanks for your comments. Most of these were shot with a Nikon 28-300mm, with some shots done on a Tamron 17-35 f2.8-f4.

I hope to seek your advice since i'll be going to Rome on Febraury. I'm still contemplating on whether to buy a tokina 11-16 to take photos inside st. Peter's Basilica, museums and churches. Right now, i only have a nikon 18-105 kit lens and D90 body. Is this kit lens enough in your opinion or better to get the uwa lens? Thanks...