Blogs from Monterosso al Mare, Liguria, Italy, Europe

Our last day in the Cinque Terre. As always it has been the greatest. Yesterday we just went exploring the five villages and I think we put in more miles than on our hiking days. I think this is the first time I have actually spent time in all the towns. Usually there is always another trail for me to try out. It is still the most beautiful part of Italy. Today we are off to Florence. We have one full day and two nights. Time to go David. More tomorrow.... read more

Aujourd'hui nous allons essayer de reposer nos pieds et jambettes...Nous irons aux 5 Terres mais nous ferons la visite en bateau... On descendra là où cela nous semblera bon, mais en principe pas partout... Nous reprenons donc le train qui nous mènera de Deiva Marina à Monterosso. C'est le bourg le plus occidental du territoire des Cinque Terre. Il est situé au centre d'un petit golfe. Le vieux hameau conserve toujours le caractère médiéval originaire avec ses case-torri (maisons-tours) et carruggi (ruelles étroites). L'une des anciennes tours défensives, transformée en campanile, abrite aujourd'hui la cloche de l'église Saint Jean Baptiste. À l'ouest de la commune, se trouve la plus grande et la plus fréquentée des plages du littoral des Cinque Terre. Les communes limitrophes sont Levanto, Pignone et Vernazza. Monterosso al Mare est desservie par la ... read more

This morning we had a chance for a little sleep in, and today was another "relaxed start", which basically means we don't leave until after 8:30AM. This is a feature of Insight Travel, and something I had trouble understanding in the beginning. Since I booked this tour under Grand European Tours, they had tours broken up by pace as in Leisurely, Comfortable, and Active Pace. After a discussion with Russ and Julie at dinner tonight, I realized that they had the same incorrect definition of Comfortable, Leisurely, and Active as I originally had. I thought that this had something to do with physical activity, and that Leisurely and Comfortable, would have less walking, less strenuous exercise, etc. and that Active would have lots of walking, steep hills, and lots of physical activity. But actually,these terms relate ... read more

Happy birthday to my sister Clare and nephew Harry! We enjoyed our breakfast this morning, sitting on the roof top terrace of our hotel. We got organized then started our hike to Vernazza. We knew today would be the hardest walk and had decided we would walk to the first town and then spend some time there before heading onto the next town later in the afternoon. We definitely underestimated how hard the walk would be in parts - the first part was just constant steps up for quite a long time! The weather was very hot too, which made it more challenging. There were times when we were walking through forrests and that was quite pleasant - these were the times we managed to chat in a more positive tone ?. There were so many ... read more

The train trip from Rome to Pisa went without anyone challenging me for my seat (se previous entry). Next was a 35 minute break until the train to Monterosso, on the Cinque Terre. The train trip from Pisa to Monterosso wasn’t without incident. I got on the wrong carriage, walked through the train to find my seat only to find out later that I had got the carriage wrong again, by the nice ticket inspector told me to stay there. Then, when the train stopped at La Spezia, the American couple sitting near me and also traveling to the Cinque Terre got off the train…. So I did. Then I realise I shouldn’t have (too late) and I had to wait until the next train, fortunately only a few minutes and then I finally got to ... read more