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.