La Baia di Rio Riomaggiore

... you share the road with the train.

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 ...

... bed every few nights... for your benifit of course!

It took two trains and three hours to arrive in La Spezia and another quickie up the hill to Riomaggiore which is where I am now. The most southern of the 5 lands. I was sitting on the train just enjoying the view, of mountains in the distance and houses speckled throughout farms, until we went through a tunnel, and I saw some flashes of light ahead and ...

... 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 ...

... jovial-looking place. We took our fair shaire of pictures and continued onto Corniglia, the trek to which wasn’t quite as challenging or long as we’d expected. Nevertheless, we decided it was time to stop for lunch — 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..


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..

Soo we're again on our way! Driving to Pisa!
Ok, everyone knows - the main sight of Pisa - Piazza del Miracoli with the ...

... old building’s and this was the first time he had flown
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.
The Swedes were traveling via train around Europe. They travel every year to somewhere different and try to use different methods of transport – 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.

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 ...