cinque terre

It was a glorious day when we set out from Villa 1 to explore the Cinque Terre.

You hear about these wonderful places and decide to go.

At some point logistics have to enter the exercise.

So, in 3 separate vehicles we entered a key car park in La Spezia into the GPS. 1 hour and 20 minutes. Got lost on the way to carpark, due to the GPS not being updated by Avis rent a car.

Finally rendez voused in the car park with the free shuttle bus to the main street. Sought directions to the ferry terminal from friendly natives.

Lined up with 200 others to buy tickets and at 11.30 were on the boat to Porte Nevere.

At Porte Nevere a change of ferry and then finally on our way between the 5 villages that make up the Cinque Terre.

Village no. 1 Rio Maggiore. We continued through to Village number 5.

This one called Monterossa. Lunch and fast stroll here before moving on to...

Vernazza, which some of us explored and some jumped off rocks into the Mediterranean. (And I'm the one with the broken wrist)

Manarola we gave a miss (and the other 3) as we had to find our way home again before the last boat sailed.

Time for a quick gelati before the boat to La Spezia.

Now, what was the number of that bus???

go shopping in Coop

Our favourite supermarket for our staples is Supercoop or Ipercoop.

We've stayed fairly simple in our recipe choices, but if we wanted to get really gourmet, the following are available.

When choosing fruit and veges here one must don disposable gloves and paper towels are available for any messes.

Then of course, serve on Tuscan ceramic platters.

report on the weather

It's a heat wave in Europe. We know; we're in it. What would normally be 32degree days have been up to 38 - 40 each day for the past week. 

We've given up coping through the afternoon and have given in to the concept of the afternoon siesta.

It's hot; damned hot!

Any extra time in the air conditioned car is very welcome.

For those without plaster or who aren't plastered, there are other options.

squeeze our car through some tight spots

When we picked up the hire car, we were expecting a compact Renault. 

An upgrade to a larger vehicle has seen us in some tight spots.

This is Assissi. It would have been lovely to walk around, but we were caught in a downward spiral of driving desperation, not knowing if the narrowing streets would bring us to a dead end.

Montecatini Alto was no better

We did ok though because we had the support of the Blessed Mother Mary.

wrap up Rome

in a neat little bow and say Grazie Mille.

We've mingled with the locals and in some cases adopted the style.

We've noted the quirky yet functional.

The parking problems 

And the downright lustworthy.

The mural in our spacious hotel room was as good as

The view from our window.

We hit the Autostrada, but Paul failed to rise to the 130kph speed limit, much to Myles chagrin.

It was also necessary to re-discover the toll system in Italia.

We much preferred tootling along the less significant motorways.

Arriverderci Roma!

look to the sky again

It's said that when travelling one should always look behind and up.

In Rome, the splendour is all around and I tried my best to notice it all.

look to the sky

It's amazing what difference 16 hours can make.

Here's the view of the Burj Khalifa as we arrived into Dubai at 1500

And here it was at 0630 the next morning.

Everything is new and bright and shiny at the airport.

Slight issues with the departure boards

But we got there in the end.