Saturday, October 10, 2009
THREE THIRDS OF THE WAY!!
So based on the pretty safe assumption that the 33 hours of flying home isn't going to make our "top fives", we have once again picked our highlights for the last section of trip. This timeframe includes the first day in Berlin to the end of the trip - and once again the requirements are open for what can make the list. Shona * Berlin * Neuschwanstein Day * Oktoberfest * Colosseum and Roman Forum * Cinque Terre. Mike * Cesky Krumlov river cruise * Ice caves * Neuschwanstein Day * Oktoberfest * Pompeii.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous (9th October)
The morning is very lazy as we start to arrange our bags for the flight home. This includes creating a bag of things to throw away. Mike has already chucked a shirt which has shunk due to the hot water washes that Europeans love, but there are other things like our laundry detergent and face cleanser which will not make the homeward journey. With everything organised we set out to the Gare Routire (the main bus station) in the middle of town. On the way we pick up one of our favourite meals to have in France - a baguette, a wedge of brie and some shaved jambon (ham). It's definitely a deja vous moment to eat this yummy meal at the same park that we had a similar meal at around 2 months ago. From the bus station we catch the 100
bus for 45 mins to the small principality of Monaco. If you want to become a resident one must pay a fee of one million euros to be considered (anybody else having a deja vous moment?). Monaco is ruled by the Grimuldi family and they have ruled Monaco for over 700 years. If there is no heir to rule over Monaco then Monaco will become a part of France. However the next heir to the throne is Princess Caroline, Prince Albert's sister and her bloodline. We get off the bus outside the casino and check out the collectio
n of cars that probably cost more than our house - Ferrari, Mazerati and Porsche. We aren't going in this time, partially because we aren't interested in gambling and partially because we're wearing jandals and wouldn't make it in even if we wanted to. Instead, we have a look around the gardens and have a spy on all of the massive super yachts in the marina. It's pretty amazing how the other half can live. After we've oggled enough boats we head back
to Nice to shop for our niece, Laura. Walking along the Nice beach promenade we notice that it is no where near as packed as it was a few months ago. However the heat has gone from the sun and the weather appears to be turning (a few spits of rain) so we head home after our final European kebab. Back at the villa it's a relaxing evening writing remaining blogs and winding down ready to leave Europe tomorrow.
bus for 45 mins to the small principality of Monaco. If you want to become a resident one must pay a fee of one million euros to be considered (anybody else having a deja vous moment?). Monaco is ruled by the Grimuldi family and they have ruled Monaco for over 700 years. If there is no heir to rule over Monaco then Monaco will become a part of France. However the next heir to the throne is Princess Caroline, Prince Albert's sister and her bloodline. We get off the bus outside the casino and check out the collectio
n of cars that probably cost more than our house - Ferrari, Mazerati and Porsche. We aren't going in this time, partially because we aren't interested in gambling and partially because we're wearing jandals and wouldn't make it in even if we wanted to. Instead, we have a look around the gardens and have a spy on all of the massive super yachts in the marina. It's pretty amazing how the other half can live. After we've oggled enough boats we head back
to Nice to shop for our niece, Laura. Walking along the Nice beach promenade we notice that it is no where near as packed as it was a few months ago. However the heat has gone from the sun and the weather appears to be turning (a few spits of rain) so we head home after our final European kebab. Back at the villa it's a relaxing evening writing remaining blogs and winding down ready to leave Europe tomorrow.
