September 22 & 23,2013 Miracle of miracle in this day and age: All of our forms of transport left and arrived more or less on time (and some were even early), and all connections were made. HOWEVER, it was a grueling 33 hours of being awake and negotiating the details of travel. For this reason we were delighted to find our B&B and its owners beyond amazing! But more on that later... We've decided to utilize a long standing Biagi/Ogden family tradition to structure this blog. Each of us will report a good thing and a bad thing for each day according to our perspective. And of course, we'll illustrate the posts with some selected photos. (Disclaimer: this plan assumes the spotty Internet access is available.) Sharon: BAD THING-- The sleepless for 33 hours ordeal. (Note ... read more

Blogging fail! I didn't realize I'd only saved and not actually "published" the previous entry. I apologize to anyone who might have been concerned about our safe arrival. Anyway, this blogging thing is not working out well on this trip, obviously. We were without internet altogether at our last stop (the lodge on the river we were rafting) and most places only have it near the "lobby"--often closes early or is out in the open air--not always convenient in the rain, which we've had way too much of! (Note to self--and anyone else thinking of visiting CR--go in April or May! If July is the "beginning" of the rainy season, I can't imagine the height of it (supposedly September/October)!!! The other "problem" is that we've been way too busy to blog--which is a good thing, right? ... read more

Our day and a half spent in Milan were quite a contrast to the previous few in Cinque Terre! Back in a big city, we readjusted quickly to the pace and hit the ground running... After a tortuous three hour train ride, where we were plagued with luggage storage problems, we arrived to blue skies in Milan, and decided to take advantage of the good weather (since rain was predicted for the next day) and squeeze in some sight seeing before dark. We easily mastered the user-friendly metro system and headed to the Duomo. We waded through the hordes of tourists crowding the piazza, wandered through the massive interior of the church, then climbed up to the roof, where amazing views awaited amidst the stone spires, saints, and gargoyles... The next day, we returned to the ... read more

We woke to glorious sunshine and felt energized to attempt the more difficult section of the Cinque Terre trail between Vernazza and Monterossa, the northern most town. Although shorter in length than yesterday's hikes, it was a steeper and longer climb up to and down from the trail at each end. Breath-taking views abounded that our photos don't do justice to. The clear blue skies intensified the color of the water and the coastline just popped. And wow, was it crowded! This is supposed to be the off-season, people--why are you all here??? Nothing could take away from the spectacular scenery, however. We thoroughly enjoyed this hike, and I was thrilled that despite my lingering cold (and resulting lack of sleep), I dominated all those "stairs" on the trail. We enjoyed meandering through Monterossa, which is ... read more

We were awoken in the very early morning by an intense thunder and lightening storm. Eventually we gave up on sleep, got busy packing, then caught the late morning train to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre area along the coast of Italy. The skies were clearing when we arrived in the mid-afternoon, and we found the enoteca where we were to meet Giuliano of "Camere Giuliano", our home for the next few days. He helped us carry our bags--good thing since it was all uphill and up lots of stairs to reach his 4 rooms carved out of the terraces that rise above the town--and we settled into our room. Next on the agenda was to buy some wine, bread and pesto (that the area is known for) to enjoy on our rooftop deck, with its ... read more