We called into Pisa on the way to Portofino. The bell tower of the cathedral in Pisa is definitely leaning. Looks really quirky against the cathedral building. Raining a little bit today but still enjoyable to walk around grounds.
Andrew trying really hard to push the tower back straight!
Alexandra leaning against the leaning tower of Pisa!
I am so strong I can lift it with one hand!
The tower isn't really that tall in real life!
Not a good day to visit Portofino and Rapallo on the Italian Riviera. Nevertheless, we got the feel of the place and can imagine the scene in summer at this exclusive beach club by the sea.
Restaurants and hotels just line the Corsa by the sea overlooking the yachts and cruisers. The villas obviously owned by the rich and famous are nestled up the hillsides around the bays. We all decided it would be a nice place to base yourself for a walk along the Cinque Terra which is just 10km down the road.
Just 30km on from Portofino driving into Genova the rain turned into heavy snow and just got heavier. Hard to imagine such heavy snow on the Italian Riviera.
And just got heavier!
We decided to continue onto Torino rather than stay in Portofino. It was a slow trip as we pretty much followed snow ploughs all the way along one of the largest highways into the night.Police blocked traffic in long tunnels to pull trucks off the road. The trucks were lined up for miles along the freeway in the tunnels. They were allowed to continue after putting on snow chains. The police light up the lanes to direct traffic with fire/flare sticks.
Even the petrol station was snow bound and it had a roof over the bowsers. After we filled up the tractor moved piles of snow!
Even though this photo doesn't show it well, the snow was very heavy and being blown horizontal. Very cold filling up the petrol, or so it seemed watching the hired help from inside the car!
We also made this a toilet, coffee and hot chocolate stop. The outdoor seating area would be very nice in summer I am sure.
Even the petrol station was snow bound and it had a roof over the bowsers. After we filled up the tractor moved piles of snow!
Even though this photo doesn't show it well, the snow was very heavy and being blown horizontal. Very cold filling up the petrol, or so it seemed watching the hired help from inside the car!
We also made this a toilet, coffee and hot chocolate stop. The outdoor seating area would be very nice in summer I am sure.
We arrived in Torino with no accommodation booked at 7.30pm. Within half an hour we were having a beer in our hotel room because rather than doing three laps of the city looking for our booked hotel we just booked into the first one we found!
No mistake that we are in our plushiest digs yet. Alexandra and I picked the place for our chauffeur to stop and went in to check it out while the hired help and his copilot waited out front!
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