A Nice way to end Busabout (8th October)
Today is our final leg of Busabout. We make the 10:41 train out of Cinque Terre and we are sad to leave as it has been so relaxing. However the holiday must go on. The bus 
arrives at 12noon and we're on the road by 12:30pm bound for Nice, France. It's a very pretty drive along the French Riveria and as we pass Monaco, our guide Sheree tells us all about the details. There is no tax paid there as everything is funded by the Monte Carlo casino. If you want to become a resident one must pay a fee of one million euros to be considered. If you are turned down, bye bye one million euros. Such celebs to be turned down include Jacko and Madonna. However Brangelina has a place as does Bono from U2. We've been to Nice already on this trip and so this time decided to stay at a different location because there is a hostel rated in the top 5 in Europe. Getting there turns out to be a bit of a mission. We have to catch a tram - easy, but at 5:30pm the trams are chocka and we are trying to get on with our packs and hand lugg
age. Not the most favourite people. We eventually squeeze onto the 3rd tram that passes and it takes us to the drop off point where a white van collects us to take us up a very steep hill. The hostel is an old monastery and seems to be pretty good. Maybe it's because we are end of our trip, or maybe because it is award winning we expected more. However there is black mould on the ceiling in the bathroom, which is not the cleanest, there are no lockers for our stuff, the door to the room is a fire hazard and dinner is rather bizarre. We pay 6.50 euros for fish with quinoa and tomato's. It's nice, but we have to wait in a queue for ages while the chef cooks and plates 6 meals at a time and is not very fulling. We both could eat it again. Afterwards we have to wash our own dishes. Yes it's a hostel, but it seems like 6.50 euros is a lot when we do all the waitressing work. Oh well. The rest of the night is spent trying to work out what to do tomorrow. Mike's seen a canyoning trip which sounds awesome, but we are tired and we are not sure about having wet clothes to take on the plane and it's a little over our budget. In the end we decide not to go, mainly based on two things - one: we don't have the right shoes and two: we want to buy a digital camera that is totally waterproof. Once we have a waterproof camera we will go canyoning in NZ or wherever else we end up in the world. We have an early night which is not so early because an older Italian woman is reading on her bed. Except that she has her personal light shining to light up the whole room. That is what you get in hostels and hooray we only have 2 more nights of them.
arrives at 12noon and we're on the road by 12:30pm bound for Nice, France. It's a very pretty drive along the French Riveria and as we pass Monaco, our guide Sheree tells us all about the details. There is no tax paid there as everything is funded by the Monte Carlo casino. If you want to become a resident one must pay a fee of one million euros to be considered. If you are turned down, bye bye one million euros. Such celebs to be turned down include Jacko and Madonna. However Brangelina has a place as does Bono from U2. We've been to Nice already on this trip and so this time decided to stay at a different location because there is a hostel rated in the top 5 in Europe. Getting there turns out to be a bit of a mission. We have to catch a tram - easy, but at 5:30pm the trams are chocka and we are trying to get on with our packs and hand lugg
age. Not the most favourite people. We eventually squeeze onto the 3rd tram that passes and it takes us to the drop off point where a white van collects us to take us up a very steep hill. The hostel is an old monastery and seems to be pretty good. Maybe it's because we are end of our trip, or maybe because it is award winning we expected more. However there is black mould on the ceiling in the bathroom, which is not the cleanest, there are no lockers for our stuff, the door to the room is a fire hazard and dinner is rather bizarre. We pay 6.50 euros for fish with quinoa and tomato's. It's nice, but we have to wait in a queue for ages while the chef cooks and plates 6 meals at a time and is not very fulling. We both could eat it again. Afterwards we have to wash our own dishes. Yes it's a hostel, but it seems like 6.50 euros is a lot when we do all the waitressing work. Oh well. The rest of the night is spent trying to work out what to do tomorrow. Mike's seen a canyoning trip which sounds awesome, but we are tired and we are not sure about having wet clothes to take on the plane and it's a little over our budget. In the end we decide not to go, mainly based on two things - one: we don't have the right shoes and two: we want to buy a digital camera that is totally waterproof. Once we have a waterproof camera we will go canyoning in NZ or wherever else we end up in the world. We have an early night which is not so early because an older Italian woman is reading on her bed. Except that she has her personal light shining to light up the whole room. That is what you get in hostels and hooray we only have 2 more nights of them.
