A little bit about my trip.
Italy was lovely. We really had a great time. It's one of those places where, if you had moved apart from your loved one because of work commitments, time commitments, family commitments, whatever, this place would bring you back together. It would make you sigh with contentment and wonder why you hadn't done it sooner.
Now, granted, there were a few disappointing tidbits. The food in that region of Italy wasn't that great. Maybe because it was a touristy area? I don't know. I usually love pesto sauce but it just wasn't interesting. I make a great caprese salad (you know the one - slices of tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar) and we got a half-hearted excuse (just some tomato slices with the mozzarella - uninspired I have to say). We just weren't impressed. And the amount of tourists!!! My gosh. The trains between the five towns were absolutely black with people during the week and worse on the weekends. Insanity!
Miraculously, we had no problem finding a room. A nice quiet place, really clean and not too pricey. We stayed in Manar0la, which of the 5 down the coast is the fourth down. The first day we arrived, dropped our stuff off, it started raining. We dove into this funky wine bar - tiny room with exposed stone walls, picnic type benches and tables with lots of people filling the seats. We got a 'pitcher' of wine (a cool ceramic pitcher like you'd get in mexico) for 8 euro and some bruschetta and we thought we'd hit the jackpot. It was a great place with great atmosphere. It didn't rain long and so we wandered out to the cliffs to take a little hike. Lovely scenery, ocean right beneath us, sunset right in front of us. What more could you ask for?
Over the course of the week, we found out that if we took hikes, we wouldn't have to contend with any crowds. Because the towns are very compact near the lower part of the hill, by the ocean (ok, not technically an ocean but a sea - sorry about that), if you walked up the hill, you essentially walked to the 'parking lot' for the town (there were no cars allowed in the town), then past that and into the hills. Very few people on the trails. We were to see why later.. If you saw the photos in the last post, the trails were exposed and with great views. Some people just don't like that! LOL
We did about 3 hikes ranging from 30 minutes to 6 hours.. The hike to Porto Venere was tough but lovely.. coming into town at the end was stunning. We took the boat back to our base in Riomaggiore (we had moved by then) and it was just another interesting way to see the coast. I highly recommend this area if you get to Italy, although there are so many great places in Italy, you really can't go wrong.
The 6th day dawned cloudy so we hopped the train back to Milan. The train takes you through a number of tunnels and at one point we came out of a dark tunnel and the sky was black (it was maybe 1pm in the afternoon). We and the other 4 people in our car looked at each other in shock and it wasn't long before the most fantastic thunder/lightning storm took place outside the train. You couldn't even tell it was still daylight. We decided to head back to Milan, stay with my brother that night and then head out of town again in the morning.
Our final day dawned bright and sunny and we boarded the train to Lake Como, to the north of Milan. We really lucked out because the rain had cleared off the pollution and the place was stunning. There were a few photos on my link that I posted. The area is well populated but not oppressively so. We took a water taxi around, just stopping at various stops and looking around. It was a hot day so it felt good on the water. Afterwards we wandered around the town of Como, which is pretty cool. There is a good 10 blocks of pedestrian walkways - no cars - with shops lining the walkway and churches tucked into random corners. We almost didn't see that part of Como, as we had no idea it was there. We were heading back the train and took a wrong turn and happened upon this great part of town! Score!
Anyhow, that's about it. It was a lovely trip, already seems off in the distance and it was only a few weeks ago! Hard to imagine.. Anyhow, we are here in San D1ego now and still waiting for the sun to shine... June gloom it certainly is! Anonymous G and Randy, I hope we can meet up while I'm down here. RG, looking forward to meeting you up north!
Now, granted, there were a few disappointing tidbits. The food in that region of Italy wasn't that great. Maybe because it was a touristy area? I don't know. I usually love pesto sauce but it just wasn't interesting. I make a great caprese salad (you know the one - slices of tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar) and we got a half-hearted excuse (just some tomato slices with the mozzarella - uninspired I have to say). We just weren't impressed. And the amount of tourists!!! My gosh. The trains between the five towns were absolutely black with people during the week and worse on the weekends. Insanity!
