Italia - Pisa and Cinque Terre

To be short - I know it's winter now, but I couldn't miss to post these.
The next images were taken on a distance of approx 150km on the west coast of Italy: Pisa (Piazza dell Duomo), Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore, Groppo, Volastra, Monterosso al Mare), Levanto, Moneglia Tunnel, Sestri Levante.

To be considered:
- you must visit Piazza del Duomo from Pisa - who hasn't heard of the Leaning Tower from Pisa ?! All the 3 buildings (Baptisry, Cathedral and The Tower) are special.
- you must visit the Cinque Terre area - a UNESCO World Heritage - it is formed of: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare and they are all connected via tracking trails that passes wine regions; my recommendation is to acces them from La Spezia, as in Riomaggiore you have a parking place and many roads to Vernazzola, Vernazza and Corniglia are closed or rebuilt; you may consider also access the area by train; other locations in Cinque Terre area: Groppo, Volastra, Vernazzola, Carniglia, Levanto;
- you must pass the Deiva Marina - Moneglia - Riva Levante tunnel - it's a two-way timed and semaphored tunnel with a single band; you may have also a nice experience by camping in the tunnel, as there are about 3 camping places;
- you may visit Sestri Levante in a summer evening.

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Next, images:

Pisa - Piazza del Duomo

Baptistry, Cathedral and Tower

Pisa - Piazza del Duomo - Baptistry

 Pisa - Piazza del Duomo

Cathedral and Tower

 Pisa - Piazza del Duomo

The Leaning Tower

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Cinque Terre - Riomaggiore

Cinque Terre - Riomaggiore

Cinque Terre

Groppo - in front

Volastra - backwards

 

Cinque Terre

Map found in Volastra

Cinque Terre

Vernazzola, Vernazza area

 Cinque Terre

Vernazzola, Vernazza area

 Cinque Terre

Monterosso al Mare

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 Levanto

 Castle in Levanto

Levanto - Coast View

Bonassola

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 Moneglia Tunnel

Moneglia Tunnel

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Sestri Levante

 Sestri Levante

 Sestri Levante

 Sestri Levante

Sestri Levante

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Italia - Firenze

Being at the "Italia" chapter, I decided to create this post about Firenze.
I will not start with a wiki story regarding Firenze (aka. Florence), as I did by now for other cities, and this because Firenze is a well-known city worldwide.

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So, next, some images I shot in Firenze (Borgo La Croce, Borgo Santa Croce, Comune di Firenze, Piazzale delli Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza Santa Croce, Piazza Cesare Beccaria):

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Italia - Dolomiti, Lagazuoi - Giussani - Dibona, 1-day Track (part two)

Short Briefing
The Dolomites hiking trails are clear and very well maintained, being marked at each 100m with red-white bands. At the starting points and at the intersections, beside the red-white bands, the paths are numbered and wooden path indicators are present. Practically, it is impossible to loose the path if you have a trail map, which may be obtained for free at any info centre in Dolomites, or in exchange for aprox 2 euro at any souvenirs shop.

Track Map

Elevation Curve

Track Description
As described at "Italia - Dolomiti, Cortina - Falzarego - Lagazuoi, 1-day Track (part one)", once arrived at the Rifugio Lagazuoi, we stamped the Dolomiti Pass and visited some galleries and tunnels digged by austro-hungarians in the World War 1. We then followed the 401 path that lowered to Forcella Lagazuoi (2500m). From here we followed the levelled 402 path, where we saw some marmots; also, the valley you see to the north discovers beautiful views, whilst to the south, in the Forcella Col dei Bos direction, you will see many austr-ohungarian galleries on the ridges. Near the Forcella Col dei Bos, we found the intersection with 404 path that easy lowered besides the beautiful black rocks on the right until the intersection with 403 path; the 403 path easy climbed until the Scala di Minighel (alt. 2000m); here we firstly encountered some wooden stairs and we had a hard climbing of about 450m on a distance of 2km, until we re-reached the 2400m altitude. Around the rocky landscape you may see austro-hungarian fortresses from WW1. From here, we easy climbed to Rifugio Giussani (alt. 2550m), where we stamped the Dolomiti Pass and served a tea. The 403 path lowered from Giussani to Rifugio Dibona (2000m) where we stopped to stamp the Pass and then climbed back a little to follow the levelled 412 path, where we saw some black goats; 412 then followed the forest until the road to Falzarego.

Also, see this blog topics:
- Italia - Cortina d'Ampezzo;
- Italia - Dolomiti, Cortina - Faloria - Sorapis, 1-day Track
- Italia - Dolomiti, Cortina - Falzarego - Lagazuoi, 1-day Track (part one);

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Next, images I shot on this track:

 Forcella Lagazuoi

 View back to Lagazuoi

 View downside to Rifugio Col Gallina

 View to Ciadin de Lagazuoi

 View to Ciadin de Lagazuoi

 View to Ciadin de Lagazuoi

 Tofana di Rozes from Forcella Col dei Bos

 Forcella Col dei Bos

 View northside, following the 404 path

 Intersection on 404 path

 View from 404 path

 View back from 404 path  

 Intersection of 404 and 403 paths

 View to Nemesis (alt. 2750m)

 Small waterfall on 403 path

 View from 403 path

  Scala di Minighel

   Scala di Minighel

   Scala di Minighel

  Scala di Minighel

 View back to Lagazuoi from 403 path

 View of 403 path after Scala di Minighel

 View back to 404 path

 Relics of WW1 on 403 path

  View from 403 path

 Relics of WW1 on 403 path

 ... and finally we saw Rifugio Giussani

 View around from Rifugio Giussani

 Rifugio Giussani

 Near Rifugio Giussani

 Inside Rifugio Giussani

 Rifugio Giussani

 Lowering on 403 path from Rifugio Giussani

 WW1 relics near Rifugio Giussani

 Rifugio Giussani and Punta Giovannina (alt 2930m)

 Near Rifugio Giussani

 403 path lowering from Rifugio Giussani

 View back to Rifugio Giussani

 View back to Rifugio Giussani

  View back to Rifugio Giussani

 Rifugio Dibona

 View to Croda da Lago from Rifugio Dibona

 Zoomed view to Cinque Torres from Rifugio Dibona

  Black goat on 412 path

 Intersection on 412 path

 Dolomiti Pass

 Stamp at Rif Vandelli

 Stamp at Rif Col Gallina

 Stamp at Rif Lagazuoi

 Stamp at Rif Giussani

Stamp at Rif Dibona

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