Summer sun (7th October)
The sun finally decides to be present all day and super hot. Perfect for our plan to lie on the beach. The best beach in the region is at 
Monterosso and to get there we take a ferry. It's more expensive than the train, but offers a great view of all the villages from the sea. Before setting up on the beach we explore the town of Monterosso, including going to the anchovy salting centre. It's end of season and so we can't actually see the anchovies being salted, but we learn that each year 3000kg of anchovies are salte
d manually by hand by the females of the cooperative. Best of all we get to try some :-) They are different to the anchovies back home. Despite being salted to serve them they are rinsed first, thereby removing a lot of the salted flavour. As such they taste more like fish than salt. Unfortunately we are not able to buy any to take home and the ladies know this and wouldn't want to waste their product on us. But it is good to be able to sample them where they are produced. W
e wander along the boardwalk, stopping for delicious gelato and eventually need the toilet. Toilets are not so good around these parts (they are the drop hole in the ground ones) and as such Shona ends up using the men's in the train station because it is way cleaner than the ladies. That's ok though because it's time for some sun and sea. We warm up and quickly hit the water to bob up and down in the swell. It's relaxing to be in the water, but eventually we make our way out where Shona falls asleep happy in the warm rays, however as usual after 30 minutes Michael is bored. We have learnt that Mike is not a huge fan for falling asleep on the beach. Maybe because despite the massive amounts of sunscreen he puts on (whereas Shona doesn't use any) he still burns (and Shona doesn't). New plan is that Shona will lie on the beach and Mike will go for a w
alk to pick up a few presents for people and to bring back pizza for lunch. He takes his time and 40 minutes later he is back with a delicious pesto pizza! Sunbathing over we catch a train back to Riomaggiore, rinse the salt off and head with a beer and wine down to the marina to play cards and watch the sun set. Mike heads back early to start dinner and Shona eventually joins him. It's our old favourite - pesto, lotsa garlic and parmesan pasta. It's just so yummy! There are new people in our room today (all Australians) and so we chat to them until midnight when it's finally time to hit the sack.
Monterosso and to get there we take a ferry. It's more expensive than the train, but offers a great view of all the villages from the sea. Before setting up on the beach we explore the town of Monterosso, including going to the anchovy salting centre. It's end of season and so we can't actually see the anchovies being salted, but we learn that each year 3000kg of anchovies are salte
d manually by hand by the females of the cooperative. Best of all we get to try some :-) They are different to the anchovies back home. Despite being salted to serve them they are rinsed first, thereby removing a lot of the salted flavour. As such they taste more like fish than salt. Unfortunately we are not able to buy any to take home and the ladies know this and wouldn't want to waste their product on us. But it is good to be able to sample them where they are produced. W
e wander along the boardwalk, stopping for delicious gelato and eventually need the toilet. Toilets are not so good around these parts (they are the drop hole in the ground ones) and as such Shona ends up using the men's in the train station because it is way cleaner than the ladies. That's ok though because it's time for some sun and sea. We warm up and quickly hit the water to bob up and down in the swell. It's relaxing to be in the water, but eventually we make our way out where Shona falls asleep happy in the warm rays, however as usual after 30 minutes Michael is bored. We have learnt that Mike is not a huge fan for falling asleep on the beach. Maybe because despite the massive amounts of sunscreen he puts on (whereas Shona doesn't use any) he still burns (and Shona doesn't). New plan is that Shona will lie on the beach and Mike will go for a w
alk to pick up a few presents for people and to bring back pizza for lunch. He takes his time and 40 minutes later he is back with a delicious pesto pizza! Sunbathing over we catch a train back to Riomaggiore, rinse the salt off and head with a beer and wine down to the marina to play cards and watch the sun set. Mike heads back early to start dinner and Shona eventually joins him. It's our old favourite - pesto, lotsa garlic and parmesan pasta. It's just so yummy! There are new people in our room today (all Australians) and so we chat to them until midnight when it's finally time to hit the sack.
