We woke up bright and early today, excited for our excursion to Pompei, only to find out it was supposed to be cold and raining :( Nevertheless, we got ourselves ready and headed out to the train station. Along the way we grabbed our Italian breakfast of pastry and coffee (Robyn has now become addicted to espresso). Coffee and pastry in hand we crammed onto the train, like a bunch of sardines, for the 30 minute trip to Pompei. Having been there before I knew ...

We woke up early this morning, heading to the Amalfi Coast. Having finished off multiple bottles of wine last night, only having 6 hours of sleep and carrying our suitcases down 40 stairs (I carried Robyn's too, so that's 80 stairs!!), we were a little worse for wear, but we made it to the train station, ready for the first of 4 trains of the day. After a little excitement and confusion at the station (and a last minute change of platforms, forcing us to run up a...

Our last day in Cinque Terre was supposed to be beaches and exploring the cities. Being the first day it rained on our trip, we decided wine tasting was a better option than the beach (personally, I think this was a fair trade). The rain in Cinque Terre is not like that in Vancouver at all. When it rains it pours, forcing us to seek out cover and wait for the break in the rain (usually only a few minutes each time). After walking through the shops of Riomaggior...

Today was the day we did the hike. After filling up on free pastries and juice, provided by our hotel, we started the hike from the Riomagiorre train station. The first section of the path is a paved path, and very picturesque. It is called the Via Della Amour, and is filled with locks that have been put there by couples pledging their eternal love to each other. The keys are then thrown in the ocean. We arrived in Manarola (the second city), knowing that the pa...

Today we headed to beautiful Cinque Terre, which meant leaving our Venice apartment at 8am. As most of you know, I am not a morning person, so describing my mood as grumpy was probably being nice. Our day included a luxurious 2 hour train ride to Florence, including free water & juices, cookies and reclining seats (not as common on trains as planes). In Florence we made a dash to the far end of the platform and grabbed another train to La Spezia. In compar...