Monterosso,
Italy
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Second time around. We were in the finishing sentences of this blog when our computer timed out. So frustrated we will begin part of our story. We start the day out with rain, wind but warm temps. Refreshed from a very good nights sleep we dress and start into the village. The first shop by our hotel has very unusual jewelry which we had admired from the windows last evening. The jewelry is made of precious stones from Italy, mother of pearls, black and white, quartz and corals and other beautiful stones. After much time and many Euros we finally make our choices and depart further into the village. We walk up the mountain through the tunnel into the heart of Monterossa and discover a pottery shop...more bad news as Cindy collects pottery. Somehow the sleep had made us forget about the heavy luggage and many steps of the previous day. We make our purchased and Deborah discovers a beautiful, quaint little church dating back to the 1500s. We light candles and say our prayers and admire the beautiful architecture. Moving on further into town we discover a very old church which predates early village. It is under reconstruction of plaster walls and carvings. You must picture this village, tucked into the walls of the mountain, small narrow cobblestone streets winding deeper and higher into the mountain. We stumble upon a little shop with the regional spices, which we had been searching for. We buy different spices and the nice young Italian guy gives us each a bar of Italian fresh smelling soap. By this time it 2:30 pm and hunger has overtaken us....first meal of the day. We dine on the most delicious meal of the trip, spaghetti with olive oil, roasted garlic and red pepper flakes. oh lala. Showing our spices to our waitress, she tells us how to prepare the different spices with our meals. We had the most delicious crunchy bread sticks and somehow many packets ended up in our possession....we have developed many new talents! Since it was rainy weather we were not able to board the ferry to see the other villages. Deciding to move on to Switzerland we head back to our hotel to once again repack our luggage. But, once again the jewelry shop by our hotel called out our names. An hour later, and a few more Euros short we get back to the hotel. Packed and ready we are determined today to handle our own luggage. We have a plan and begin walking in the rain to the train station.....fashion at this point is not our major concern. Two determined blondes on a mission. We arrive at train station, after managing all our luggage and stairs to discover we had missed our connection to Switzerland. Our only option for the night was to take a train to Milan and connect for Venice. The train clerk told us to wait at platform 1 since we are in first class, car 1. Car one passes us and stops at the other end of the platform. With three pieces of luggage each weighing 100 lbs, 2 bottles of water, 2 purses and those stolen bread sticks, we run through the obstacle course of people to car 1. By this time the conductor is blowing his whistle for final call. With Cindy on board and Deborah still on the platform, Deborah began to heave the luggage up to Cindy. Remember the conductor is looking at Deborah still blowing his whistle. Determined not to get left, all luggage somehow is on train and Deborah grabs the handle and off the train starts. We make our way to our compartment and find a nice, quiet Italian man already seated. Being the determined blondes we are, we try to engage him in conversation. Still unwilling to communicate, we pull out our Italian translation book to converse. We discover he works for the railway station and is headed home to Geneva. He ask where our friends were since we had so much luggage. "No friends all ours" was our response to which he chuckled. This broke the ice and we continued our conversation. He ask if we were from the states and we pointed to our map, which he replied "North Carolina". He had seen our country on TV and thought it was very beautiful. His name was Luccianna. He pointed our many beautiful towns, one being Portofino, a beautiful seaside town. Hindsight, we should have used our extra day in Portofino. Our friend departed at his stop where we encountered new compartment mates, one being a grumpy old Italian man. When seeing all the luggage in the compartment he was not at all amused and began to probably say some unkind things with hand gestures about the American woman. At this point we just wanted him to sit down and shut up. Knowing he did not speak Engligh was to our advantage because his new name is asshoooooole.....!!!! It is not a good thing to cross to hungry, tired American blondes tonight. He breaks out his sandwich and beer for his dinner. A few minutes into the ride our 70 plus pound luggage decides to join him at his feet, spilling his beer all over Cindys luggage. She quickly jumps up to accommodate the situation. Deborah is standing ready to grab the Italian book to say "so sorry asshola! payback is always hell!!! Once again settled we are trying to determine what hour we might arrive in Venice. Once in Milan we change trains, but thankfully no stairs this time. We board our first class car with luggage when Cindy proceeds to ask the conductor if we are on the right train and if our tickets are paid through Venice. He begins with some explanations which obviously she did not understand. He looks at Cindy and ask "Do you speak English?". He quickly dismisses her and tells her to get on the train and sit down. He begins to explain to Deborah that because our last train was late we had missed the EuroStar and the intercity train was the last train to Venice tonight. Tired, cold and hungry we take our seats and break out the chips and cookies. We arrived in Venice around 12:15 am to a very scary platform filled with people sleeping on benches and guys standing around consuming alcohol. Not the best situation to be in, we rapidly managed our luggage down the stairs towards the station where we encounter more stairs. Half way up a nice Italian man and his son assist....we truly miss our Southern gentlemen, but again angels were sent. In a heavy rain, we depart the station and walk across to the first Hotel Bologna looking for a room....remember we are 2 days ahead of schedule. He is full but calls around to find us a hotel. Arriving at Capital Palace Hotel it is now 2:00 am. Happy to have a warm, dry place, we get our room 110. Another blonde moment.....we are trying to get our key to work unsuccessfully when Deborah discovers we are at room 111. Quickly and quietly we remove the key and move into our room. This is heaven.....CNN and English are a welcome sound. The room is large and warm and we sink into our bed for a good night sleep. Cindy calls Chris and Nick and now it is 2:30 in the morning. We get to bed around 3:00 and determined not to miss breakfast head down to the restaurant at 8:00 am. We have been sitting at the hotel internet to catchup on the blogs for now 2 hours. As we have been so sweetly reminded by Sparky.... we will leave with Ciao.......which means "goodbye"...not a dog with a big black tongue or food.....thanks love....Have a great day...we are rested with our stomachs full getting ready to explore Venice on a rainy day......Love to all....We miss America...God bless the USA!!