Wine, love and pasta (6th October)
The day starts with our normal Cinque Terre breakfast - pizza (and almost always pesto pizza!). It gives us energy to walk the first part of the hike again from Riomaggiore around to Manarola. This time there are no tour groups and we are able to sit on the lovers seat and make out for a photo :-) We also had the chance to stop at the bar part the way around an
d enjoy a coffee overlooking 180 degrees of ocean. The purpose of the walk was to head around to Manarola in order to take the bus up to Groppo. As well as the five villages there are a few villages in the hills which are part of the region and National Park. In Groppo they make the Cinque Terre wine. There are five different types and Shona is able to taste four. Three are white wines - grapes only from Manarola, grapes only from Levanto and grapes from all over Cinque Terre. The all over variety is Shona's favourite. Mike has a sip of all of them too, but mainly eats the crisps! The final is the special dessert wine made in the region. They pick the grapes and then dry them in the hot sun over summer and on 1 November they press them to make the wine. It's really expensive (38 euros a bottle) and tastes del
icious especially with the biscotti that accompanies it. We buy some biscotti because it is really good and within our budget (4 euros). Afterwards we walk back down to Manarola, Shona giggles all the way because the wine has gone to her head! We see geckos as well as crickets jumping which are kinda freaky as we are not sure which we they are going to go. It's a lot of fun just wandering in the sun. We make our way back to Riomaggiore and head straight to the little bay around from us to have a swim. It's a rocky beach with big slippery rocks which makes it hard to enter the water. You get your balance and then a wave hits and blows you off. The most effective tactic is to push off and swim a few strokes until you are out at a depth where you only just touch the bottom (obviously this is a different place for Mike than for Shona!) and stay there bobbing up and down. It's a lot of fun -but it's definitely a good idea to clean off afterwards because the Mediterranean is so salty. Back at the hostel we do a redo of the dinner from last night -only this time we at least double the amount of garlic that goes with the pesto and parmesan pasta. It's even better than last night -especially because Mike makes a nice side of veges to go with it (our bodies have been craving nutrients after all the kebabs and pizza!). A wonderfully relaxing day -we're starting to understand why Italians have this "it's good to do nothing' saying!
d enjoy a coffee overlooking 180 degrees of ocean. The purpose of the walk was to head around to Manarola in order to take the bus up to Groppo. As well as the five villages there are a few villages in the hills which are part of the region and National Park. In Groppo they make the Cinque Terre wine. There are five different types and Shona is able to taste four. Three are white wines - grapes only from Manarola, grapes only from Levanto and grapes from all over Cinque Terre. The all over variety is Shona's favourite. Mike has a sip of all of them too, but mainly eats the crisps! The final is the special dessert wine made in the region. They pick the grapes and then dry them in the hot sun over summer and on 1 November they press them to make the wine. It's really expensive (38 euros a bottle) and tastes del
icious especially with the biscotti that accompanies it. We buy some biscotti because it is really good and within our budget (4 euros). Afterwards we walk back down to Manarola, Shona giggles all the way because the wine has gone to her head! We see geckos as well as crickets jumping which are kinda freaky as we are not sure which we they are going to go. It's a lot of fun just wandering in the sun. We make our way back to Riomaggiore and head straight to the little bay around from us to have a swim. It's a rocky beach with big slippery rocks which makes it hard to enter the water. You get your balance and then a wave hits and blows you off. The most effective tactic is to push off and swim a few strokes until you are out at a depth where you only just touch the bottom (obviously this is a different place for Mike than for Shona!) and stay there bobbing up and down. It's a lot of fun -but it's definitely a good idea to clean off afterwards because the Mediterranean is so salty. Back at the hostel we do a redo of the dinner from last night -only this time we at least double the amount of garlic that goes with the pesto and parmesan pasta. It's even better than last night -especially because Mike makes a nice side of veges to go with it (our bodies have been craving nutrients after all the kebabs and pizza!). A wonderfully relaxing day -we're starting to understand why Italians have this "it's good to do nothing' saying!
