June 16 - Rome

Egyptian obelisk from Ramses II in the center of Piazza del Popolo


Looking up at a church in the Tridente neighborhood


Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain

Lamp standard, Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

Pantheon, close up

There are the places you have on your travel dream list: Paris, Barcelona, Venice, New York. Then there are places you've never considered, which was Rome for me. (Though I'm happy to travel anywhere. I'd go to the backwaters of Iowa if it meant escaping work and responsibility for a while.) So I had zero expectations of the city itself. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know a whole lot about Roman history. Something to do with aqueducts and gladiators?!

Maybe it's good to go somewhere without a preconceived idea... as I loved Rome! Loved the woman in an impeccable with suit and black stilettos, on a motorbike, her purse tucked in under the steering column. Loved the outdoor cafes that were swamped with people at any given time of day, enjoying a cold drink and one anothers company. Loved the architecture, that goes without saying, but I had to say it! The sun shone brightly, and everything was alive!

I must have walked off 5 lbs in Europe... thank goodness for Birkenstock's! Rome was no different. Just when I thought I couldn't walk another step, there were still miles to cover. We stayed in a guesthouse in the top part of the Tridente neighborhood, close to the Piazza del Popolo. Not far to walk to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Navona. We passed Museo dell'Ara Pacis... which is a brand new modern museum which houses the Ara Pacis. (Side note: Ara Pacis was an altar built to celebrate the peace following Augustus's military conquests. So the Peace Arch at the Canadian/US Border is just an extension of Roman times!)

That's enough sightseeing for today... because there's still so much left for tomorrow...

June 15 - A Taste of Tuscany

It's funny... when the trip was originally planned, the idea was to spend three weeks in Tuscany. When all was said and done, and the route mapped out, we only ended up with half a day in Tuscany. How beautiful it was, though. It was about our only day of rain in two weeks... so, not ideal for scenery shots, but perfect for closeup flower shots - my favorite kind!

We took the No. 7 bus, which was conveniently located out the front of our guesthouse, 20 minutes into the foothills of Tuscany, to a town called Fiesole. The nice thing about rain... it scares off the tourists. For us who live on the West Coast, it's just another day! We happily wandered around the hilly village, admiring the views, taking in the local life, and of course, snapping away at flowers. Is there anything more Tuscan than lavender? We also got to see a few Cypress trees, which are also quintessentially Tuscan. I love their tall, slender shapes.

It started to clear up by lunch, and we got to sit and admire Florence from a distance. I did take a Holga picture of a beautiful tree from the lunch table, but I still have to have it printed. So wait for the Holga Europe Special, coming soon!

June 14 - Florence aka Firenze

Looking across Fiume Arno to the Uffizi

Belltower of the Palazzo Vecchio

Tourist stall - Palazzo Vecchio

Looking up at the neo-Gothic facade of the Duomo

Duomo dome

Duomo from another angle


I don't think we were prepared for the hordes of tourists cramming the streets of Florence, and ranting along in English. How dare they! We came to Italy for culture, and got Western tourists instead. Can you blame them? Stunning architecture, beautiful weather, amazing gelato... and oh, the shopping. The leather market in the center of town is unreal. Purses, wallets, coats, belts... all impeccably made and so cheap! There was a pale tan weekend leather bag that was just stunning... but had to leave it there... overweight luggage and all!

Apparently the Statue of David is in Florence? Also, some famous paintings at the Uffizi Museum? Didn't see them. Quite frankly, when you only have a few hours in a city, you don't want to spend them in tourist lines for three hours or more. So we crammed as much sightseeing in as we could... and did get to see the Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio and the spectacular Duomo.

Discovered a gorgeous, modern cafe/restaurant with white walls and black square stools! Golden View Open Bar cafe is open during the day, and the restaurant in the evening, with stunning views across the river back to the Uffizi Museum. (Pic #2) Afternoon latte with a stuffed cannolo was the perfect time out from the hordes of tourists. Grom Gelato also bears mentioning. It's tucked on a side street around the corner from the Duomo. Organic gelato that has crowds lined up down the street with good reason. It. Is. Divine.

June 13 - Cinque Terre to Florence

One last day in Cinque Terre... lunch at a nondescript cafe provided some of the yummiest sandwiches I've ever eaten... and I'm not a sandwich fan!  Ciabatta bread, cheese and salted meat... one salami and the other prosciutto, with a side of caprese salad.  A fine example of letting the ingredients speak for themselves!  We crossed over to the gelato cafe on the other side of the square for a final cappuccinio - some of the best of the trip.  At 1€30, we'd order them in twos and threes a couple times a day!

Florence was calling, so we said goodbye to half our travelling crew, and hopped on the train to La Spezia. We had heard rumors of yet another train strike, but of course couldn't get a straight answer from any of the Italians!  Once we reached La Spezia, we found out that that there was indeed a 24 hour train strike for the entire Tuscan area.  We needed to get a train to Pisa to connect to Florence, but no trains were running.  There was, however, a high speed train that was going to Rome via Pisa, so we grabbed that.  Once in Pisa, we found out that the trains might be running to Florence, but we'd have to go to the platform and wait to find out.  Lucky for us, the Florence train pulled in, so we wouldn't have to bus/carpool the rest of the way to Florence.  We didn't lose any time, but certainly a whole lot of patience!  The Italian train system is nothing if not entertaining.

