Basso Stefania Apartments Corniglia

We will be staying Riomaggiore (one of the five villages) and have booked our accomodation already at Casa Lorenza  We will be staying in apartment Nettuno.

What shouldn't we miss while we are here?

... randonne de 4.5 heures avec des vues incoryables sur la mer et les falaises.

avec le retard du train, nous somme revenue a Pise en debut de soiree. Apres un autre excellent repas accompagne d'un chianti local, je me lance a la recherche d'une auberge pour notre destination de demain : florence

... best friends by the time we left... 7 Euro well spent!!

Fri 13 Nov
Drizzle greeted us this morning so we got on our wet weather gear and headed off for a walk along the coast to Portofino which was 5km away. The wind blew away any cobwebs we may have had but it blew the rain away so we were happy. The walk followed the coast where we looked into the deep blues ...

... some shops and then all of a sudden there it was... the sun! We walked down to the beach and searched for pebbles before making our way to Vernazza.

The next town along with Manarola (where we are staying) is a bit smaller than Riomaggiore and Monterosso but just as, if not more beautiful. Vernazza is probably known mainly for its large scale (compared to the city) boating docks that wrap around the entire marina. The girls and I stopped for gelato before making our way ...

... you. And as I sit here and write this I have a window in front of my face overlooking the ocean. It is mesmerising, it takes my breath away, it is like a piece of my heart was missing as I haven't seen water in over a month, considering how many walks along the lakeshore in Barrie I was doing before leaving home it was almost like coming home again, seeing something familiar that made me just feel happy and safe ...

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…

... long to arrive in Riomaggiore. It thought we would have stopped and spent more time between the villages, but after some of the steep trails, we kind of got into a grove where we didn’t want our muscles to cool down too much. We do a lot of walking in our travels so I was surprised at how tired my legs got. I wasn’t doing too badly, but some of our guests had a much rougher time with the walk. Once we made it to Riomaggiore we finally grabbed a bite ...

... au chocolate, parma crudo, brie, yogurt, a ridiculous array of jams and fruits, cereals, etc. and soft boiled eggs and cappuccino on demand to be eaten on the lush terrace that straddled over the street. Needless to say, we didn't miss any breakfasts. The rest of the day, all day, was spent at the beach in front of the new town. We rented out two beach chairs and an umbrella in the front row of the beach. So close to it that at times waves would ...

... itself to berating at the old ladies in outraged barks of furious invective. The people behind us obviously decided that if you can’t beat the silver-haired upstarts then the best alternative was to try and sneak in front of us, which was just as obvious, ridiculous and downright comical as it sounds: I spent the rest of the wait warning Lyndsey to watch the lady with the wheelie-case ‘coming up on the rails’. The ...

... in healthy fish, pasta and pesto (or, as one proud Texan said yesterday, presto).

And finally, for now, the place in which I have stayed is run by Cristiana, her husband and their two little daughters. They have been remarkably patient with my lousy Italian and I have had a lovely room with an incredible view.

Enough for now...pictures will be updated when I can download them from my flashdrive...but on to Florence tomorrow.
ciao ciao
Michael