Friday, October 9, 2009
The big walk (5th October)
So although Riomaggiore could be a wonderful place to just relax and do nothing, we decide to do the opposite and walk the 10km track that joins the five (Cinque) villages (Terre). The first stretch is the shortest, the best laid, the most scenic and the most well known. It's called the Via dell Amore and features a piece of art that has become the icon of the walk (the silhouette of two lovers kissing). Because of all the previously mentioned points, it's also the most crowded stretch, as it's easy for large tours groups of grey hairs to slowly move a
long this footpath. Once in Manarola we sample their gelato (it's very good) and walk about the tiny village. It's not too different to Riomaggiore with it's brightly coloured houses with dark green shutters. We resume the walk but this time the track is not paved, rather it's a fairly flat dirt track with the occasional large stone along the way. Shona slips on once such loose stone and it bites her ankle leaving an immediate bruise. It's not too bad only the size of an old NZ 5cent coin so she sucks it up. Just as well because the next village Corniglia is situated high up on the hill. This means a large flight of stairs (we didn't count them) to hike up to enter it. Just as well we didn't stay there because the train station was at the bottom and we didn't fancy doing it with a pack as well! The hike up definitely means we deserve more gelato which we ate overlooking the stunning view of the blue ocean. We had set out on the walk at 10am so it was now nearly lunchtime. The map says the next walk is 4km which takes 1hour 40minutes. So we hang out a bit lon
ger stopping for a pizza - margarita of course. It's made from scratch and is delicious to share. Upon setting out on leg 3 we realise that each leg gets harder and harder. This time there are massive sets of stairs to climb up (we take a few breaks to enjoy the view, perch in the shade and get our breathe back). As we walk along one part of the countryside has recently been ravaged by fire. We are not sure why, but Mike finds it disturbing that the emergency help box is 
completely melted as a result. It is cool to see the various grape vines, lemon trees, olive trees growing on terraces amongst the normal bush that grows on the super steep hills. Our water goes down fast to help keep us hydrated. At one point there is a clearing under some trees and a number of people have stopped to have a picnic or have a rest. This isn't so strange except that there is a kitty cat lying on one of the tables in the sun and i
t appears to have cat food in a bowl and water for it to eat from. It's like someone treks in each day to feed it. We start to wonder if the cats are used as pest control, rather than poisons which could potentially affect the quality of the produce? Eventually we arrive in Vernazza with slightly sore knees, going downhill is rather hard on them. As we shared the first pizza we are still slightly hungry so find another margarita to share. It's not as good as Corniglia, however it fills up the hole in our tummies. Luckily the busker singing outside takes a break while we eat. She isn't that good and only knows one song which she plays on repeat - 'What's Up' by the 'Four Non Blondes'. Vernazza is the biggest town we have be
en too with lots of brightly coloured houses with dark green shutters. A large harbour and even an old castle on the hill. We head up to the castle to check it out. The view is very cool from here and we climb up the tower to get an even higher one. No one joins us up the top for ages, so we chill just enjoying being in the Cinque Terre and also trying to work out if it is going to rain. it's clouded over a bit and we suspect that it might. Our next stretch is supposed to take an hour 10 minutes, so when a massive tour group decides to come up the top, we choose to go down and carry on. The final leg is reasonably long and slightly rougher than the others. It's still a pretty decent track - however with the odd spit of rain the rocks can beco
me a little more slippery and treacherous. We have no idea what was going through the mind of the lady we pass who's walking in jandals... mental! It is really satisfying when we round the corner and there is the path down to Monterosso the largest of the five villages. We decide that we can check out Monterosso another day but stop for a cappuccino on the beach first. We train back to Riomaggiore and use our kitchen to cook ourselves dinner. So exciting to be able to cook. It's pasta with garlic, pesto and parmesan cheese - YUM! Other people in our hostel bring back some mates so we drink our beer and wine and talk about travelling and life. At about midnight everyone seems to call it a night and we head to bed to rest our exercised and full bodies!