June 12 - Cinque Terre

Riomaggiore


Riomaggiore


Riomaggiore

Lovers arch between Riomaggiore and Manarola

Steep cliffs on the walk between Riomaggiore and Manarola

Steep cliffs on the walk between Riomaggiore and Manarola

Manarola

Flowers in bloom between Manarola and Corniglia

Close to Corniglia

Easy way to see Cinque Terre... take the train from Monterrosso to Riomaggiore! Ok, ok... we did do some walking too! We started the morning off with a latte in Riomaggiore. It's an easy walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola, where we had iced coffees and gelato. A slightly harder walk from Manarola to Corniglia... which at the end, you have to hike up a million and one stairs. (We found out later, at the top, that there's a shuttle bus from the bottom to the top. Oh well, at least this way we can say we've done it once!) Lunch in Corniglia was a massive plate of seafood pasta - prawns, mussels, clams, you name it, the whole sea was in there!

We then took the train from Corniglia to Vernazza, where we had been the previous day. We had ice cold lemon soda under some more umbrellas. We would have had more, but our waiters decided that their shift ended as the World Cup came on. No matter... I think we ingested enough for the day!

June 11 – Monterrosso to Vernazza

View from the trail


Another view from the trail


One of the many poppies dotting the path


Beautiful rose bushes on the descent to Vernazza


Vernazza


Umbrella's in Vernazza village


Doors in Vernazza village

Cinque Terre is located on the northwest corner of Italy on the Italian Riviera. Monterrosso is the most northern village, then Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore follow. Cinque Terre translates directly as Five Lands. Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola and Riomaggiore are located on the water; only Corniglia sits on top of a hill.

A walking trail and a train line connect the five villages. There are no cars in the villages. On our first day in Cinque Terre, we hiked from Monterrosso to Vernazza. Little did we know, this was the steepest, most gruelling part of the Cinque Terre. I’m not much of a hiker, and wasn’t really looking forward to breaking a sweat in the 30C+ temperature. BUT. Once I did break a sweat, and hiked onwards and upwards, it was so enjoyable. The path is steep and snakes around olive groves and vineyards. There are beautiful vistas all along the route, flowers in abundance, and the sweet smells of the woods permeated our walk. Coming around the corner and seeing the view of Vernazza was the highlight of the trip.

June 10 - Nice to Cinque Terre

It looked so close on the map... 280 km from Nice, France to Cinque Terre, Italy. Leave bright and early in the morning, a nice train ride along the ocean, and we’d be in Cinque Terre in time for lunch. Do not assume the Italian train system echoes the timely French system. (Our train ride from Paris to Nice was delayed by over half an hour, and the SNCF refunded us a portion of our ticket.)

Our ticket was purchased to avoid Monaco due to construction on the tracks. However, once we arrived at the train station in Nice, we found out we were going straight to Monaco on an early morning commuter train. There were so many people on the train, and it was so hot, we all found positions where we felt least like throwing up or passing out.

From Monaco, we hopped on a train to take us to Ventimiglia, on the Italian border. Welcome to Italy; things aren’t so organized here! We bought tickets to Monterosso, Cinque Terre by an attendant who was texting the entire time – not something that instils confidence that you just purchased a ticket in the right direction.

Three of us, plus six month old twins in a double stroller and all our luggage, found ourselves comfortably seated on the next train to Genova. Not so fast! The train to Genova was cancelled, we found out from an Italian train steward, rapidly waving her arms around. At least, we thought that's what she meant! We had to unload all our gear off the train and over to another platform. It should be noted here that Europe is not at all handicap friendly. All the handicap accessibility we enjoy in North America barely exists in Europe. Elevators are hard to locate, sidewalks are narrow, and you have to climb vertical heights to get onto trains. Lugging suitcases and a baby stroller up and down countless stairs and on and off trains in 30C heat is stressful, to say the least. So bailing off one train and onto the next is not a welcome exercise.

Once situated on the next train, we realized that this train was going to Savona, when we wanted to be going to Genova to transfer to the train to Monterrosso. Much Italian-English translating and sign language later, we found out we were still headed in the right direction and all would be ok.

You get what you pay for - our ticket from Ventimiglia to Cinque Terre was only 11 euros. In the end, it took us eight hours to go the 280 km distance from Nice to Cinque Terre. We arrived in Monterrosso in time for afternoon coffee. Walking out of the train station onto the beach in Monterrosso, all the heat and frustration was forgotten as we took in the magic of Cinque Terre...

Ivory Vintage Market

Ivory Vintage Market

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We interrupt the European blogging to bring you an update from our local sponsors!

Ivory Vintage Market has another market planned for Saturday, August 21 9am - 4pm, Ocean Park Hall, 1577 128th St, Surrey, BC. Come out and visit all the fabulous local female entrepreneurs!