Although it wasn't a bad day, my wife didn't take any photos, so text only today. We packed up, checked out of the hostel, and hiked down the road to the train station. Our train to Siestri Levanti was a few minutes late, but otherwise no problem. When we got off in Siestri Levanti, we had about 40 minutes to wait for our train to Genoa, so I got my ration of capuccino and we all used the restroom... well, I think I did, but not so sure about the girls. Public restrooms tend to be a bit awkward and/or dirty for the ladies, like no seat! Anyways, we caught our next train and arrived in Genoa Bragnole Station. From the directions provided by the hostel, we decided that was better than the Piazza Principe Station, ... read more

We got up and took the train from Corniglia to Riomaggiore, intending to walk to Manarola from there, then from Manarola to Corniglia, then hop the train to Monterosso al Mare to take the last of the trails from there to Vernazza, returning to Corniglia by train. Confused yet? All five towns of Cinque Terre are connected by rail and by trail. Yesterday we did the Corniglia to Vernazza trail and wanted to finish them all. We got to Riomaggiore, one of the bigger towns along with Monterosso, and after shopping around, having the customary cappuccino and stocking up on water, we took the trail from there to Manarola. The trail is called the Via d'Amore and lovers/couples promise their unbreakable love by placing padlocks along the trail and throwing the key in the ocean. Fortunately, ... read more

Day 7 - Lucca Day 4: We got up in plenty of time for our taxi to the cooking class and were downstairs in front at 9:20. Unfortunately, the taxi driver the hostel called didn't arrive until 9:45, but swore he could get us there in time. After a very harrowing ride, we go there, at about 10am on the dot. Also unforunately, even though the hostel told us it would be 10 Euros, he asked for 20 Euros, and since we hadn't asked him beforehand, we didn't have much choice. Taking bus back! We found the room in the hotel where the class was being held, but they had already sort of started. To make things worse, the chef had apparently forgotten about us and I had to show him my receipt. Oh well, we ... read more

Day 5 - Lucca Day 2: After another late start, we arrived at the Lucca train station for our trip to Pisa today. Unfortunately, we got there at 10:42, which was when the train was leaving and even though most of the day they leave every 20 or 30 minutes, the next train was at 12:42. So, we bought our roundtrip tickets, for 2.50 Euros each, each way, then returned to stroll around Lucca and a brief stop in our room, then back to the station. The train was a very small local commuter type train with no ammenities. The trip only took about 20 minutes, including 3 or 4 stops along the way. When we got to the station in Pisa, Pisa Centrale, we realized that instead of being very close to the famous Leaning ... read more

Rome - Day 3 (Last Day): We woke up a bit late again, but since we'd hit the hay around midnight it was OK. we went to get some more water and gumdrops for the day at the nearby supermarket, only to discover they weren't open yet. 10am on a Saturday? Instead, we headed on down the hill again to the Roman Forum and coliseum area. We'd planned on entering and strolling around the Roman Forum, but after finding out the old entrance wasn't used anymore and that what I think was free now cost 12 Euros each, we decided not to spend the money. You can see most of it pretty well from the perimeter, so it seems rather expensive. Next, we'd decided to check out the Circus Maximus and then the river. I should ... read more

Well, normally we post an entry before we leave home, but things were a bit hectic, so no show this time. Instead here goes our first day of the Alexis2011 Vacation. Manoli, Alexis (my newly-graduated grandaughter), and I got a ride to the Pensacola airport along with my middle daughter Serena and her two boys. They were flying with us from Pensacola to Atlanta, at which point they continued to Greenville, South Carolina, and we took the next leg of our flight from Atlanta to Newark. All went well until we got to Newark and found out they hadn't assigned us seats yet and the flight was overbooked. We did finally get seats, all spread out around the big 767 and onward to Rome. We left Newark a bit after 5pm on Wednesday, June 8th. We ... read more