long this footpath. Once in Manarola we sample their gelato (it's very good) and walk about the tiny village. It's not too different to Riomaggiore with it's brightly coloured houses with dark green shutters. We resume the walk but this time the track is not paved, rather it's a fairly flat dirt track with the occasional large stone along the way. Shona slips on once such loose stone and it bites her ankle leaving an immediate bruise. It's not too bad only the size of an old NZ 5cent coin so she sucks it up. Just as well because the next village Corniglia is situated high up on the hill. This means a large flight of stairs (we didn't count them) to hike up to enter it. Just as well we didn't stay there because the train station was at the bottom and we didn't fancy doing it with a pack as well! The hike up definitely means we deserve more gelato which we ate overlooking the stunning view of the blue ocean. We had set out on the walk at 10am so it was now nearly lunchtime. The map says the next walk is 4km which takes 1hour 40minutes. So we hang out a bit lon
ger stopping for a pizza - margarita of course. It's made from scratch and is delicious to share. Upon setting out on leg 3 we realise that each leg gets harder and harder. This time there are massive sets of stairs to climb up (we take a few breaks to enjoy the view, perch in the shade and get our breathe back). As we walk along one part of the countryside has recently been ravaged by fire. We are not sure why, but Mike finds it disturbing that the emergency help box is 
completely melted as a result. It is cool to see the various grape vines, lemon trees, olive trees growing on terraces amongst the normal bush that grows on the super steep hills. Our water goes down fast to help keep us hydrated. At one point there is a clearing under some trees and a number of people have stopped to have a picnic or have a rest. This isn't so strange except that there is a kitty cat lying on one of the tables in the sun and i
t appears to have cat food in a bowl and water for it to eat from. It's like someone treks in each day to feed it. We start to wonder if the cats are used as pest control, rather than poisons which could potentially affect the quality of the produce? Eventually we arrive in Vernazza with slightly sore knees, going downhill is rather hard on them. As we shared the first pizza we are still slightly hungry so find another margarita to share. It's not as good as Corniglia, however it fills up the hole in our tummies. Luckily the busker singing outside takes a break while we eat. She isn't that good and only knows one song which she plays on repeat - 'What's Up' by the 'Four Non Blondes'. Vernazza is the biggest town we have be
en too with lots of brightly coloured houses with dark green shutters. A large harbour and even an old castle on the hill. We head up to the castle to check it out. The view is very cool from here and we climb up the tower to get an even higher one. No one joins us up the top for ages, so we chill just enjoying being in the Cinque Terre and also trying to work out if it is going to rain. it's clouded over a bit and we suspect that it might. Our next stretch is supposed to take an hour 10 minutes, so when a massive tour group decides to come up the top, we choose to go down and carry on. The final leg is reasonably long and slightly rougher than the others. It's still a pretty decent track - however with the odd spit of rain the rocks can beco
me a little more slippery and treacherous. We have no idea what was going through the mind of the lady we pass who's walking in jandals... mental! It is really satisfying when we round the corner and there is the path down to Monterosso the largest of the five villages. We decide that we can check out Monterosso another day but stop for a cappuccino on the beach first. We train back to Riomaggiore and use our kitchen to cook ourselves dinner. So exciting to be able to cook. It's pasta with garlic, pesto and parmesan cheese - YUM! Other people in our hostel bring back some mates so we drink our beer and wine and talk about travelling and life. At about midnight everyone seems to call it a night and we head to bed to rest our exercised and full bodies!
Cinque Terre at last (4th October)
The first pit stop of the day is at a car park which costs 109euro for the bus
to park at. That's ok because it's the official car park for the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We walk the 15minutes past the super tacky souvenir shops to see one of the most famous monuments in the world. It's pretty cool and we take the obligatory photos of us holding it up! Surprisingly it's next to a beautiful cathedral and baptistery. We only have forty minutes to get the photos, find food and pay 30eurocents for a comfort stop which involves a massive queue. Somehow we manage it all and get a tacky souvenir to take part in the competition on the bus. At the very start of this trip S
hona wanted to go to the Cinque Terre which is five little villages along the west coast of Italy. They are famous for their way of life, building up terraced walls on super steep terrain to farm grapes for wine, olives for oil and lemons for limoncello. The main income was from fishing because the Mediterranean is full of wonderful fish, namely anchovies. The Monterosso is also the birthplace of pesto. Of course we would want to stop here! To get to this fantastic part of Italy, we catch the train from La Spezia to the first village and our home for the next 4 nights - Riomaggiore. It's so picturesque with the brightly coloured terraces houses, complete with forest green shutters, the paved footpaths (no cars here) and Italians sitting on benches talking about something. We find our way to the hostel, which is just the office and the guy leads us back down the hill we have walked up with our packs (YAY - not!) and find our accommodation. Because we 
