Monterosso

Monterosso is one of 5 villages in the Cinque Terre. We had to change trains twice to get there. Our plan was to hike between the 5 towns; but it rained most of the time we were there and the trails were closed.

The train arrives in the new town.  Our hotel was a short walk through a tunnel in the old part of town. Most of these pictures in the top collage were taken on the walk from the train station to the hotel.

We enjoyed people watching and window shopping. On Sunday, we got to spend a little time at the beach before we had to head back to Florence.

Comcast has been down since Sunday...

Comcast has been down since Sunday morning. I feel so isolated... Since I can't email family and friends, I started looking at our Venice pictures again.

Joe and I agree that Venice is our favorite city so far.

Tonight, Joey cooked pizza. Very good! We're watching soccer and munching on homemade pizza (of course, I'm sipping a glass of wine) -very Italian...

Jethro Rocks!

On Friday, Jethro and I took off for Venice. The train ride was air-conditioned which is rapidly becoming an appreciated luxury. We arrived in Venice with directions to our pre-arranged hotel-having learned from last weeks miss-step in Monterosso. Unfortunately for us, the directions assume that the vaporetto boat drivers are not on strike...

When we tried to buy tickets on the vaporetto, we learned that there was a strike. Since the boats were running on limited schedule and very crowded, we decided to walk to our hotel. Joey is a genius when it comes to figuring out where we need to go. We walked for 45 minutes and somehow found the Al Piave hotel-stuck in the middle of a nondescript alley. The room was quaint and more importantly, the room had air-conditioning. We had a great dinner and settled in for the night.

Saturday, we took the vaporetto to Murano. The glass work was amazing. We spent several hours looking. Unfortunately, most of what we liked was out of our budget... After several hours at Murano, we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Over-priced hamburgers have seldom tasted so good (excluding McDonalds last week).

Later, Joey and a friend hooked up to watch the United States play England in the World Cup.

Sunday, we wandered the island by vsporetto and by foot. We both agree-this is our favorite city so far.

Road Trip Part 2

Back to the Granny and Jethro part... We read in our guidebook that Montorosso has plenty of rooms to rent--but not the part about getting there before noon to reserve one. There were no rooms to be had. We spent a few hours touring the town before catching the train back to La Spezia.

Centro Storico (Old Town) is old world charming with small crooked lanes, hole-in-the wall shops, and quaint restaurants. The views are fantastic. We saw saw a Nazi "pillbox," a small concrete bunker where gunners hid during WWII. We had what Joey declares "the best" dinner he's ever had. We found a hotel and made reservations for a return trip.

We missed the train back to Pisa. By the time we got to Pisa, the next bus (no train) back to Florence was going to leave at 1:30 in the morning. We decided to spend the night in Pisa. The hotel was great - air-conditioned with no mosquitoes.

Sunday, we slept late and then went exploring. We saw Parma and then took the train back to Florence.

Granny and Jethro Take a Road Trip-Part 1

For the most part, Italians are usually very stylishly dressed. We see men in business suits riding their bicycles and women in nice skirts and hats with matching grocery bag carriers walking down our street. So how do you think the clerks in bars, cafes and stores know to speak to me in English-before I ever mutter my butchered buon giorno? I think it's the Echo sandals and capri jeans...

This embarrassing lack of style means I no longer qualify for Ellie Mae status-I'm now Granny.

After consulting our guidebook, Jethro and I decided to head for the beach. To get to the beach, we had to take the train to Pisa, then to La Spezia and finally to Monterosso. I love the spontaneity the train system here allows. We decided that we would explore Pisa and then spend the night in Monterosso.

In Pisa, we walked from the train station through the center of town to the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles)-stopping for gelato along the way. The tower really does lean and the Duomo was beautiful. From Pisa we went to La Spezia.

La Spezia is a working town, slim on sights. Our train layover was during the afternoon siesta so we ended up with McDonalds for lunch. I've been craving American....

Piazzale Michelangelo

On Monday, I went to Piazzale Michelangelo. This square overlooks Florence from across the Arno river. There is a huge statue of David and stunning views of Florence and of the dome of the Duomo. Also in this area, is the San Miniato church. The church has beautiful paintings and chapels. Around the church is the first Christian cemetery in Florence. It was worth the hike to get here.

Ellie Mae and Jethro do Florence

Although this city has substantially less permanent residents than Albuquerque, the population is way more densely packed, My niece, Diana, says it best..."We're not in Kansas anymore..."

The streets are very narrow and the sidewalks are not just for pedestrians. The motorcycles and bike riders use the sidewalks as passing lanes when the traffic is backed up. Crosswalks aren't really for pedestrians, either. It will be a miracle if I keep from being run over...

