Hello again-

I promised to fill in a few of the holes on my blog after I got back.  I figure better late than never... I know some of these stories have come up in conversations I've had, but I haven't been able to touch base with all of you, so here we go.  I will give a very deserved shout out to GPS car systems.  Without "Vickie" (I don't know, she was named when they picked me up in Marseille), we would have been lost.  Heck, we had moments of confusion even with her!  The boys enjoyed switching up the accent, but I think Australian Vickie guided us most often.

Lunch in San Remo was a blast.  In the newest pictures (from P's and B's cameras), you'll see a great shot with our waiter, our new friend.  He gave us great advice on what to order, and was super friendly.  Language issues led us to accidentally order mussels, but for those of us who tried them for the first time, they were pretty good.  Not something I'd order again (at least on purpose!) but when in Italy...

In the Cinque Terre at last, we had dinner our first night in that area in what I call Town 1 (the southernmost town), Riomaggiore.  It was fun meal, and I, for one, was ecstatic to be there.  Since our full day in the 5 Terre was Sunday, we had two options for a morning train from La Spezia to Riomaggiore-- 8 am or 10 am.  Since the trail would take 3-4 hours, we opted for 8 am.  After a late night of Taboo, wegot an early start, and were on the trail by 8:15 am. 

Side story-- I feel a need to explain my outfit for the Cinque Terre trail day.  Given my heavy baggage, in Helsinki I made an unfortunately decision to mail back ALL my t-shirts.  This was a good decision, until I hit this point in the trip.  So, on hiking day, I had few options.  Hence, the outfit.  The 'funny' picture titles correspond to ribbing I had to take all day for my coach outfit.  What can I say...Back to the story.

The trail from Riomaggiore to Corniglia (Town 2) was a very pleasnant, easy 20-minute stroll.  This gave me a false sense of ease for the other hikes.  The walk was incredibly beautiful, and the picutres I have from this day are my absolute favorites.  The second walk (Corniglia to Manorola) was about an hour, and we found a great cove in there to rest.  There were lots of steps, both up and down, along the way.  That's what happens when you hike by the water, along cliffs.  It was beautiful, it was worth it, but it was definitely difficult!  The third leg, from Manorola to Vernazza, was about an hour and a half.  That proved tough for me; the continuing summer cold didn't help.  To explain one of the picture's captions, at one point of this up the steps-down the steps-up the steps tiring sequence, I made a comment expressing frustration, that involved Rick Steves (the guy who wrote the guidebook that tipped me off to this paradise).  It was especially amusing, because as I muttered this phrase, we walked by a few other hikers who knew exactly what I was talking about, and laughed at me.  It was funny.  (maybe you had to be there...).  This phrase became a catchphrase for the trip, whenever we were faced with a lot of steps.  That phrase, and the boys liked to kid me whenever we had the opportunity to climb more steps "Look, S, more steps!  Just like you wanted." 

After making it to the 4th town of Vernazza around noon, we hopped on a train to Monterosso for lunch and a dip in the sea.  Here, I also had my first experience with a non-Western toilet.  In case you're not familiar, this means there is a hole in the ground and two foot indentations on either side.  Yeah.  So the picture you see in the newest collection is my victorious emergence of this, uh, "incredible" experience.  It was great to sit down, and we had another tasty seaside lunch.  Then, after a little time on the beach, the other girls had to take off.  P, B and I walked around Monterosso a bit, then found a quiet spot on the grounds of a convent to rest for a bit: up a LOT of steps, at the top of a hill.  After a much needed rest, we headed back to Vernazza for dinner.  We had another nice dinner on the top of a hill, and headed back full and exhausted.