OK, so just a postscript to my last post from Monterosso: Oh my friggin’ god! The walk back from Monterosso to Vernazza was pure torture. Made the hike to Corniglia feel like a stroll on the walls around Lucca by comparison. Well, maybe it was because it was the end of the day and I…
I wish I’d spent my entire two week vacation in the Cinque Terre. I just love it here! Yesterday at about 18.00 a thunderstorm rolled in off the mountains. I bought a bottle of wine and a hunk of foccacia and sat out on the balcony of my room, overlooking the water, under the canopy, watching…
I can’t begin to say what a thrill it was when the train came out of the tunnel into Riomaggiore, the first stop in the Cinque Terre, and I got my first glimpse of the sea. I arrived here in Vernazza about 12:30 this morning and I wish I’d spent my entire vacation here. It’s…
My train for Castelnuovo di Garfagnana leaves in about an hour, so Iàve been wandering around Lucca this morning, took a bike ride on the walls (itàs like the Lucchesi version of Greenlake), and popped into this Internet spot, where they charge ten cents a minute. In Firenze I got 30 minutes for a Euro.…
No long post right now. Iàm in Lucca. Itàs lovely. And hot. And supposed to be hotter tomorrow, like 35°. So I am going to take a day trip by train up into the Alps, around Castelnuovo and Barga.
One last post from Firenze. It remains hot and sunny, and I am glad to have the respite of my air conditioned B&B in a very convenient location. Iàve been to more things than I can remember. I have been writing down highlights in my journal, so Iàll be able to share details later. The…
Sono in Firenze. Forget the throngs. (Take San Gimignano and multiple by 1000.) And I donàt know why there is a need for a hundred different booths on the street selling the exact same belts, scarves, and T‑shirts. None of that matters. I was here 5 minutes, just walking to my hotel from the bus,…
Sorry to all who have been waiting for my first report; I only today discovered that the hotel has internet access. And this keyboard types some bizarre (Italian) characters, so if I accidentally type some accents, forgivè me. So the first thing to report it that it has been terribly hot the whole time. Today…
The cab came on time, my flight left on time and actually got me home early. Joy was there to pick me up, and I got home to find my house and my dog and my garden all looking just fine (thank you, Ursula).
The country itself … it’s grand. It’s so damn grand.… It’s like trying to paint Niagara Falls or a brilliant sunset or the Grand Canyon or some other visual aspect of nature which can only be described by people who have lived in it, have soaked it up, have been in that environment long enough…
8:10 a.m. What a difference a good night’s sleep can make. I’m ready and looking forward to my first-ever helicopter ride, and even though there are some clouds, the sun is out. The helicopter people are picking me up at 8:30, so I’m having a muffin and coffee while I’m waiting.
