Whoa. Posting from Paris right now. If we can get home tomorrow in one piece and with all our things, it will be a miracle. I'll save the story for later. See you all soon!

Hello faithful readers,

I'm sorry for the lack of new content over the last couple weeks. Our time here in Turkey is brief and packed with things to do, and my will to sit in a net cafe an upload pics for a few hours on a shitty net connection is very low. When I get home in - count em - 6 days, I'll do a post from there with a bunch of my pics from Turkey.

Right now we're in Göreme, in the region called Cappadocia in central Turkey. Its hard to believe this place exists: all the shops and pensions and restaurants are built into the rock... our room is actually a cave. Its ridiculous.... ridiculously COOL! There are a bunch of valleys with amazing hiking; today we're taking some ATVs on a guided tour around a few of them. Should be neat! From here we head to Istanbul and then home...

Our boat cruise was great. Four days of intense relaxing: suntanning, swimming, fishing, eating, drinking and jamming (guitar and hand drum). We were lucky to have a bunch of really great people on our boat (including our friends Jez and Mike and another couple from Vancouver who were really cool, obviously) which made the experience that much more enjoyable. We parted ways with Mike after we docked, and Randie, Jez, and I came to Goreme. Today is our last night with Jez, who is off to Syria tonight. (COOL).

Looking forward to coming home. Its going to be weird, but I'm sure I can adjust ;) To be honest, I'm a little nervous... so much to do! Anyways, talk to you all soon.

nb: Still no pics, because I'm having a hard time getting a decent net connection.

Wow. Turkey is officially the most amazing mystical wonderland ever. I can't even begin to explain the last week, especially without pics, but I'll try to give an idea of what we've been up to. I have to do it fast because this cafe is ridiculous hot and smokey, and for some reason I can't stop sneezing.

From Selcuk we took a day trip to Pamukale, where we got to check out the travertines, these crazy limestone formations that look like snow but are actually rock, and have water running on them that is really warm and blue. Sigh. Maybe look them up on google to get an idea of how they look. That night we hit a hammam, aka turkish bath, and came home ridiculously relaxed.

Form Selcuk we went to Olympos, aka Paradise, where we spent two days swimming, exploring crazy ruins in the middle of the forest, sitting around smoking apple tobacco from the Nargile (we call them huka back home) and drinking beer. We hiked up to the Chimera one night, and sat around the eternal flames that burn on the mountain because of like methane gas that leaks from the ground or something. We met two Aussies, Peter and Jeremy, and a Kiwi, Mike, with whom we've become great friends. Yesterday we travelled with Pete and Jez to Fethiye, where Mike is hopefully going to meet up (he's hitchhiking) so we can go on a 4 day cruise along the coast together. Pete unfortunately can't come and we'll be saying goodbye tomorrow.

Man. This is the worst post ever. Please forgive, and hopefully I'll have the patience to upload some of our absolutely unbelieveable pics soon. Talk soon!


ps, actually, heres two random pics, just because. By no means anything special, I just happen to have uploaded them like a week ago. The first is from our balcony in Selcuk, the other in Sirince, a little village nearby.

It seems like a miracle, but somehow we made it to Selcuk, Turkey.

We got on the ferry this morning in Chios, bound for the Turkish port of Cesme. We were heading into Turkey knowing little to nothing about what we were doing, and hoping to sort things out as we went. No reservations, no bus info, nothing. As we approached the port, we began to realize that maybe we should have thought things through a little more, but naturally by this time it was much too late. Just as we were about to dive headfirst into shallow water, a voice from behind: "Umm, do you guys know where you're going?"

