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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
I'm so loving your report.
I'm so loving your report.
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
Wow...thanks for sharing the report. The architeture is amazing. Reminds me of a Caribbean island near Jamaica I visited (or may not have visited
) this year. I see where the Spanish influence came from.
Wonderful picturesOut of Many One People Online
http://www.jamaicans.comComment
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
I'm so glad you're enjoying the report Ms. Exced.
I've got 11 more days worth of show and tell left, you may regret encouraging me 
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
Thanks Xavier. Yeah, you know the architecture was amazing and I just loved all the colours and the curvy lines and zest for life. You got a sense that the sun always shines in Spain...Comment
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
I really regret not spending more time in Barcelona. If this were a more leisurely trip, I would have gladly stayed for at least a couple more days. But we had miles more to go before we sleep, so on Day 5 we departed Barcelona for Nice.
Nice was literally a stopover on the way to Italy. Since we would be travelling along the Cote d'Azur, we opted for a day train to take advantage of the scenic ride. And we even sprang for First Class so we could travel in *extra* comfort
It was about a 12 hour trip in total, with a 30 minute stop in Montpellier to switch trains. First thing I noted on entering France, was that the people weren't smiling as much. I won't go into the tiresome cliches about French people, but I will say that there are reasons those cliches are still around. Of course the most popular restaurant at the station was McDonald's The Cannes film festival had just started, so there were people travelling in that general direction. Sadly, there were no celebrity sightings for us 
Bienvenue a Nice
<span style="font-weight: bold">And just in case you didn't believe I was actually there...</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">We stayed at:</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">And walked along:</span>
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
We were close to the airport, and a short bus ride out from the centre. There was nothing we were really DYING to see in Nice, like I said before, this stop was more like a refueling station for us. So we hopped the bus to the centre, walked around a bit and had some dinner. It was the evening when Italy was playing Spain in the Eurocup quarterfinals. All the restaurant televisions were tuned into the game. We were in France, but they were definitely rooting for Spain...I guess the French-Italian rivalry is stronger. Overall...meh. Nice is nice (sorry). Lots of older, tanned, well-dressed European types. We did a bit of window shopping and 
the prices 
. It's certainly pretty and has the whole summering on the Mediterranean feel to it, but I guess we just didn't have enough time to take to it. I think it'd great for anyone who has money and a boat. So with that final verdict, we took off the next day for the Cinque Terre. Again the trip along the coast was lovely and scenic. I would def recommend Cote d'Azur by train
<span style="font-weight: bold">Place something or other. I liked the postmodern art/lamp posts. Reminded me of the blue-man group for some reason...</span>
Au revoir Nice!
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
The sand on the beach looks coarse. Is it?Out of Many One People Online
http://www.jamaicans.comComment
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
Wow, wow, wow. I love your photos. I am a huge lover of architecture and these cities are full of details. Each building tells a story, so nice to see. Here I am sitting in little Jamaica wishing I was in Spain. Well I will dream as you take me along on your journey. Thanks so much
BTW I need this vacation you're taking me on.
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
I'll "second" what TSmall said!!!
...cept I'm sitting in NM....
I think I could fall in love with Spain.
Awesome report!!!! Thanks for taking all the time for posting this!
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
WOW!! Amazing!! Thanks.
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
bump.
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
Enjoying your report <span style="text-decoration: line-through">la passionista </span> lapassionata
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
Hi everyone, it's so nice to be getting such a positive response to this report.
"You like me, you really really like me!"
I'm certainly enjoying reliving it, although now I totally understand why it takes some of the trip reporters in the travel forums WEEKS to finish a report! One evening after spending an hour uploading pics, my browser just shut down before I could post 
. At that point, I just went to bed lol.
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
I'm on my last nerve with Internet Explorer, so with the blessing of Firefox, I'm going to try to reconstitute the lovely post that Explorer just destroyed.
We arrived in the Cinque Terre on June 23. I know the date because of the wonderfully detailed schedule my buddy A made for all of us, and which I still have on my desktop. Despite best intentions, I didn't keep a journal this trip. When I wasn't too tired, I was too lazy or having too much fun to actually take the time to sit and write. And long train rides were for dozing, reading, or gazing mindlessly out at the changing landscapes. But of all the places that we visited this trip, Barcelona and the Cinque Terre were my two favourites, and I bitterly bitterly regret not spending more time in each destination. I could have gladly skipped Florence in favour of an extra day or two in Barcelona. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.
The Cinque Terre are 5 exquisitely beautiful villages perched on the Ligurian coast of Italy. Jewel-like is the descriptor that comes to mind. These villages are so pretty and picturesque that you could almost believe that they were specially designed sets for the Hollywood version of la dolce vita. We took Trenitalia to Genova, and then transferred to a local train from Genova to Monterosso, the most northerly of the Cinque Terre villages. At the local tourism office we got hooked up with an apartment (the locals rent out cute, clean, CHEAP rooms/apartments, and I highly recommend this type of accomdation over the more expensive hotels), and a Cinque Terre card, which gave us access to the parks and hiking trails and discounts on souvenirs etc etc. To travel between the 5 villages, you can either hike the paths , take the ferry or you can take the local train that travels between them . Once we got settled in our cute 'n' cozy space, we took off on the hiking trail to Vernazza, which is widely held to be the most beautiful of the Cinque Terre. The hike is "supposed" to take about 2 hours according to the guides 
, but um, we took closer to 3 1/2...but then again we were stopping every 10 metres to take pictures...and more than half that hike was STRAIGHT uphill. to the enterprising Italian who had a lemonade stand halfway up one of the more punishing hills...you saved my life buddy, you saved my life...
<span style="font-weight: bold">Arriviamo a Genova</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Benvenuto a Monterosso</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Our place</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">
Outside the window</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Another Jamaica sighting (you can't pay for this kind of advertising!)</span>
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Re: Spain, the Cinque Terre, Rome
We began our hike with so much energy and optimism! The sun was past its zenith, the air was still, the scenery breathtaking, and we were young, fit and healthy. Oh the hubris!
<span style="font-weight: bold">
Monterosso al mare</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">
And we're off...</span>
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