Nuovo Gianduia Acqui Terme

... them like that any more (thank f**k!). I can't even remember how to ask for 2 beers (which is my current minimum requirement. It's 3 when Jamie's around). The lack of lingistic skills I have would be acceptable in most circumstances, but travelling with a Yank who is fluent in 2 languages that most Americans are even aware exist?!? Now that just doesn't seem right.

so left avignon today with thoughts to head to cinque terre, but due to traffic jam only made it as far as arenzano. found a cute pensione and jason was getting sick of driving so seemed like a good place to stop. tried a few others but was like walking through a sad run down old people town so didn't make it more than 5 mins there. well, happy hour time now, so will write more later....

... and the front day pack. At least it make me something people move out of the way for.

Spent most of my time getting lost on a bus. The average hostel I stayed at was at the very top of town and required 2 buses to get there. Was a nightmare trying to work out where to get on and where to get off. Ended up having to get elderly Italians to walk me to the right bus stop.

The hostel I stayed at is a dodgy chain ...

... WickedCamper! You can call it me and Chris’s first home together! Its pretty cool…the design we got is called ICE AGE and has an adorable penguin on one side and a confused/angry looking polar bear on the other side! The back says “Live every day as if it is your last…because one day you will be right!” Haha…not anytime soon though….dont worry moms! We do get quite a few looks while driving which is fun! When we open the trunk there is a ...

... the kids!! So now I have learnt to eat a whole pizza!! Which I could never do before. But given that the pizza here is no thick crust, less oily and not topped with such packaged meat that may well be made out of road kill!! The best pizza I have had so far is a vegie one with eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, spinach, varying in these and some other roasted vegies. SO YUM!!!
But definitely needing to cut back on the amount I am eating. Otherwise there will be an ugly ...

... hier noch ein paar Bilder vom Schiff und vom Mitternachtsbuffet.

Sicher kann man in den wenigen Stunden die man in den einzelnen Städten ist eine Stadt nicht richtig kennen lernen. Man kann nicht jedes berühmte Gebäude anschauen oder alle Museen besuchen. Aber man bekommt doch einen Eindruck von der Stimmung, den Leuten, deren Mentalität. Und es macht Lust auf mehr :) Mehr Städte mit mehr Zeit und vielleicht ein bisschen mehr Sonnenschein, in den nächsten Ferien vielleicht...

... We passed some scary area with blacks and Chinese imports shops and returned to Via Balbi (the main street to the train station). We went to a cheap restaurant. The food came quickly but wasn't so great. I had the gnocchi alla Bolognese. Mom had some pork and Janet took a carbonara again. The bill was 37.50 euros (6 euros for bread!??!!).

I wrote this on the train... Jan 6th, 2008 at 21:30.

... they left for McDonald's. I met with Ricca at about 7pm but Mom and Janet were gone. Ricca and I went around to look for them. Later they returned to the plaza. After that we had a long meal in Shanghai Restaurant with Ricca's papa and his gf. They don't speak Cantonese. Food came really slowly and they weren't authentic.

Ricca ...

... not watching (almost!) any TV for the past 3 1/2 weeks. The kids have adapted well without any complaints for the most part except that they miss their friends. Micki and I hiked from Corniglia back to Vernazza in the early afternoon. Tomorrow we leave the Cinque Terre and are going to head for the Lake Como region and then on into Switzerland and maybe Germany for a few days. Who knows, at this point we just see how we feel and go from there. It is a nice state of mind! Ciao.

... their work ethic, their devotion to family, and their satisfaction with simply what's next door. Yet at the same time, we are currently living other, seemingly conflicted ideals that we respect and encourage just as much - the search for knowledge about the world, the experience of seeing other cultures, the tastes of the different foods, and the exposure to people who are completely fulfilled, ironically, without the need for these things. And the funny thing is, we ...