Michelle is in the process of walking 60 miles in three days for Breast Cancer research. Here team is Save the Ta-Ta’s with Elizabeth Anderson, Sue McAllister and Jody Fuentes. Go Girls! If you would like to donate, please click here to go to the official save the Ta-Ta’s site!
Italy Day 16 – Leaving Vernazza, Last Night in Rome
What a sad day it was to leave Vernazza. We had such a lovely time and enjoyed the sun, food and people immensely. Packing up was a pain and hauling all of those bags down the long stairs was no fun. We had a nice breakfast and then a short train ride to La Spezia where Michelle and I ventured out to hunt down some lunch for the clan. Found a great kabob/gyro house and some yummy boxes of wine. Then a four hour train ride to Rome where Lindsay and I engaged in a wicked Cribbage battle royale.
In Rome, we found a nice old man to carry our bags to the hotel (OK, on a big hand truck and he was short but BEEFY). Stayed at the Hotel Torino again and went to our favorite Sardinian restaurant for our last meal in Italy. We had a wonderful time with Adriana, two new friends from Verona, lots of Mirto and a lovely walk back to the hotel. Quite the wind down from lots of travel and a wonderful trip.
Italy Day 15 – Hiking the Cinque Terra Trail
Michelle and I woke up early because we wanted to hike to Corniglia in the morning. It is a shorter hike than from Monterosso, but still beautiful and worth the trip. Once we had a bit of breakfast, we were off.
The first part of the hike was quite steep as we climbed up and out of Vernazza. We passed a restaurant on the trail at the top of Vernazza and made a mental note to check it out later for dinner. The hike was lovely, but not near as breathtaking as the Monterosso to Vernazza segment. The hike took about an hour and the approach to Corniglia was beautiful. The town sits high up on the cliff (365 steps down to the water) and lacked a beach – just a boat launch.
Michelle and I had a nice snack in Corniglia and she took the train backto Vernazza while I kept going to Manarola. There were lots of stairs heading down to the train level and then a long flat walk along the water to the next village. Again, a nice approach but lots of tourists and an easy hike. There were a couple of access points to the water fromt the village, but still very steep and no beach at all – just rocks.
Next stop was Riomaggiorre which was an interesting town. Bigger than Manarolo and Corniglia with a beautiful, large mural and a tunnel with a mosaic along the wall. There was also a tunnel and stairs that go down to the water (again, no beach) but you can go diving, rent a boat etc. I liked Riomaggiore, but not as much as Vernazza.
When I returned to Vernazza, I ran into the family having lunch at the Blue Marlin cafe – great food right on the main road in Vernazza. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach, got cleaned up and then headed to the restaurant that we spied earlier “El Torro”. It was a bit of a hike up and we got there about 7:10pm, but they weren’t open yet! We waited about 20 minutes and took pics then they let us in. An incredible view of Vernazza and the water. We had two types of lasagna, a yummy octopus salad, crawfish and LOTS of tomatos & pasta. Simple, limited menu but lovely.
After dinner, the kids played at the playground for a while and then we went down to the Harbor for a night cap on our last night in Cinque Terra. We found a bar that had Mirto! and proceeded to drink the place dry. We also had the good fortune to be in the middle of a birthday party in which the Gypsy Queens (www.gypsyqueens.com) were playing for a woman’s 60th birthday. What a hoot! They played Beattles, Beachboys, Van Morrison, Italian songs, everything! They were a ton of fun and it was a brilliant ending to a great stay in Vernazza.
Italy Day 14 – Cruising the Coast of Cinque Terra
Day 14 was one of my favorites of the entire trip. I was up early and wanted to explore an idea that Michelle had mentioned “wouldn’t it be great to rent a boat and cruise around to the different villages?”. After my morning cash withdrawal and coffee I inquired about boat rentals from the guys in harbor. He had an open bow, 5 person motor boat available for a four hour cruise for 80 Euros plus gas – done!
We left the harbor around 11:30am after grabbing lunch items, swimsuits and cameras for a four hour cruise. There is no motoring in the harbor so the guy who rented us the boat had to row us out. When his partner came to pick him up, he rammed the motor of our boat and put a big gash in the casing! How italian! Anyhow, no harm and we were off cruising South towards Corniglia, Mannarolo and Riomaggiore. These towns were all built high off the water into the cliffs so there was no opportunity to land for wine (poor Michelle). We found a cove past Riomaggiore and pulled in for some swimming and lunch. Afterwards, we headed North past Vernazza to Monterosso and then all the way to Levanto. Levanto seemed like a nice large town with a big beach that was part sand and part gravel. We cruised back in style by punching the gas and doing some ocean donuts – the kids loved it.
One of my favorite moments of the trip was cruising back to Vernazza with one hand on the boat wheel, one hand around Michelle’s shoulders, the kids on the bow bouncing up and down to the waves and Shirey chill-axing in the back seat. Great day.
Italy Day 13 – A Day in Monterosso
Another early morning for me for cash and coffee. Michelle came with me and we checked out a cafe I saw the day before called Il Pirata – a Sicilian bakery/cafe with incredible ricotta pastries and smoothies. We made reservations to come for dinner later.
We went to Monterosso and spent the day at the beach there. The beach was made of small, but annoying stones and was hot to the feet. The water was beautifully clear and a wonderful temperature but the people managing the first set of chairs we went to were a pain in the ass. We didn’t get what we wanted, got our money back and went to a different set of chairs which was much more to our liking.
At the end of the day, Michelle and I hiked the ~2 miles or so back to Vernazza along the Cinque Terra trail. It was still very hot and a major climb up stairs to reach altitude. I guess we gained 1,500 – 2,000 feet in a pretty short time (see the pictures). This was the hardest stretch of the trail between the five towns on the coast due to length and vertical climb. However, it was also the most beautiful with incredible vistas, structures and a lemonade stand in the middle run by the grower of the lemons – Fantastic!
Dinner was as Il Pirata and was magnificent in it’s simplicity and flavor. Another winner!
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- …
- 17
- Next Page »