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Buon giorno tutti! Kristabella here. It's now Wednesday 8 September and Cathy and I are in day three of our five day stay in Porto Venere, a lovely coastal outpost around the corner of the infamous 'Cinque Terre', five sea villages of gelati-coloured buildings with white sheets billowing from tiny balconcies overhead. Cinque Terre is the Noosa for most Italians and the villages are so picturesque it is easy to fall in love with this provincial lifestyle. While Rome a fortnight ago was a blistering 38 plus degrees, the Northern leg of our tour has been cooler and we've been incredibly fortunate with great weather for most of the trip, with the exception of today's forecast, 'thunderstorms, with openings'. On our first day here, we took the ferry from Porto Venere, about 100 steps from our hotel which overlooks the harbour, to the Cinque Terre. At the furthermost village, Monterosso, Cath and I unleashed the moths from our purses, and went on a shopping frenzy, no expense shared ... tea towels for you all!
We jumped on the ferry and travelled around the villages but both agreed that Monterosso was a fave spot. Of course I have continued taking photographs every 2 seconds, clicking more than a Nonna without her false teeth. Cath has learned to keep a careful distance from me so she doesn't get sunburned by the camera flash. We've also discovered a fantastic bar right on the water. Each afternoon we dress in our most fabulous scarves, ear rings, and other glittering baubles in case George Clooney is in town. As an aside, we know he would have been devastated to learn that we ran out of time to visit at his Lake Como villa. However, there's only so many hours in a day, so we went for a boat ride around the lake and our late night finocolare ride (think a train carriage hauled up the side of a mountain at 55 degrees, being drawn up by some dental floss) instead.
The view was lovely, fairylights in the mountains, and another new experience and quite different from going on the escalators in Myer. Anyway, back to the bar ... which we have been doing each night. Cath orders her daily medication, cuban libre (rum and coke) and the lime and gin for me. With it comes a tray of smackerals including, olives, bocconcini and cherry tomatoes, peanuts, chips, round crunching things, crumbly tasty cheese, and capers. The drinks get served in these huge glasses and are very generous. We are always happy to pay the long pony-tailed barman with the head band ...we call him crazy man pool boy, but lovingly. After that, we are then tantalised by the many menus luring us to dine at one harbour view ristorante over the other. Finally, we go for the 'Tre Torre'. Given the seaside nature, seafood is very heavy on the menu. I ordered calamari yesterday for the first time (Dad, I still prefer yours), and they must have prepared it with utensils that had touched prawns, which I am highly allergic too. Within a few hours, I got hot and could feel my tongue and lips 'buzzing' but stupidly did not have my medication with me (all now tightly packed in my handbag). Luckily, it was a low grade reaction and the first I'd had in about a year. Was a bit worried on the bus but thankfully it didn't progress. Back at the hotel, some anti-histimines and settled it down within the hour. Note to self ... no more seafood while in Italy!
On our second day here we activated our Cinque Terre train pass which allows us to visit the villages by rail from La Spezia, about a 20minute bus ride from Port Venere. Thankfully, Cath's internal guidance system works with military precision. She has this uncanny ability to mentally road map every direction and step we take. I, on the other hand, offer the antithesis of this, getting hopelessly lost at every term. But it's a great way to make new friends. Just yesterday, I went to the Italian Info Centre and spoke to the woman in my best Italian. She was obliously so impressed with my fluency that she asked if I could speak English. I was flattered that she wanted to practice her English with me ... yeah, right. As for Cathy, her Italian is now so good that she is now translating the television news and train arrival and departure information from Italian into English. I'll know the conversion is complete when she can finally eat an olive. Okay, that's it from me for now. Today's thunderstorm appears to have passed, and like the weather report, I now see some 'openings'. Over to Cathy. Ciao and love to all, Krista XXX
- comments
ronny boy hey kristabella laugh out loud! I love your blog! now I know what you can do for a living – write for lonely planet! i googled Porto Venere. my goodness what a beautiful place!!! we are all well here and the bubbas are sunuggled in their beds. have fun! love ronny and the two bears
di and dad bit behind computer problems. it appears you're becoming old hands with travelling! Watch the prawns!!!!!! Luv Di and Dad.