Star President Genoa

... Eisenhower tunnel with more curves less light and cars going less than half your speed next to you for 11 minutes solid. It gets a little weird having inches to spare on your left and traffic on your right. And inevitably, once you emerge from the tunnel, you are immediately on a bridge that spans the space between the next tunnels. So there is no more room for error on the bridge, just better light, and then into the next tunnel… Over ...

so after getting through the Genova traffic because of the yearly boat show.....we arrived in the nice italian riviera.....had a really nice lunch and decided to stay here the night before heading to florence tomorrow. found a hotel and with a bit of negotiating, got quite a good rate. Jason made me do it because he thought it would help in speaking italian. i guess it did, on, he was right, but only this once lest it go to his head ...

Embarrassing isn't it? The bird (Jamie) speaks the lingo, FLUENTLY, in the 2 countries we've been to so far. And how do I get by? By attempting to communicate with the locals like Terry Scott in an episode of "Terry and June", where they holidayed in France for the week!! Communication menthods being, speak slowly and shout. My word, that was a funny episode! They don't ...

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....

... I sleep.

I'm just kidding, Mom! It's going to be fine. I will be safe. It will be fine. ;)

After Nice and Monte Carlo and Cannes I think I'm going to head north in France to Paris and then continue on to Milan and Lake Como, etc. I have been staying put for shorter stints than I expected.But I think that may also mean I ...

... earlier in the day, so had my suit on. And had just decided to throw on a dress over it and head into town for lunch. I got to the beach and stood calf-deep. Then I sat on the beach. Then I said, "Who needs a towel, I'll air dry! This chick is going swimming."

Then I took the bus home, thank goodness, because the hill to get home is a killer. And last night, because I'm an idiot, not only did I not check the last bus departure time and so missed it ...

... of the best meals ever. We began with crackers, salami and Sicily cheese, followed by polenta cooked in two different ways, then a very rich sea food salad (the octopus tentacles were too much for me to take!) then nuts, fresh fruit and cake followed. I felt like I was in a hotel not a couch surfers house! As he claimed it was also a special occasion he disappeared out of the room and came back with a 30 year old bottle of wine he had been saving. It was ...

... time that day, but was back at the airport by 7pm. I then had a 2 hour wait until my flight, then the 2 hour flight itself... involved lots of sitting around. The girl next to me on the flight appeared to have a death wish for us all, as while we were landing, she turned on her phone and tried to make a call, dismayed when she realised you don't get signal 1000 feet up in the air. Oh and just in case we did crash, she made sure she undid her seatbelt while we were landing too.

... 000 spectators while wild beasts were hoisted into the arena from trap doors and pulley systems built into the floor below. All this with the purpose of entertaining the crowd with little regard for your life. Gladiators entered the Colosseum floor from one side and after battles, their dead bodies would be dragged out the other gate. The price of entertainment... Another trip from base camp Florence was to Cinque Terre which is located on the Italian Riviera north of Pisa ...

... was so crowded they just let everyone on until the train could barely move. People on laps, in aisles, , and no air conditioning. I was waiting for the chickens to go by down the aisle. We went to pizza for dinner, I had sausage, proscuitto, mozzarella and tomatoes. THey don't really have sauce like we do, they just put it on like any other topping. So good. I then went home and tried to recharge my batteries for the camera, but instead watched ...