Friendly Floridian Ray had noticed our slightly uncertain expressions and took it as a cry for help. Our natural travel walls initially went up ("Isn't it convinient that this random stranger happens to be going our way?"), but having no real idea what to do we allowed him to lead us along. He explained that we have two options: to take the shuttle bus (I believe he called it the "tourist bus") right from the port to Izmir, which would cost about 10 euro, or walk into town (uphill with our packs) and catch the regular bus, which would be around 10 lira, or half the price. We were almost prepared to pay the money so as to not have to hike into town, but upon a quick discussion in Turkish with the loitering attendant, Ray exclaimed "Follow me, we're outta here!" and set off in the direction of the town. With nervous glances, Randie and I set off after him as he explained that the attendant told him that he could take the bus free (because he spoke Turkish) but that he would have to charge us 80 lira! (because we're tourists). This didn't please Ray (nor us!) and so off we went. To make a long story short, Ray got us on the right bus, where we paid only 8 lira each, and filled us with every possible piece of advice he could give us about Turkey, including his email and Turkish mobile phone number in case we had any trouble. So, wow. Any suspicions we had were obviously completely unfounded (and frankly made us feel guilty for even having thought them), and we walked away from the experience counting our blessings that this man had come our way.

The bus dropped us off at the Otogar (bus station) in Izmir. We grabbed a quick bite and were, as Ray had bet me a beer on, overcharged. From here we needed to find a bus to Selcuk, and wandered along the lines of buses and drivers yelling out the name of their destination. Apparently we had Selcuk written all over our faces because one particularily bold (and old) driver walked up to me saying "Hellooo helloooo! Selcuk!" and shook my hand. Making sure to confirm the price before boarding (5 YTL each for the hour long trip), we tossed our bags on and made broken conversation with the old man, who it turned out wasn't the driver, but the guy that... gets people to get on the bus, or something. We even managed a bit of a nap before he tapped me on the shoulder saying "Hey sleepy, this Selcuk!". As the bus rolled into the station, a group of 5 or 6 Turks litterally started running towards the bus. The doors to the luggage compartment opened first, and they got a glimpse of the Canadian flags on our bags, so as the bus doors opened we were met with a lot of "Hello Canada!" and offers for various services and accommodations that we were thoroughly uninterested in. Staying as polite as possible, we managed to get out of the bus station, with only one of the group following us, pretending to be insulted or something in order to guilt us into staying at his place. ("I know what it is! You are afraid of Turkish peoples! We offer you nice things and you just run away!") We explained to him that this wasn't the case: we had somewhere that we'd made a "reservation". This satisfied him and he left us alone. We could only laugh :)

So, our "reservation". Our host Don in Chios had recommended we come to Selcuk because there are many great things nearby, and he happened to have the brochures from some people that have a hotel there that had come to stay with him a couple years ago. So, outdated brochures with vague map in hand, we set out to find "Jimmy's Atermis Hotel". On the way a passing girl stopped and greeted us in exactly the same way Ray had back on the ferry, only this time with an Australian accent: "Hey guys, do you know where you're going?" She confirmed that we were on the right track, and after exchanging a few pleasentries, we continued on our way. As we came to a junction and stopped to decide where to go, another Turkish man approached us saying "yes! Artemis Hotel! Over here!" Still wary from our encounters at the bus station, we were reluctant to follow, especially since the broshures in his hand were similar, but not the same as the one I was holding. ("Maybe he's trying to trick us into staying at his crappier hotel!" I thought.) But looking where he was pointing it did indeed seem as though it was the place we were looking for, and as it turned out, it was. And thank God we found it. When we got in, Autralian Bron and her Turkish husband Jimmy, who had stayed with Don in Chios, met us and were also surprised we managed to find the place without any help. ("No help!?" we smirked to ourselves). Apprently my paranoid thought about trying to trick us into staying at the worse hotel is true: there is another hotel around the corner also called the Artemis, trying to cash in on the already established Artemis hotel's (the new broshures simply call it "Jimmy's Place" now) good name. But we made it. The staff here, especially Bron and Adam, who met us on the street, have been incredibally kind and helpful. The hotel itself is awesome: great lounge areas with satellite TV, internet access, a travel agency, a library full of books and magazine clippings on everything Turkish, a great restaurant upstairs, and, of course, a carpet shop in the back. There is a mosque right outside our balcony too, and we get the hyponotizing call to prayer coming right into our room 5 times a day (including at dawn).

Coming here we've been able to completely relax. The thing is, as long as you have your wits about you you're fine here: there is not a single person who will ever hurt you. Yes, they want your money, but if they want it they try to come up with more creative ways of getting it: trying to sell you things, overcharge you, etc. But thats just how it is here, and has been for a long time: we have money, they don't (as much). We're learning really fast, and I know we're going to be fine. Our Turkish adventure has begun.

