Suisse Hotel Bellevue Monterosso

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 ...

... train.<br><br>There was an information center right off the train and the lady laughed at us when we mentioned finding a place to eat lunch. I had read and she reiterated that many places close at 2pm and then reopen for dinner around 6pm. Contrary to her advice we found a place to eat and milked our time there with sodas, pizza and of course desert. A quick train ride from Riomaggiore to Manarola and a steep hike to the top of the city brought us to our hostel. The weather was ...

There are two more blogs coming from me. The cars of Europe and how you drive them. Let's touch on driving first. I know that many of you have driven over here, but for those that have not, here is a little insight.<br><br> Munchen (Munich) is a big city a lot like Denver. Normal looking highways and roads of substantial size and width. It was a good place to get accustomed to driving in a foreign land with new signs and traffic lights and rules ...

... 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 ...

<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;

... very happy (actually, bordering on ecstatic) when we discovered a bar at the top!! The owner is a genius... what a place for a bar! Everyone who gets there is hot, exhausted and thirsty... and sick of water! we sat and looked out over the beautiful view for quite a while. Corniglia is the only town not set on the water... it is on top of a hill, overlooking the sea... another pretty village. The walk from there to Manarola was a bit disappointing ...

... having a competiotion: whoever can guess our next destination will recieve a bottle of wine from us when we get back. Just post your guess in the comment section on the front page of our blog. The first correct answer will win. Enter as much as you like.Contest not open to residents outside the continental United States or Canada (Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico). Deadline for entries is June 30 2009. Here's a hint: It is in France, and is nice. Good Luck!<br>

... Jim had jumbo tiger prawns for dinner and I had ravioli stuffed with sea bass, served in a pesto sauce with shrimp and tomatoes. We shared a plate of grilled vegetables - eggplant, red pepper and zucchini - as well. The food prices aren't bad - this meal, including a glass of wine each, cost 44 Euros (= approx. $70 CAD). There is no tipping in Italy - instead, they add a cover charge to your bill. For beachfront dining, it's 5 Euros each and for ...

... morning back in California, so I phoned home to check in with the parental units since they'd arrived home the day before.  My mom reported that all was well and that Squirt and Lala had been very happy to see them.  We walked back down into town and caught a train back to Monterosso.  We noticed several lunch-size paper bags weighed down with rice with a candle in the center lining both ends of the streets.   One of the ...

... out. From there we headed to the last town Monterosso to get in the Sea. The path between these two towns was great it got kinda narrow in some spots. We ran into some people that were wearing Purdue stuff so we stopped and talked to them they had kids that just graduated. Right before the last town we had to walk next to a lemon plot and there was a guy with a lemonade stand. We stopped and got the freshest lemonade ever right of the tree. We ...