La Baia di Rio Riomaggiore

As the traffic had been horrendous yesterday we decided to hit the autostrada and pay the tolls to save our sanity and hightail it to our next destination. 130kms and 10 Euro later we arrived in Santa Margherita Ligure, which is just up the road from Portofino. <br><br>This place is a bit larger than we are used to and Italian towns all have small car parks and narrow ...

... the sun went away behind the clouds before we could actually watch it set. Instead we shared a bottle of wine at a restaurant near the marina and listened to the waves crash.<br><br>In my travel book we had ran across a restaurant that was in Manarola and had pretty good prices. Dinner was delicious as I have come to expect in Italy. Ravioli for me, (favorite) and a really weird fried seafood platter for Laura equipped with 'little fishes', calamari, and prawn (shrimp). It was a ...

... hesitation. You must pick a gap in between the trucks and/or traffic in the slow lane to weave in with. This is not that difficult, as I have said the truck traffic in this lane is moving around 50mph. <br><br>Stepping Out: As we all have heard you must be cautious when you step out into the fast lane. Most of the time this is not a problem. But here&#8217;s the catch. The cruise speed of the fast lane is between 95 &#8211; 105 mph. At this ...

... we zoom zoomed through this dark tunnel there were splashes of light, and I saw the...OCEAN!<br>It gave my spirit such a lift it was incredible!<br><br>I got off the train, and made like a crazy person to the railing, and just soaked it into my brain, I didn't realize that I had missed the openness of space, I had been cooped up in these busy busy cites, and then in a valley where everything is bascially closing in ...

<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;

... jovial-looking place. We took our fair shaire of pictures and continued onto Corniglia, the trek to which wasn&#8217;t quite as challenging or long as we&#8217;d expected. Nevertheless, we decided it was time to stop for lunch &#8212; especially since our buddy Rick (as in Rick Steves, whose guide books I now live by) had recommended a few restaurants in Corniglia. We settled on one that supposedly had some of the best pesto (which ...

... room with 12 guys.. including the homeless one who couldn't have wine on pizza night because he's simply not allowed, as per the court order.. why should I complain....), even if it meant not breathing much so there would be air for everybody and drying my hair/brushing my teeth between the fridge and the toilet. There also happened to be a heat wave (and lots of buses of tourists.. which somehow always ...

... shore there). But the beach of Monterosso is full FULL full of people..<br><br><br>We came back to La Spezia. Only on the way back I noticed how beautiful it is!! I realized I had no time to feel the town. Via del Prione is a very cute and nice street with tiny comfortable cafes and shops. I wish I could stay there longer..<br><br>Soo we're again on our way! Driving to Pisa! <br>Ok, everyone knows - the main sight of Pisa - Piazza del Miracoli with the ...

... old building&#8217;s and this was the first time he had flown<br>and it took a whole 1 hour to fly from his home town in Ukraine to Milan and he thought that was a long time lol. His sister was traveling with him and this was his break before commencing job back home.<br>The Swedes were traveling via train around Europe. They travel every year to somewhere different and try to use different methods of transport &#8211; drive, ferry, cruises etc ...

... pigeon. Really. The seagull was walking around like everything was fine and then all of a sudden he jumped and pounced on a pigeon. He flew around for a bit with the pigeon in his mouth and then took him off to the side and tore it to pieces. It was the freakiest thing I've seen yet.<br><br>I then had the evening to do what I wanted, but what is a single girl supposed to do on a Saturday night in one of the world's most romantic place? Get pizza and ...