Well, here I am from Greece again. Its been a good week since I last updated! Greece has definately been my favourite so far. So yeah, um, where was I? Nafplion was a nice place but as with anywhere we've been, it could only last so long. While we were there we managed to rent a car and head out to Corinth (well, Ancient Corinth to be exact) to see more ruins. Ruins are starting to get a little boring, but it was still cool. Acrokorinth (literally, "high Corinth", way up on a mountain - good thing we had the car) was especially cool. 



 
Ancient corinth, y'all


The local inhabitants


Acrokorinth


I call this the "explorer" pose


My summer home.




That same day we drove over to an ocean location that was only accessible if you have a car.  It was gorgeous: we even got to see some dolphins, although we weren't quick enough to photograph them.


This makes me want to take up fishing.


I wish we'd remembered our bathing suits!

From Nafplion, we got on a bus and went to Athens.


Go time!


Athens was really nice.  We staying in the Plaka (the old city) and didn't stray too far from there, because Athens is generally a loud, polluted, crazy city.  By staying where we were, all we really had to deal with was annoying restaurant "touts", who stand outside their restaurany and try to lure tourists inside.  We let ourselves get sucked into one desert place and ended up paying 13 euro for 2 baklava (usually should be around 5 euro).  We learnt our lesson!  We didn't do too much in Athens beyond the big sights either.  We' re starting to get tired of heavy sightseeing and were more keen on sitting in the hostel courtyard chatting to various people and watching BBC world news on the TV there.  


From our balcony in our hostel in Athens


Fresh fruit in Monatiraki square.  We bought from here a few times, obviously.  Monastiraki was also the best place to get a couple beers and eat till you could eat no more... all for about 10 euro.  For TWO.


My, uhh... spring home.


Also known as the Pantheon, in the Acropolis


More locals.







Presenting... THE ANCIENT AGORA


Again, the locals.


View from dinner.  Believe it or not, this isn't even the romantic one I was talking about!



Ancient Greeks knew how to party.  (Taken in the National Archeological Museum)



And were also very... fit.




Our final impression of Athens was very positive.  We loved it, especially after the almost cheesily romantic dinner we had on our last night (at which we obviously forgot the camera) at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the city, in the shadow of the Acropolis.  Go Athens!

Now we're on the island of Chios (pronouced hee-oss), and getting he was... an experience.  Ferries in Europe don't function on the socialist ideals on which Canada prides itself.  We bought our tickets for the 7 hour ferry to Chios from the travel agent in the hostel, and naturally got the cheapest tickets (27 euro each).  When you get a cheap ticket for a ferry in Greece, it means you get passage to where you want to go.  Thats it.  Our tickets said "Deck", and thats exactly where the crew ushered us when we got onboard: outside on the deck.  After parking ourselves on the floor there for a couple hours, with our giant packs, it started getting cold (the ferry left at 4:30pm and it was crappy weather; it had rained that morning etc) so we moved, along with the rest of the world, into the interior stairwells and sat there, amid a bunch of loud, smoking Greeks, to pass the remaining 4 hours or so.  Luckily we had a bottle of ouzo to help pass the time!


Relaxing, "economy class" style.


Relaxing, steerage style.

But we're here now.  Today we did very little: although there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the wind was so strong that you had to lean into it to walk anywhere.  Tomorrow we're going to rent a car and try to get out of the noisy main city where we're staying.  Our room is mad cheap (30 euro a night) and pretty night: we even have a private "terrace".  In a couple days we're going to be heading into Turkey!!  My next post will be from there.  Take care all!


From the terrace.

Hello world!  It has been a long time since I've posted, and I of course apologize.  We've been busy relaxing, sightseeing, and traveling (as in, actually moving from place to place).  We are now in Nafplion, Greece, far from where we did our last post in Sorrento, Italy.  Here's a breif summary of the last week and a half!

