It’s 9:45 am, and I just boarded the train to Odense, where I change for Svendborg, where I get the ferry to Ærø. Today is Ascension Day, a holiday in Denmark, and the train is packed with people getting away for the long weekend. I don’t have WiFi, so I’m going to have to post…
I’m at the central library using their free internet. It’s just 17:00, and I am planning another bike tour, again with Mike, this time an evening tour that starts at 19:00 and goes further afield.
When I got back to Ivan and Lars’s apartment last night at about 8:30, I started to write a blog post about the day, and I was literally nodding off as I was typing. I guess that’s what happens after a long day following just 4 hours of sleep. I woke up yesterday morning at…
Part One: Written in the Oslo Airport I’m not supposed to be in Oslo. But here I am. Actually, I’m at the airport, not actually in Norway. All seemed to be going well yesterday when we pulled away from the gate at SeaTac right on time. We taxied a while and then stopped. The pilot came…
This post is not about my upcoming trip. I feel compelled to say something about the terrible tragedy that has befallen the Cinque Terre and, in particular, the charming village of Vernazza, where I spent two idyllic days in May 2009.
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,…
