Albergo Degli Amici Monterosso

... the Med before taking us inland and through the olive groves. <br><br>On arrival at Portofino we were greeted with a similar village to those in Cinque Terre but not quite as quaint. Not sure what all the fuss is about...Santa Margherita wins our vote.<br><br>Back at Scooby for lunch of bbq chicken wraps and biscotti for dessert, then onto the autopista to lovely Lucca. <br>

... town stretching among the hills to frame the see... not too bad to wake up to if you ask me! Before exploring the other cities we walked through the streets of Manarola down to the marina. Boats lined the streets as they are docked for the fall and winter. It made me think of how lively this place must be during the summer.<br><br>A little bit of a drizzle in the morning but the rest of the day turned out nice, even a little sunshine. We walked Via dell'Amore from Manarola to ...

... you share the road with the train. <br><br>Departing Munchen was actually quite simple thanks to the BMW Navigation System Dawn ordered with her car. The BMW system is now all contained on a hard drive so there is no need to insert various DVD's of regions that you may be traveling in. BMW programmed in the map system for all of Europe prior to our arrival and will reprogram the car for the US before they ship it over. It is a lovely system ...

It's Saturday morning and I'm hitting up this internet cafe on my way through the begining of my day long hike through Cinque Terre.<br><br>I left San Fillippo yesterday with happy memories and sad steps. I really did enjoy so much about my stay there that I truly didn't want to leave, but alas my faithful readers needed something more excited to read so I have graciously decided to continue on this path of a new ...

<br> Tuscan Riviera Portovenere<br> Had seen it on Getaway and looked very pretty.. Found a hotel with sea views and have spent 2 nights here resting , climbing around local castles&#8230; eating sleeping and watching the boats go in and out&#8230; not much English here but we are not hungry or thirsty so all going well&#8230;.<br> Tomorrow we are off to the South of France.. 3 nights planned in Nice.. Really looking forward to it but have loved Italy&#8230;

... make it a palindromic number.<br><br>As I had been hiking I took a photo of me by the sign post for each city. Fittingly, when I reached Monterosso, the last stop, I looked for a sign post but didn't see one so opted for just a random sign with the name on it. I stooped down for my long-arm photo, and the camera turned off. The screen just read: Battery exhausted. Amen, sister!<br><br>I am not a backpacker, I do not stay in hostels, I do not hike. I don't know who I've become ...

... per person per night and checked out the next day. They checked into the Hotel Souvenir at 25 euro per person and enjoyed the younger crowd.<br>Kristin got severe stomach cramps after drinking her usual summertime drink, a Pina Collada. A few hours later ...

... the train station, and the final village; Riomaggiore, was only 30min more by foot. At that point we were spent and took the very crowded, very fragrant train back to Monterosso for more gelato. After our excellent hiking, and sampling the local seafood at our hotel, we decided the next day would be spent enjoying the ocean, and just chilling out. A little yoga on the terrace and we were off to the beach. The beaches here are stone, which is a little tough ...

... shore and the boat was bobbing up and down precariously. We were in awe, as this would NEVER be allowed in Canada. We managed to get seats, but by the time everyone had boarded it was standing room only. Fortunately it was only a 5-minute ride back to Monterosso. We stopped at the train station to purchase our tickets to Naples in two days' time (planning ahead) and came back to the room to shower and blog. Jim is holding up very well considering he ...

... Italy, seeing that most of Lago Maggiore is...Well, I chose the place as far north on the lake as I could, and we had quite a drive to get there. Anyway, it was well worth it. We camped during our three days on Lago Maggiore, and at our campsite I was plunged head-first into an Italian speaking staff. Sink or swim...and my very very rusty skills (and sign language) managed to find us a fairly good campsite. While on Lago Maggiore, we spent ...