Our time in Sorrento was nice, but we were starting to get anxious to leave Italy and move on to the next leg of our journey.  Regardless, there was much to see and do there, and we actually spent an extra two nights there (although not both by choice.)  The morning after we arrived we had been planning to take the ferry to nearby Capri, but found ourselves much too tired after doing Florence and Rome to do anything other than bum around the city and get a feel for the seaside life there.  It was a pleasent day, and gave us the opportunity to plan a little for Greece; that is, book a room on Corfu so we had somewhere to go once we left Italy.  We managed to find a really nice, really cheap restaurant in Sorrento, which we found ourselves returning to day after day so we could try to stay within budget (especially since our room was 80€ a night - very very expensive city!!).  So anyways, the next day we met a really nice Canadian couple at breakfast in our B&B (Zafer and Saima from Toronto) and we ended up taking the ferry with them to Capri.  I've never felt seasick before, but this ride was ROUGH.  It was also very expensive: almost 25€/person return.  Capri ended up being a disappointment: overly touristy, and not terribly nice weather.  We took the chairlift up the mountain an found ourselves standing in a very cold cloud.  No real views to be seen.  The hidden bonus was that the fog allowed us to see (and photograph) the solar eclipse that was happening that day!  Pretty neat.  That night we met more people, Karen and Haylee from Florida, and had a long long chat with them before going to that same cheap restaurant for dinner.


Chairlifting to the clouds


A break in the clouds


Eclipse!


Playing around in a lemon grove in Sorrento

The next day was Pompeii.  Not much to say about this: it was amazing.  Also very very very big.  We hung around for about 5 hours and didn't even see half of it.  Vesuvius loomed ominously over us the whole time we were there (and in Sorrento too.)  Yes Meredith, we got out alive.  That night we had to change hotels because there wasn't the one we were in was booked full: turns out that Franco, the kindly owner of the cheap restaurtant we'd been eating at day after day, also rented out some cheap rooms.  So he took care of us.  We were planning on leaving the next day for Greece.


The Forum in Pompeii, Vesuvius in the background


In the "House of the Faun"


The Bath house


Owned.


From the balcony on the unfortunately named "Foreigner's Club" in Sorrento. Cheap drinks!  There's Vesuvius again.


Franco, his wife and their grandson.


We packed out bags and took the train to Naples, but were informed that the only train to Bari, where we were to take the ferry to Greece, was full.  So, back to Franco's place we went (not daring to even set foot outside of the train station into filthy, crime ridden Naples) this time with a reservation for the next day's train. 

The next day and a half was all travel.  About 5 hours on a train to Bari, where we killed 4 hours, then 10 hours on the overnight ferry (sitting in a chair) to Igoumenitsa, Greece.  From there, another 2 hour ferry to Corfu, where Kostas kindly picked up us and took us back to his place where we were staying.  This 4 days on Corfu turned out to be the best time we've had so far.  Kostas and his family were so incredibally kind to us, and Mama cooked the best food I've ever had in my whole life.  Our seafront room with a kitchen was a measly €35 per night.  This cheap room allowed us to, urged by Kostas, to rent a car.  Papa called his friend (I think he knew everyone on the island) who has a car rental place and then drove us there himself so we could pick up the car.  The only problem: when you rent a car for €30 a day, it isn't an automatic.  When I told Spiros I'd never driven standard before, he said "No problem, is easy.  I teach you."  So, after a quick explanation of where the clutch is and how it works, he tosses me the keys and says "Okay you try now".  So out on the streets of Corfu I head, sweating bricks, trying not to embarass myself infront of the guy who is about to rent me this car in good faith.  After 10 mins of driving around (i.e. stalling around) and much deliberation of whether of not I could actually do this on my own without anyone telling me if I'm ruining the clutch or not, off we went in our 2004 Fiat Panda for a cruise around Corfu.  It ended up being excellent having a car, and although I was very nervous at first, I eventually got the hang of it and we had an excellent time on Corfu: much better than if we hadn't had wheels.  Leaving Kostas, Papa and Mama was the hardest thing we've had to do so far, but we managed.  We dropped off the car in the morning and Sprios kindly gave us a lift to the port so we could catch the ferry and bus to Nafplion. 


From our balcony in Corfu.