Miraculously, we had no problem finding a room. A nice quiet place, really clean and not too pricey. We stayed in Manar0la, which of the 5 down the coast is the fourth down. The first day we arrived, dropped our stuff off, it started raining. We dove into this funky wine bar - tiny room with exposed stone walls, picnic type benches and tables with lots of people filling the seats. We got a 'pitcher' of wine (a cool ceramic pitcher like you'd get in mexico) for 8 euro and some bruschetta and we thought we'd hit the jackpot. It was a great place with great atmosphere. It didn't rain long and so we wandered out to the cliffs to take a little hike. Lovely scenery, ocean right beneath us, sunset right in front of us. What more could you ask for?
Over the course of the week, we found out that if we took hikes, we wouldn't have to contend with any crowds. Because the towns are very compact near the lower part of the hill, by the ocean (ok, not technically an ocean but a sea - sorry about that), if you walked up the hill, you essentially walked to the 'parking lot' for the town (there were no cars allowed in the town), then past that and into the hills. Very few people on the trails. We were to see why later.. If you saw the photos in the last post, the trails were exposed and with great views. Some people just don't like that! LOL
We did about 3 hikes ranging from 30 minutes to 6 hours.. The hike to Porto Venere was tough but lovely.. coming into town at the end was stunning. We took the boat back to our base in Riomaggiore (we had moved by then) and it was just another interesting way to see the coast. I highly recommend this area if you get to Italy, although there are so many great places in Italy, you really can't go wrong.
The 6th day dawned cloudy so we hopped the train back to Milan. The train takes you through a number of tunnels and at one point we came out of a dark tunnel and the sky was black (it was maybe 1pm in the afternoon). We and the other 4 people in our car looked at each other in shock and it wasn't long before the most fantastic thunder/lightning storm took place outside the train. You couldn't even tell it was still daylight. We decided to head back to Milan, stay with my brother that night and then head out of town again in the morning.
Our final day dawned bright and sunny and we boarded the train to Lake Como, to the north of Milan. We really lucked out because the rain had cleared off the pollution and the place was stunning. There were a few photos on my link that I posted. The area is well populated but not oppressively so. We took a water taxi around, just stopping at various stops and looking around. It was a hot day so it felt good on the water. Afterwards we wandered around the town of Como, which is pretty cool. There is a good 10 blocks of pedestrian walkways - no cars - with shops lining the walkway and churches tucked into random corners. We almost didn't see that part of Como, as we had no idea it was there. We were heading back the train and took a wrong turn and happened upon this great part of town! Score!
Anyhow, that's about it. It was a lovely trip, already seems off in the distance and it was only a few weeks ago! Hard to imagine.. Anyhow, we are here in San D1ego now and still waiting for the sun to shine... June gloom it certainly is! Anonymous G and Randy, I hope we can meet up while I'm down here. RG, looking forward to meeting you up north!
posted by grrltraveler at Saturday, June 11, 2005
5 Comments:
If you check in again... I'm coming down midday Friday and staying through Saturday for sure, will possibly be there Sunday as well, I've not decided yet.
The Italy trip sounds so lovely! Now I'm antsy to find out what part of the country I'll be in come August.
Ack! Is it really that late?! I had more to say!
I'll close for now, but I'll say you're my kind of traveller--don't just follow a tourguide and the same old tourist traps, go and blaze your own trail, so to speak, find the gems wherever you are! Fantastic!
xo
Sigh... sounds lovely. I'm fairly certain we'll be in Italy next year. We keep putting off our travels until the house is built, but sheesh at this rate it'll be after we retire!
See you soon!
Sounds like an amazing trip. I think I'm going to start using your blog as a kind of vacation planner for myself.
I'm thinking about Spain this summer, but I'm not sure when. Either that or Brazil.
Can't wait to hear more about the SD trip. Hopefully we'll also see more pics.
Oh, A...it all sounds great!
I loved Italy...I'm so gald I was able to see it, as I don't know if I'd ever get there again. The food definitely varies between regions, doesn't it? But the wine? Always good. :-)
YGM and ((hugs))
~Anonymous G
wow... I soooooo want to go!!
Post a Comment
<< Home