Blogs from Monterosso al Mare, Liguria, Italy, Europe - page 2

I wake in a cold sweat. I remember what I wrote in the blog last night, and realise that it's probably offensive to a few entire countries. I hope no one's read it yet. I quickly press the "unpublish" button and make some radical edits. I decide that from now on blogging needs to come either before beer or a very long time after it. Today's the last day before a busy patch, so Issy decides that we should take it easy. She says she won't be leaving our balcony. A few minutes later she says that we need to go down to breakfast. She notices my puzzled look, and remarks that the 99% of the population who are less literal than me would have understood that her previous two statements weren't actually contradictory. I feel ... read more

Today was our last full day in Cinque Terre and we had planned to take the ferry between the five villages and photograph them from the sea. The Sea ... however ... had different ideas. It was storming and raining and we were told the ferry would be unable to dock at the villages. Maybe next trip. So once again we hopped on the train ... this time to Corniglia, the only Cinque Terre village not on the water. When we arrived we climbed from the station up a tall staircase to this small but beautiful mountain top village. We took a couple of rest stops but we made it to the summit. We spent about 90 minutes walking the narrow streets of this village that about 200 people call home. The word "quaint" comes to ... read more

Today was our first full day in Italy. We are staying in Cinque Terre, an Italian National Park featuring five historic fishing villages that could only be accessed by sea until the railroad arrived in 1929. The five villages and the park named after them are collectively "Cinque Terre," which in English means ... wait for it ... Five Villages! It is a picture postcard place with beautiful, brightly colored homes clinging to the sides of sheer cliffs, like infants to their mothers. We are staying in Monterosso al Mare, the northern most and largest of the villages. We rented a lovely apartment overlooking the Mediterrenean Sea. Moving south from Monterosso al Mare, the villages are Venazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Today we began to explore ... After a good night's sleep, listening to waves crash ... read more

This morning we left Rome and caught the train to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre means 5 towns. It is a small area on the west coast of Italy. There are 5 small towns on the cliffs next to the sea. It took us 4 hours by train to get to the town called Monterosso where we are staying. On the train I met a little boy called Danielle. He was nearly two. I made him a loom band bracelet and his mum gave me some biscuits. In Monterosso I played in the sea. I wanted to go swimming but Mum said it was too cold.... read more

ALL BLACKS V AUSSIES – RUGBY WORLD CUP Another slightly chilly start to the day but the glorious blue sky promised another cracking day to come. After breakfast we headed down to the Fast Dal 1989 Bar Monterosso to confirm the All Black v Australia Rugby World Cup quarter final would be screened live – it was! I had my All Black Jersey to wear and Jeanette wore the NZ Football away top (Black with a white fern). We also had our full size New Zealand flag so we were well prepared. It was about an hour before kickoff and there was already one group of New Zealanders there – four friends who live in London and took advantage of some cheap flights to spend a few days in the area. By the time kickoff arrived ... read more