From the Taverna owned by Kostas and family, where we were fed each day.  Mythos is delicous Greek beer.


At night.


Yeah, that's right.  I can drive standard.


I lost my glasses on this beach, and then went back the next day and found them.  Both times we went we were the only people there.


At the ruins on a 13th century castle, alone with the goats.


Yup.


At the palace of Achilieo on Corfu.  Imagine this is your patio.


Just a random view from our drive around the island.


Papa, Me, Kostas.


Randie, Kostas, Mama.

The bus ride is almost unbearable: we were riding the techno bus.  6 hours of pure Greek dance pop hits.  Somehow we made it, and it is beautiful here.  We did our first bit of swimming yesterday, and also climbed the 900 steps (my legs stilll hurt!) to the fortress overlooking the city.  Spectacular.  I have to sign off now though, because if I'm in this smokey, boiling internet cafe for 1 more minute, I think I'll pass out.  So enjoy the pics, and I'll try to update a little faster next time!  Love to all!

The theater at Epidavros, near Nafplion.  We went there this morning.


This streets of Nafplion.

We just did Florence and Rome together in a week. Crazy? Maybe. Tired? One could argue. Completely and utterly amazed? Absolutely. 


Sunset in Florence


The imposing Cathedral in Florence


Me in my hip new Florencian cap.


A building in Florence... I think a museum of some kind now.  I don't know.  These are the types of things that are everywhere in Italy.

Florence was amazing, but also very tiring. We managed to see the Uffizi Gallery and the Acedemia, along with the Medici Chapels and Brancacci Chapel. It was lots of sightseeing museuming, but worth it. As I said in my last post, we didn't take many pics, but above are a few of simple city scenery pics which will hopefully give you an inkling of what it was like.

From (our very smelly room) in Florence we set off to Rome, arriving on a very rainy Friday evening. We stayed at a hostel called Casa Olmata, in which we managed to get our own room, but still got all the charm (i.e. grime) of a hostel. Luckily it was infinately cheaper than most places we could find.

Rome was somewhat badly planned. There is SO much stuff in this city that we really had no chance to see it all in just two days, especially being burnt out from all our museum viewing in Florence. On Saturday morning we got ourselves up and took the metro over to the Vatican with the intention of going to the Vatican Museum: one of the world's most amazing museums of civiliation (four miles of gallery) ending with Michelangelo's pristinely restored Sistine Chapel. We knew there would be a big line and thought we were prepared for it. We approched the museum and saw the line stretching down the street. Resigned, we began walking down the line to begin our wait. Well, when we got to the end of the street, the line stretched around the corner. We thought "well, when in Rome..." and continued walking down the line. 10 mins later we reached the end. The line was about a kilometer long and 5 people thick. We decided there was way too much other stuff to see in Rome and, writing off the museum, headed over to the Colleseum, stopping to picnic in the middle of the Circus Maximus. 

Wow. The Colleseum was amazing. We then walked through the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. 







Of particular interest was me finding €100 on the ground on Palatine hill.  I win!


The Roman Forum was the centre of Rome in ancient times.


The temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum

Our pit of a room happened to have a small TV with a DVD player built in, so we jumped at the opportunity to watch an English film. Flipping through channels on the TV in our room in Sienna, we'd seen Braveheart dubbed in Italian, so when I saw it for sale for €6.50 in the sale bin at the store we looked in, I grabbed it and we watched it that night.

The next day, Sunday, we got up and headed to the Vatican again, but this time for a different reason. On Sundays at noon the Pope gives a blessing, and it seemed ridiculous to be in Rome and miss something like that. The train was absolutely crammed getting down that, and the Vatican square was no different: thousands of worshippers from around the world were there to hear the Pope give his blessing from his tiny window high above the square. It was unfortunately all in Italian so we couldn't understand a thing, but it was still a great feeling being part of the crowd. We then went inside of St. Peter's Basilica: inarguably the most remarkable church on earth (and the biggest). We attened mass (again in Italian) and then walked around the SIX ACRE interior of the church. Wow.  We also went and had a beer in Piazza Nuova to peopel watch for a bit, then went over to the Pantheon.  That night we bought The Gladiator, so we could catch a little roman action, Russel Crowe style. 


