Easter Monday found us up for breakfast at 8 am and then packing up our bags. Our next task was to set off to find the bus stop for bus #15, the one that supposedly would deliver us to our mystery destination out in an industrial park where we were to catch our Florentia bus to Ljubljana. When i first booked our bus tickets I immediately checked out the location on Google Earth and was quite dismayed with where the bus stop was located. We decided to roll the dice and wait until we got to Padua where we would then ask. Suzy, our hostess, had never heard of this place but did some research and told us to take bus #15. After further searching I mapped out the route from the pickup point and decided ... read more

Thursday morning we set out for the Campo Di Martre train station in Florence, a different one from the one to which we arrived. Curtis, with map in hand, led us directly there. Honestly if he ever wants to get rid of me he would just have to send me out into a strange place, map or no map, and leave me. I have no sense of direction, even when looking at a map so it amazes me how he can just get us to our destination! We were to ride in 1st Class to Verona. We boarded our coach with dozens of others, many of whom had huge pieces of luggage. All of the other trains we have travelled on in 1st class have had some kind of luggage rack. Not this one. This poor ... read more

I have never run a marathon. Can't say it is on my bucket list. I figure, mathematically, that the 4 half marathons I have done actually equal 2 whole ones! Regardless, our first day in Florence was a marathon of sightseeing! After a great night's sleep we woke to a melody of bells of the as they peeled through the crisp morning. We showered, in our unique little room, and then Curtis went off in search of fresh baking for breakfast. He found a place with Nutella and marmalade filled croissants which we enjoyed over coffee. We then headed out to begin our race. First on our agenda was the Duomo, Tower, and Baptistery. We were fortunate that the line was very short. As we stood in line we suddenly remembered that the lady at the ... read more

Palm Sunday dawned sunny and clear again. As we had our coffee we could hear the church bells as the procession began to celebrate this final Sunday before Easter. We stopped at a small place for a quick bite and then headed off to the train station to go to Monterosso. Our original intent and fervent wish had been to hike between the five villages of Cinque Terre - Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. The walk takes about 5 hours, not counting for stopping and wandering through each village. This would have been a wonderfully tiring walk but unfortunately due to landslides, the trail is closed from Riomaggiore all the way to Vernazza. We could have opted to walk from Vernazza to Monterosso but decided that if we wanted to spend time in each we ... read more

My husband got to see Nice today. Not the one we have been walking around in the rain exploring but the one that comes alive with a brilliant blue sky. All the places we have already seen came to life under the gleaming sun. We enjoyed a fresh croissant, coffee, and juice in our hotel while chatting with a lovely man from Copenhagen. Not long after we headed out the door to make our way to the Vauban bus stop in order to catch our bus to the hilltop town of Eze. The bus stop was about a 25 minute walk through the streets of Nice where we wound our way past people enjoying their morning coffee or espresso. We arrived at the bus stop and located our #82 bus. We paid the driver 3 euros ... read more