http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Liguria/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Italy , Liguria en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:38:26 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:38:26 UTC Cinque terra was awesomeStayed in apartment converted into hostel which had a balcony from which we could see the ocean The village we stayed in was called Riomaggiore and had one street and lots and lots of stairsFirst day we did the walk from Riomaggiore the 1st village to Monterosso the 5th and last village. Was really beautiful walk along the cliffs and through olive groves and vineyard http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-351246.html After leaving Rome i arrive a few hours later in Florence for 2 nights. Florence is a beautiful city. There was no trying to look ancient or remain that way like Rome it just was. I wish i had headed for Florence earlier instead of staying in Rome But it is a romatic city and would be enjoyed more by two people.I regret I only had 2 nights there.So from Florence it was across to La Spezia which http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/La-Spezia/blog-345101.html Things are moving fast after a little scare about being able to get into Italy with an eight month round trip ticket bought long ago in the dreamy days of work VISArsquos andhelliphellip.well quite a lot of things actually. But needless to say I made it from Chicago to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to Milano with out a hitch. The German customssecurity even let me through the airport wi http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Sanremo/blog-344387.html As happy as we all were to be back together the week has been a rough one. Jackrsquos foot which we were until Monday morning we thought was sprained was in fact broken and he returned to us with a HUGE plaster cast. Several company members took turns with a vicious stomach bug. With all the drama we still had to crunch to work out the last couple shows and get them on tape for archives. It http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Sanremo/blog-344383.html Had a very quiet weekend. Went to a neighboring town with Jack Imperia and started joking around about a travel show hosted by Tiny Tim. All three of us me Jack and Laura went to Nice Satuday for the morning and afternoon. Nothing too eventful went shopping with Laura Jack sat on the beach and read we did see the silliest Michael Jackson impersonator think dirty Mic Jagger with old ta http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Sanremo/blog-344376.html woke up from the damn church bells also bc we were excited to get up. i left jenn in bed and went walking around town to look for a place to wash clothes. found the only place in town 4 washers 2 dryers 1 dryer broke cost .... 5euro. i went and grabbed myself a formaccia sandwich i fell in love with them things. walked to the marina and found our restaurant we had reservations for tha http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-343286.html we woke up fairly early and checked out of the hotel monica 5 days 475euroWe got to the train station and bought tickets with about 5min to spare.... ok so we go to the track that we the schedule tells us. and unless youve been to florence you should know there are 2 track 1's one is on the main concorse and the other on a sperated platform. we get there and we the doors are closed to the trai http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-343281.html Cinque TerreOf all the hiking trails I've hiked the Cinque Terre coastal trail from Riomaggiore to Monterosso is up there perhaps the best by far only because it's unique and different to the other inland trails. Nature and history have conspired to create the Five towns known in this region as theCinque Terre Riomaggiore Manarola Corniglia Vernazza and Monterosso five land are tucked awa http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-340313.html 510TRAVEL DAY TO LA SPEZIAToday we were travelling to LA Spezia where I was catching the train to Cinque Terre. On the way we had a photo stop at Piza where we had fun taking photo's of the leaning tower of Piza not really much else to do there. I found my way to my hostel in Cinque Terre and dropped off my bags and went for a wander around the town it is so beautiful here it is just the most a http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-338615.html Well our visitors were gone for the week visiting southern Italy on the Almafi Coast Siena and Florence. We spent the week trying to get our apartment organized after the all of our furniture finally arrived Everything arrived safely nothing broken It was so amazing to sleep in our bed again after 2 months. We have made several trips to the Bologna IKEA. Jason is ready to never see that http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-338389.html Sorry this is so behind But I actually have been busy promise This will be my last entry for the Cinque Terre weekend that was the first weekend of October. My last day Sunday I decided to get up early and hike to the top of the mountain where Rio Maggiore was. I had been looking up at it all weekend and had been looking up at a church on the top of the hill. I kept thinking how awesome th http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-338326.html The Italian Riviera http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Imperia/blog-337294.html So this trip was a bit impromptu we found out that we had to evacuate our apartment so we were like hmm stay in florence or... go to cinque terre Cinque Terre is north west of here on the ligurian sea and its so beautiful. It is composed of five towns riomaggiore manarola corniglia vernazza and monte rossa. Our hostel which was this cute little bungalo was located at the top of a hill we http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-332952.html Continuing the saga of my weekend of October 35 2008 I left Pisa on Friday afternoon and headed for Riomaggiore the southern most town in the Cinque Terre. I arrived there after an hour train ride that included one transfer and some speculations about which train I should actually get on. The ride to Riomaggiore ends by going through a long tunnel through the mountain. The coolest part was w http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-331947.html Here are a collection of photos from our weekend in Cinque Terre 96 7 and more from my photo collection around Firenze As I explained in my blog which will be posted right after this a lot of these photos in Cinque Terre are from the INSANE 4 hour hike Kirin Kat and I took while the rest of the group