Albergo Degli Amici Monterosso

... a lot of ground in a short period of time, but it does take its toll at times. It was a really odd experience to travel through a 13-mile long tunnel cruising at 100. Remember, this is the cruising speed. You’ll get much higher passing other cars, getting out of the way for the Ferrari coming up behind you or chasing the Ferrari that just passed. (Take a look at the speedo shot a few posts ago..) There is not a lot of room for error. Think ...

... ll see how it goes.

Tomorrow I am off to Milan, and kindly enough staying with a friend of the women who owned the horse place I worked at. Can't beat free, and many of the people that I met there vouched for him so, I'm off to another city. I'm hoping to make Milan, Verona and Venice by the weekend so I can go to Parma and see my cousin on the weekend. Wish me Luck!

Missing you all!
Benita

... from the area.

Originally, the only way to get to and from these little villages was by small fishing boats or an ancient foot path, which follows the coast connecting all five. Now, the path is well worn, and between a few of the towns, a paved path wide enough for locals tiny three-wheeled trucks to make some deliveries. There's now a boat that picks up and ...

Tuscan Riviera Portovenere
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… eating sleeping and watching the boats go in and out… not much English here but we are not hungry or thirsty so all going well….
Tomorrow we are off to the South of France.. 3 nights planned in Nice.. Really looking forward to it but have loved Italy…

After travelling for the last 6 or more months without a real break we thought we might just settle down for the winter, instead of heading back to London and back to work. We are plonking ourselves with some of Dino's relatives in Tuscany.
Shona can't speak a word of Italian, but is planning to learn and not one of Dino's relatives speaks English. It should be an interesting few months.
We ...

... make it a palindromic number.

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!

I am not a backpacker, I do not stay in hostels, I do not hike. I don't know who I've become ...

... euro 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.
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 ...