It's fun to see all of the pasty shops, wine bars, and stores in the neighborhood. I like being able to find everything we need within walking distance. After extensive testing, Joey has found his favorite gelateria.

Our first Friday here, we met one of Joey's professors from Kansas State for dinner. Who knew that the fish here comes with eyes and teeth-and cost 70 euros? Lesson: market price is not usually a good deal in the big city.

Our Apartment in Florence

Our apartment is very cute. It's not a color cast in these pictures- the walls are light purple. We're in a residential area not too far from Joey's school. Although the area is residential, there are pastry shops and cafes and grocery stores within easy walking distance. We have big windows which are always open(there's no air conditioning here) and lots of light.

We spent the first few days learning our way around. We fumbled our way through grocery shopping which was interesting. When you buy produce at the grocery store, you weigh it and print a price tag. We figured this out by watching--but we were the only ones who needed an English to Italian translation book to do it. I finally found the eggs (uova) on the sugar and spice aisle-not refrigerated and right where everyone keeps them-right?

I have figured out how to work the gas, and how to wash clothes, but not how to make coffee with a European coffee maker. Fortunately, I found Coke Light at the supermarket-so I can get my caffeine fix without leaving the apartment.

We were pretty tired when we got here. He spent the week getting used to our surroundings. Next week, we are looking at more tourist exploration. Some of Joey's school friends will be here for a couple of days. After that, we are thinking of taking some weekend trips by train.

More next week...

Naples and Pompeii

After 3 nights in Rome, we were too tired to see anymore churches. We got up early and took the train down to Naples. After an overpriced and harrowing taxi ride through narrow and hilly roads, we arrived at our bed and breakfast in Mergellina-a small neighborhood near the port.

Our arrangements with the bed and breakfast were all made via the internet and by email-all in English. So, we were moderately surprised when the manager of the bed and breakfast spoke only Italian. Somehow, we managed to check in and go exploring.

Since we had been internet and phone-less for several days, our first exploration involved finding an internet cafe. After a few hours walking around, we determined that Mergellina is Internet Cafe-less.

The next day, we somehow managed to take the underground train, change lines twice, and find the main train station--where we then managed to find a train down to Pompeii. Mostly this was Joey's effort, not mine. Pompeii was interesting. But, by the time we got there, we were pretty exhausted, We managed about 2 hours of exploration before we headed back to Naples.

We found a restaurant that had Wi-Fi. I don't remember if we liked the food, or even what we ordered, but Joey was happy to send off emails to Bart and his friends.

The next morning we tried to call a cab to the train station. They wanted 50 euros for a 15 euro ride. Somehow, Joey got the manager of the b&b to get the cab straightened out and we were off to Florence.

Touring Rome

Joey and I had about 2 1/2 days in Rome. Our tour guide, Marilena, was energetic, fun and informative. She made me wish I had paid attention during history lessons some 30 or so years ago. Joey pretty much knew what she was talking about, but I either never knew or forgot pretty much everything.

Marilena helped us figure out how to ride the Metro and the Italian trains. She also had a European SIM card which Joey was able to use in his phone. If we hadn't spent all of our money on tour guides and gelato, we could phone home. For now, we're using Skype to talk to Bart and CJ.

The size of everything blew me away. I have to go back with the guide book and pictures to remember what all we saw. Even though we went to the Vatican City, I think we were probably the only Americans in town who missed the Sistine Chapel. Joey was very good directions and navigation, so we could wander around after Marilena left us. Ordering food was a challenge without Marilena. I think we had pizza for 5 straight days.

I haven't looked at our pictures yet, but I know I couldn't do justice to the sites we saw.

After Rome, we left the safety of an English speaking guide and took off on our own to Naples where no one we met spoke English. More later...

Arriving in Rome

Joey and I arrived in Rome at 8:30 a.m. and were met at the airport by our bed and breakfast host, Giorgio. He is almost 80 and still giving tours of Rome. I was a little worried about what was in store for us when Giorgio couldn't remember where the car was or how to pay to get out of the parking garage. In Rome, when you want to figure out something, you abandon your car in the middle of the road (leaving your jet-lagged female passenger in the back seat) and wander around until you figure things out.

Giorgio took us the long way back so that we could see Ostia-a beatutiful beach area. Now the problem is we're going to run out of fuel...

Finally, we get some fuel, Giorgio treats us to a cappuccino and we arrive at the bed and breakfast. Giorgio lives between the hospital and the university about 4 blocks from the Metro. By Rome standards, a quiet neighborhood. It reminds me of New York.

We have about 5 minutes before our guide, Marilena arrives to take us for a quick overview (6 hours) over the main areas of Rome.