shopped D . Hope you all enjoy http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-331071.html After leaving Florence and the Tuscany region our plan was to make our way slowly to our next 'base camp' in La Spezia on the west coast of Italy spending the day stopping and taking in the sites of Lucca and Pisa. But by now on our trip we were pretty much over seeing another town and the buildings it had to offer. We were day dreaming of the beach The weather was warm and all we wanted to http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-329101.html Before I begin I have to admit something. I am way too excited to do this blog any justice. You will read amazing superb breath taking awesome mind numbing spectacular wonderful and beyond words too many times to make an accurate assumption of this place. So in my opinion that just means you need to visit it yourself. Yoursquore probably thinking ldquoShe uses those words to describe http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-327809.html We left the Tuscan sun with a tear in our eye as the wine vineyards became smaller and smaller out our train window. We were off to discover a part of Italy that was slightly off the beaten track. The five small coastal villages making up Cinque Terre are known by few and have been experienced by even fewer originally recommended by Ewa's friend Flo. A short train ride to La Spezia and then an http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-327634.html Basically I wrote a lot by hand on my trip I'll get to it but for now... I'm exhasted http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-326481.html CiaoAs I write this I am putting off Italian homework. Some things never change no matter which country one is living in. So I actually had an interesting Wednesday last week that I meant to post about but never got around to before I left for the weekend. So I shall begin with my Wednesday.Last Wednesday I had my first on site class Art in Rome. We had class at the Roman Forum and the http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-326425.html Hey Do you want to hear a slightly amusing anecdote We've seen signs that post hours in Italian as 1100 2400 and in English read 1100am to 1200pm. It's kind of funny but it's also really thoughtful of them to have made an English sign in the first place so I'd never make fun of it. That's why it's just an amusing anecdote.... and I realize that the amusement is limited..... very li http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-325026.html So I got bored one day had the day off and decided to look on the map at Italy and see where to go to get a delicious cannoli. Oh the joys of living so close to the border. I decided San Remo looked fun so I walked down to the train station with Jasmine my partner in crime or the other nanny whichever you prefer to call her. After booking our train tickets we somehow ended up in Ventimiglia http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Ventimiglia/blog-324731.html We have been joined by our friends Sandy and John from Darwin. Spent one week in St Remy in Provence a very central and charming village. Provence is foodie heaven and we took great advantage of the excellent restaurants and wine. Of the many sights my highlights were Gordes Van Gogh trail in St Remy and The Pont Du Gard. I am sure each of us would have a different listFrom Provence we were re http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-324674.html Okay first off I need to elaborate on Ibiza cause 'fun' and 'a nice change lifestyle' just doesn't cut it. It was ridiculous. We went from pitching tents in abandoned loading docks to sunbathing on a yacht in the Mediterranean. The water was clear the beaches were warm and the people were beautiful. One of the meals we ate cost twothousand dollars ONE MEAL and the parties....I've neve http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-324595.html We arrived in Torino at night and checked into our 4 star hotel. Every hotel in Europe gets a star rating. Wersquove stayed in many decent one and two star hotels once in a while a three star but this was our first and to date only 4 star hotel we got a great deal on the internet. It was nice but nothing to write home about it. Wait I am writing home about it Ha ha Anyway the next da http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-324224.html Our train left at 9am for Pisa where we had a change for Roma. One change on the way back made such a difference than the umpteen we had made heading to Monterosso. We seem to be old hats at lugging and dragging suitcases now and posting 5kgs each back to oz has certainly made a difference. The train followed the coast from Pisa and then went across to Roma. Was a welcome change of scenery from th http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-323792.html On the track of Cinque Terre by to 8 with no one else around up as early to tackle the first leg. The trek starts with a lovely walk along a part of the promenade in the old part. Within a few minutes the steps are climbing literally towards the sky the road which seems like miles above us is looking closer and closer by the minute. The elevation was breathtaking for a number of reasons the fir http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-323790.html Clear as the deep blue sea....There's no other way to go about it other than jumping right in....literally. The water I jumped into this past weekend was so blue so deep and yet so clear I couldn't believe it. I'll rewind a bit.Joined by my friends Erica Patricia Sarah and Katie you'll be hearing their names quite a bit I ventured into Cinque Terre. Just about everybody from our program h http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-322396.html Finally we are staying put in McKinney for a couple of weeks. Our trip to Indiana for most of August was wonderful. We enjoyed spending time with Regina Terry's mom Dolan and Mary Louise Susan's parents. We especially loved being there for Dolan's 90th birthday. Dolan taught his dog Tinker to bark out I Love You and so his children 6 of them barked out I Love You to Dolan on his 9 http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Imperia/blog-321637.html Hi AllWriting this at an internet cafe where I've just uploaded a heap of blogs as you no doubt know already.Walked the Cinque Terre trail today...awesome tiring the elevation fantastic as were the viewsApologies for the incorrect spelling I know there must be heapsOff to Roma tomorrow will write more then and upload if we have the hot spot wifi free thingy going on.Having an absolute ball an http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-320901.html