Week 2

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Hey everyone,

Its been one week since our last confession...blog...I mean blog. It is our last day in the Cinque Terre town of Monterosso. According to our original itinerary, we should be headed to Tuscany somewhere, but somehow this sleepy little town sucked us in and we ended up staying for an extra two nights. And we still managed to do practically nothing but walk around and sit at the beach. Did you all know that this area used to be a major pirate town? Oh a pirate's life is a wonderful life...

Well, the last time you heard from us we were writing in Bolzano, near the Dolomite region. After that, we headed to Venice for two nights, then the Cinque Terre, and tomorrow on to Florence for two nights.

In Venice, we stayed in a one room apartment that looked like it hadn't even been cleaned since the last people stayed there. Old beer bottles still sitting by the trashcan. But it was all ours, tucked away in a remote maze of Venician alleyways. We drew ourselves a map the first time we walked out of the room to guarantee that we could find it again on our own, but it wasn't necessary. In fact, we only got lost one time over our entire stay in Venice. We were looking for a pub that we had read about in a guidebook and I thought I knew the way. The girls followed me into a dead end alley that looked as if it had been splashed with fresh blood. Whatever it was, we didn't bother hanging around to inspect it. Helen bolted first but I quickly overtook her. You know what they say, you don't have to run faster than your assailant, just faster than your other companions. We ran back from where we came and saw some people, who we then followed to civilization. We found another bar and had no more problems. Besides, its actually quite hard to get lost on an island. It's not like you can go anywhere.

Oh, by the way, Helen and Briene jumped in the Venice Canal... You got some esplaynin' to do!!

Well, it took us literally a whole day to get to Monterosso in the Cinque Terre from Venice, but it was a great lesson for Train Travel 101. We had a spot reserved at a hostel here, but when we arrived, a woman approached us and asked us if we needed a room. I haggled with her and managed to get us the same price as we would have gotten at the hostel, so we decided to take a look. Hey, it looked better than a hostel, so we took it. Plus, we were able to just ask her if we could stay another night...and another night...because we ran into her about ten times a day.

The population in Monterosso is something like 1200, so we literally know at least half the town by now and run into the same people several times every day. We made friends with a couple of local girls who we've been hanging out with every night and they've showed us the ropes and filled us in on all the town gossip.

One of the reasons we decided to stay longer is because it was raining our first day here. We had to stay another day in hopes that it would be sunny. The next day it was supposed to be sunny, but it was overcast again. Finally, the sun came out on the third day and we spent it on the beach lounging in chairs on the private beach of Monterosso, swimming in the crystal blue Mediterranean sea and eating fresh pesto, which originated in this region. Picture perfect day, but we got a little sidetracked and didn't notice how red we were turning, at least me and Helen. Needless to say, that's not gonna feel too good with a 50 pound backpack on. But live and learn, and then get aloe vera gel.

Today again, it was overcast and raining, so we just walked around the town and decided to take this time to catch up on our blog. And we've finally put some photos on a CD so you all can take a look at some of our adventures. Enjoy!

We miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Ciao!

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Photos

Lake Como, Menaggio
Hanging out with some friends we met at the hostel.

Bolzano
Getting lunch at the open air market in Bolzano.

Venice
Standing in the famous Piazza San Marco in Venice.

Cinque Terre, Monterosso
Long arms photo of the three of us hangin out on the shore of Monterosso. Yeah, that's a castle in the background. Probably of a pirate...

Monterosso
beautiful

Monterosso Beach
Belle Ragazze

Beach
Tanorexic

Comments

[mom colewow]

GREAT PICS, IT LOOKS LIKE PARADISE ANDOUR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS TO ADD TO THE SCENERY. bRIENE, WHEN I SAID TO WATCH YOUR SPENDING I DID NOT MEAN FOR YOU TO TAKE TO PUBLIC BATHING, ESPECIALLY IN THE CANAL!! AUNTIE KAREN AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING ITALY WITH OUR "SEASONED" TRAVELRS. HVE FUN LOVE MOM COLE

[Momma]

We miss you
We miss you all. Looks like you are having a jolly good time. Hey did you hear the newest Pirate joke? you'll have to wait! We love yu all. Take care of each other and be careful. Briene, keep your top on! Oy Vey! Dios Mio! P.S. We miss Hector too.

[Uncle Pita (Mark)]

Nice Pics
Hey gals, Nice to see you are all having fun while we all "Work are Butts" Off in the states... The blogs are noce we are keeping up with them. I did not want to send too much on here because you should be HAVING FUN. Not computing... Don't bring any Italians home with you... Love Ya All Markie..