A week in Florence and the Cinque Terre

We spent a week in Florence and the Cinque Terra. Florence is a fabulous city loaded with art, culture and of course good food. This seems to be the case everywhere we've been in Italy, the food I mean. Our experiences in Rome taught us to be wary of restaurants in heavy tourist areas. Some, not all of them. Many in these areas tend to be pricey and not the best quality. I guess we didn't learn a whole hell of a lot because we did eat at a joint not far from the Duomo....Yeah, not too good and yup---> $$$.  Live and learn, several times I suppose. The place we stayed at offered a small cooking area. I didn't think that it would be much more than a small refrigerator and a microwave.

However, hiding behind two folding doors was a mini kitchen. A sink, fridge, pots and pans, expresso maker, cheese grater, pasta strainer and cork screw. What more do ya need !!! We decided to go to the local deli / grocery store. We picked up some homemade (deli-made) spinach ravioli, crusty bread, locatelli cheese, a bottle of Chianti and some pesto. Pesto originated in Genoa, which is not too far from where we were at. And it WAS the best pesto I've ever had. We cooked in several times. Well worth it.

Florence can get a bit crowded with tourists

Like most European cities Florence is a great walking city. Fine arcitecture, Statues / Sculpture, Museums, Beautiful parks, Fantastic people- watching and of course Great Food. We hit all the tourist areas, The Duomo, the Ufizzi Museum etc. But we really enjoy just walking through the neighborhoods getting hopelessly lost and discovering an adventure around every corner. Oh, did I mention the Gelato??

 

Off to the Cinque Terre..................................

The Cinque Terre are five small towns on the Mediterranean coast. Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Maranola and Riomaggiore. One-time fishing villages, they now cater mainly to tourism. There is a lot of charm, character, romanctic settings and people, lots of people. We stayed at a lovely little family owned B and B-style place in Levanto. Levanto is the next town past the last town in the Cinque Terre, Monterosso. It is less crowded than the Cinque Terre villages and only about a 3 minute train ride from Monterosso. The B & B, A Durmi, is owned by two sisters and they are very pleasant and helpful. There are rooms and several apartments. We took an apartment. and again we found ourselves cooking in the room several times.....PESTO again ! Having read about the many hiking trails in the area, we asked the sisters to recommend a good hike. They suggested that we take a trail less traveled, the trail from Levanto to Monterosso. It took about three hours and was rather strenuous at times but well worth it. The views of the Mediterranean were at times spectacular. We passed several terraced hillside groves of olive trees as well. Actually, we only passed two other couples along the way. We definately recommend it. All five of the villages are connected by a network of trails and all five are worth visit. Although similar, each village has it's own charm and character. Vernazza and Riomaggiore seemed to be the most crowded and touristy while Corniglia and Manarola appeared to retain some of it's pre-tourist ambience. The towns are minutes apart by rail. One can purchase a ticket that allows hop-on hop-off anywhere between La Spezia to the south and Levanto at the other end.There are also several side trips from the area. Portofino is a charming small coastal village. VERY touristy as well. We spent a few hours in a cool little city called Santa Margarhita, just walking around and exploring.....and eating !!

Genoa and Pisa are not too far either. We didn't hit them, but they are do-able.


Enjoy the pix!!


Beach, Levanto, Italy



A Durmi B & B, Levanto









 

On the trail 

 

Levanto from the trail

 

Vernazza

    

Along the trail





Along the trail









Christmas Markets

Stuttgart, Berlin and Brussels

It's never too early to be thinking about the European Christmas Markets. Our first Christmas Market was in Berlin, Germany. It wasn't our primary reason to go to Berlin. I was aware of them and told my wife about them. I'm not really a Christmas person but she is and I figgered she'd like to see them. Let me tell ya, they really blew me away. I felt like a kid again. The aroma of bratwurst, knockwurst and currywurst permeated the crisp night air. The markets were very crowded at times but this just seemed to add to the ambiance. There were many locals standing around eating, drinking, smiling and laughing despite the sometime fierce weather. The Germans are obviously a hardy breed. The street food is fabulous. In addition to the sausages there were potatoe dishes, sauteed mushrooms, cheeses, chocolates, pastries and of course the signature hot spiced Gluwhein. Not to mention an array of fine German lagers.
There are blocks of booths side by side selling fine Christmas ornaments, cheap trinkets, fine cheeses, dried sausages, hand made scarves and hats, jewelery etc. etc. etc.

There are also rides for little kids and several ice skating rinks with skate rentals available.


                Berlin, Germany---->











<---Brussels, Belgium

                                        Brugges, Belgium----->

<----Stuttgart, Germany







                               Berlin, Germany------------->

                                                                                        <---Berlin, Germany

I've heard that the Market in Nurnberg Germany is quite impressive.

I'd love to hear of your Christmas Market experiences throughout Europe.  Please Post A Comment !!

We are planning a trip to American Samoa in October, 2012 and we'd really like to hear from anyone who has been there.
My wife's brother lived there for about 20 years. He recently passed away and my wife and her oldest sister plan to spread his ashes into the harbor at Pago Pago and hopefully connect with some of the people who knew him. Except for one letter and several photos he sent to my nephew, my wife hasn't seen or talked to him in over 20 years. I'd like to share his story, he was a very interesting man. He was an electrical engineer and a graduate of Purdue University in Lafayette Indiana. He lived in Chicago, IL and he lived rather "frugally" I may add. He earned a decent buck, bought a sailboat and learned to sail on Lake Michigan. After several years he took a job in California near Los Angeles. There he purchased another sailboat and honed his sailing skills on the Pacific Ocean. In his late 30's he announced that he was sailing to the South Pacific and would be gone for 2 years. I turned to my wife and said "I don't think we'll ever see Jim again." ......We never did.
He set sail with several other boats from LA. They apparently separated shortly after they embarked and he made the journey across several thousand miles of open sea by himself. He eventually ended up in Pago Pago American Samoa. He lived on his boat in the harbor. He stayed connected to the world he left through a third sister who managed his finances, health insurance etc. etc. He once stated that he bartered goods and services and was living on less than $2000 a year. Several months ago after a relatively short bout with an illness, Jim died. He was cremated and his ashes were sent to his oldest sister in Chicago.

I often think about what guts it must have taken to plan and execute such a huge undertaking. He fulfilled Everyman's dream of kissing the "rat race" good-bye and sailing off to the south seas. He once told my wife that he defined being successful as not having to work another day in your life. Jim succeeded.

So this October My wife and I, her oldest sister and one of her old friends will make the arduous journey to Pago Pago American Samoa. We'll go Tampa - Atlanta - Honolulu - Pago Pago. I think it's about 8 or 9 hours out of ATL and then 5 hours HNL to Pago Pago.
Can anyone tell me what to expect???

Hello

I've just returned from Negril, Jamaica, BWI. I try to get there every May. My wife and I go to a resort called Couples Swept Away. A well needed and well deserved chill out week. We've been to several other resorts in Jamaica, but keep coming back to Swept Away.



A fabulous 7 mile beach, extraordinary sunsets, gourmet food at 4 restaurants, a fine fitness center with aerobic classes and yoga, 10 tennis courts (4 clay) free lessons with resident and visiting pros, great live music and friendly people. Yeah Mon!