Saturday 26 April Our trip grew increasingly stressful the further south we went. The drivers grew more insane. They cut in front of us, tailgated and sped in long, dark tunnels that are concrete death traps. It was like doing the Bathhurst 1000 for five and a half hours straight. Obviously, more so for Danny than I. We passed Monaco which proba...

Day two in Cinque Terre! We went hiking at 10 am after a big breakfast (the first "American" breakfast in weeks and weeks). We started at the northern most town and started southwards, doing the hardest hike first. It was hard. There were over 1000 stairs, we counted. But, the views were to die for and even though it was insane, I would do it ag...

The plan for today was to take the train north to Monterosso (the furthest from Riomaggiore home base) and suss out the town and then to grab the bus from the next town of Vernazza which does a bit of a loop up through the nearby hilltop village of St Bernadino. However, after we had walked around Monterosso and then had some lunch, the weather ...

I woke up and went to the bathroom. Our second story window was open letting in some air and I hear a man calling my name from the street below. I had agreed to meet him at 7:30 -8:00 and it was 10:10. He had seriously waited for hours on that street corner. We tried to avoid him, to no avail. He walked us to the train station and bought us brea...

After an uncomfortable night in Florence we made it Riomaggiore with a brief stop in Pisa. We ended up with a small apartment to share with 2 other backpackers for 15 euro each. The last few days had been so hectic we opted for a restful day or 2 in Riomaggiore before doing the hike to Monterosso. Although small and on a steep hillside, Riomaggi...