This morning before leaving Manarola we had a good talk with the owner of our hotel. His great grandfather owned the building in the early 1900s. The ground floor of the building had a wine press and a olive oil press. He said that back then the hills were covered with grape vines from the ocean to the top of the hills. Now he said that people who make wine in Cinque Terre do it more as a hobby. The name of the Hotel C’D’Andrean is for his Great Grandfather. It means house of Andrean. We really liked staying there. I hope we can visit again someday.
From Manarola we took the train to La Spezia and then to Pisa. We left our bags at the train station and walked about twenty minutes to the leaning tower. It was all beautiful and fun.
From Pisa we caught the train to Florence and walked to our hotel which is right next to the Punte Veccio. The bridge is the only bridge in Florence that wasn’t destroyed during World War Two. Today all the stores on the bridge seemed to be jewelry stores.
We went out for a walk. Florence is so beautiful. It feels like what I think of when I think of Italy.
I especially liked the wood carvers store.
I forgot to take my phone to dinner so I didn’t get any pictures. We ate near the hotel at Osteria I’ll Barroccio. The owner was very friendly. We had a great conversation about the joys of travel.
Marion's Blog 
Have your French and Spanish helped you in Italy or do you talk with Italians mostly in English?
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My question too Barbara!
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We speak almost all in English here. Most people understand and speak at least some English. The similarities to Spanish mean we can understand quite a bit of Italian. Italians we talk to say they can understand a lot of Spanish. We will probably study Italian if we come again. It enriches the trip when we can use the local language. Barbara, last time I was here is was with you!! 1970!
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And close to the same time of year!
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