are a couple and we are first he offered us a double bed. We take it because we can't remember the last time we were in the same bed! Downside is that our accommodation is like an apartment, the bedroom has 3 bunk beds in it and the lounge / kitchen / dining area has our double bed. It's ok and there are two complete bathrooms, one which we can make our own so all good :-) Plus we are super excited about having a kitchen because we believe the last time we cooked was in Lauterbrunnen 2 months ago. It's the small pleasures really... It's laundry time again and our 
timing is perfect. Apparently there were thunderstorms in the region a few weeks ago and the lightening took out 3 of the 4 machines. A nice American lady is waiting for her clothes but guesstimates that she'll be ten minutes. We find some takeaway pasta spaghetti with pesto and spaghetti carbonara YUM and YUM! Our clothes go on and we eat lunch while we wait. With the washing all done we wander around Riomaggiore to check out our town. It is really rather little but we find the playground up the hill, the new lift that is being built and the road where all the cars can park. It's a big little adventure and fun just to see what is up these steps or down there. Exploring is hard work which needs feeding. Despite the kitchen we decide to eat out tonight. Our restaurant is chosen for the calamari but upon closer inspection of the menu realise that it's brought in frozen and not fresh as Shona wanted. Eventually Mike settles for the veal stew and Shona the spaghetti with anchovies, garlic and capers. It is the best pasta she has ever eaten and is in total heaven. Luckily Mike doesn't like anchovies and so doesn't want to share.
to park at. That's ok because it's the official car park for the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We walk the 15minutes past the super tacky souvenir shops to see one of the most famous monuments in the world. It's pretty cool and we take the obligatory photos of us holding it up! Surprisingly it's next to a beautiful cathedral and baptistery. We only have forty minutes to get the photos, find food and pay 30eurocents for a comfort stop which involves a massive queue. Somehow we manage it all and get a tacky souvenir to take part in the competition on the bus. At the very start of this trip S
hona wanted to go to the Cinque Terre which is five little villages along the west coast of Italy. They are famous for their way of life, building up terraced walls on super steep terrain to farm grapes for wine, olives for oil and lemons for limoncello. The main income was from fishing because the Mediterranean is full of wonderful fish, namely anchovies. The Monterosso is also the birthplace of pesto. Of course we would want to stop here! To get to this fantastic part of Italy, we catch the train from La Spezia to the first village and our home for the next 4 nights - Riomaggiore. It's so picturesque with the brightly coloured terraces houses, complete with forest green shutters, the paved footpaths (no cars here) and Italians sitting on benches talking about something. We find our way to the hostel, which is just the office and the guy leads us back down the hill we have walked up with our packs (YAY - not!) and find our accommodation. Because we 
are a couple and we are first he offered us a double bed. We take it because we can't remember the last time we were in the same bed! Downside is that our accommodation is like an apartment, the bedroom has 3 bunk beds in it and the lounge / kitchen / dining area has our double bed. It's ok and there are two complete bathrooms, one which we can make our own so all good :-) Plus we are super excited about having a kitchen because we believe the last time we cooked was in Lauterbrunnen 2 months ago. It's the small pleasures really... It's laundry time again and our 
timing is perfect. Apparently there were thunderstorms in the region a few weeks ago and the lightening took out 3 of the 4 machines. A nice American lady is waiting for her clothes but guesstimates that she'll be ten minutes. We find some takeaway pasta spaghetti with pesto and spaghetti carbonara YUM and YUM! Our clothes go on and we eat lunch while we wait. With the washing all done we wander around Riomaggiore to check out our town. It is really rather little but we find the playground up the hill, the new lift that is being built and the road where all the cars can park. It's a big little adventure and fun just to see what is up these steps or down there. Exploring is hard work which needs feeding. Despite the kitchen we decide to eat out tonight. Our restaurant is chosen for the calamari but upon closer inspection of the menu realise that it's brought in frozen and not fresh as Shona wanted. Eventually Mike settles for the veal stew and Shona the spaghetti with anchovies, garlic and capers. It is the best pasta she has ever eaten and is in total heaven. Luckily Mike doesn't like anchovies and so doesn't want to share.
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