Cinque Terre to Pisa The trip today from Cinque Terre to Pisa was about 105 kilometers. Finding the campground in Pisa was more than a challenge. The narrow streets and the tunnels...could we clear the top of the Bothan?? Let's not try. We spotted a municipal parking for $20 Euros no services, but with bus service to Pisa. It is a very hot day.. "Millions" of tourists arrive at the "leaning tower" they seem to create a Gelato slurping, photo snapping mire. The tower began to tilt when the soil beneath it shifted. Galileo came here to conduct experiments on falling [View Full Entry]

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Cinque Terre, Italy Off to an early start, we were back on the train headed for Cornigilia to resume our hiking of the "five lands". The weather is much hotter today and were lulled into easy hikes yesterday, well today is a reality check. No tour buses here folks! Since the trails begin at the seaport or the train station, one knows it is going to be an uphill climb and so it is. The inclines and declines are significant, now this is hiking. Corniglia to Vernazza is only about 4 kms, but with the hot sun and the hills/cliffs it [View Full Entry]

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Cinque Terre, Italy Hiking the first three towns Our guide to the trails, follows a definite sequence, so rather than fight it we decided to go along with the program. The walk from the campground to the train station is maybe a kilometer. A Cinque Terre Trail Pass is required for hiking, so we picked up our train tickets and pass and were on our way to Riomaggiore. The train was loaded with hikers and hiking gear of all sorts and sizes. Hiking the first two trails was easy and crowded. Tour groups actually bus in folks so they can say, [View Full Entry]

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Levanto, Cinque Terre, Italy Our day began biking to the Tourist Info. As we learn more about Cinque Terre and its trails, we are fascinated and long forward to tomorrow's hikes. The trails actually begin here in Levanto, however the five main towns we had read about and researched were: 1. Riomaggiore 2. Manarola 3. Corniglia 4. Vernazza, and 5. Monterosso Our information is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a Mecca for hikers. There are trails everywhere with simple walks..... or extremely difficult hikes with inclines that are significant. [View Full Entry]

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Avignon to Arles It is AM here in Southern France and they all begin the same ...we get up... we get lost.... on some tiny road... with thoughts of never emerging, but somehow we find our way to a main road with real signs. So we can't read them...no big deal, we actually make up words for the obscure French words we are seeing. When we finally see our destination listed on the many, many round-about and signs... it is reason to rejoice. Our campground is Rosiers Pont du Crau; Pont du Crau is a small village outside the old town [View Full Entry]

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Nimes to Avignon We drove from Nimes to Avignon and found a small campground on the Island de Barthelass between the Village of Avignon and Avignon and the Rhone River. We walked from the campground...the wrong way... and soon discovered we needed to check the map. A lovely lady came along in her car and inquired, I think... about our problem. She insisted we hop in, and drove us to the Palace of the Popes, after picking up her son, Louis; she spoke no English and we spoke no French. However we communicated, and she jumpef out of the car and [View Full Entry]

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Nimes and Pont Du Gard We found a lovely little campground in Nimes, Pont du Gard, France... Domaine de la Bastide; it was a bit tricky to find. We were lulled into easy finds in Spain, because we found a camping book that had GPS coordinates. We have not been so lucky in southeast France; we have some knowledge in Spanish, but are clueless in French. So the happy dumb-wanders just keep going. Actually we have found everything we wanted to find and are safe and sound...that is a good thing. We began our day waiting at the bus stop, just [View Full Entry]

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Barcelona to Nimes The morning started with a neighbor/camper who was traveling across Europe walking/backpacking. He is from Auckland, New Zealand, and is raising money for SOS, a charity. He does charitable work with children that have AIDS, etc. After making a contribution, we invited him to join us for breakfast. It must be lonely to be traveling by tent, in and out of towns and know no one. He was a admirable young man with a good heart. It was a long drive from Barcelona, Spain into Nimes, France, and the tolls were many. It was hard to keep track [View Full Entry]

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Barcelona, Spain We now have the train system down...I hope. The weather is much more pleasant and we are off to walk the La Rambla in Barcelona; a lovely tree lined street in the middle of the city. Today is the Marathon here in Barcelona, and many streets are closed. We walked down the La Rambla... a famous pedestrian street in Barcelona, with venders and mimes. Greetings to our Rambler's in Pittsburgh that we hike with... couldn't help think of you all as we walked this tree lined street. The cable car was our next destination, it goes over the city [View Full Entry]

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June 1 UPDATE we are leaving Roma after 2 busy days on the way north May 16, 2008 One long drive with outrageous toll charges...848 kilometers.... maybe $100 Euros; probably the locals know a way around the tolls. We tried to get some photos of the Sierra Nevada Mountains as we were leaving Granada, they were lovely in the morning sun. We depend on "Matilda", our GPS system and either she blew it ...or the coordinates were not accurate. We were miserably lost in the seaport of Barcelona, after eight hours of driving; so we scrambled and eventually crawled out of [View Full Entry]

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