I don't know why they don't just let them sit down.


The Pope!



We had intended to get up reeeaaaally early this morning and try for hte Vatican museum again, but totally copped out because we are way too tired. So instead we said goodbye to Rome and got on the train for Sorrento. We haven't been here long, but it is absolutely gorgeous, and our room is REALLY nice. We decided to spend a little extra on accomodations here so we could relax and recoup from the last incredibally intense week. We're staying here for a few days, checking out the island of Capri and the ruins at Pompeii, then we say goodbye to Italy and make our way to Greece. Giddyup!


Our glorious kitchen sink in Rome, as a metaphor for the whole place.  Compared to...


Our absurdly hip place in Sorrento, for only €25 more per night.


View from our room in Sorrento.

From gorgeous Lyon we travelled south to Nice, on the Cote d'Azur.  On arrival, our initial reaction to the city was very negative.  it was dirty, noisy, had lots of cars, and all the charm of a Vegas hotel.  Sitting in a little restaurant after checking into our cramped, dirty hotel, we got to listen to car horns and reving engines, watch throngs of wealthy geriatrics hobble by with sneers on their faces, and eat sub-par food for above-par prices.  We were so turned off by the city that we booked it back to the train station to change the train ticket to Venice from Monday to Saturday (this was on Thursday night), the earilest we could go as I had booked two nights at our hotel online.  The night took a turn for the better though: we stumbled across a little cafe with live jazz and spent the evening listening to their awesome playing and drinking back a bottle of cheap wine.  Still, we went to bed bracing ourselves for the following day, Randie's birthday, hoping it would turn out better.

It did.  It was gorgeous weather... impossible to believe that just a short train ride ago we were tightening our jackets and pulling down our toques.  We rented bikes and rode along the waterfront, where we got to dip our feet in the turquoise Mediterranean for the first time.  We climbed up this big hill on which the old castle and fort used to be situated, and were  awarded with gripping city panoramas.   We found the marketplace and got to check out the fresh produce, candies, flowers etc that the locals were selling.  We had a glass of wine down on the beach, our thoughts swept away on the rolling sea waves.

Randie loves seafood, so for dinner we went to a seafood restaurant we'd seen on our travels during the day.  We got the "seafood platter", which turned out to be a steal at 70€.  It was a heaping mound of fresh, uncooked fruits de mer: oysters, mussels, clams, shrimp, crayfish, snails, even a sea urchin.  I had to muster up a lot of courage to eat some of it (we weren't sure if the snails were alive or dead... we had to pull them out of their shells ourselves) but it all turned out to be tasty.  We were very pleased nice surprised us so much, and learned out lesson to be more open minded when arriving in a new city.


Nice



François Chassilis on trumpet


Wet feet


Getting lunch


The graveyard in Nice


Our table on the beach


Birthday dinner!


The next morning, after picking up a packaged sandwich for our lunch, we got on the train and settled in for the long haul to Venice.  The ride was uneventful, and other than a scramble trying to change trains in Milano, we arrived in Venice unscathed (or so we thought).  From the traqin station, you walk outside and are met with Venice's main highway: the grand canal.  We hopped on vaporetto (equivilant to a bus, but its on water) #51, bound for Lido: an island outside the centre of venice where we'd found cheap accomodations.  We had a light dinner on some deliciously overpriced pasta at the risotrante across from our hotel, then hit the sack early, eager to attack venice early in the morning.

That night, I started puking.  It was 3 or 4 in the morning and I felt terrible.  About an hour later, Randie started too.  We realized we had managed to get food poisoning, presumably from the sandwich we bought for hte train ride.  We spent the entire day taking turns running to the bathroom, too weak to do anything but lie on the bed and hope the pain would stop.  Very easily top 3 worst I've felt in my life.  We didn't eat a thing all day (obviously), but at around 7:30pm we dragged ourselves up and outside for a walk to the supermarket, knowing that if we didn't eat anything we would never regain our strength.

After another restless night we got up feeling a bit better but still very weak.  We couldn't waste another day in Venice so we bravely set out into the tourist chaos.  The city is beautiful, but it was hard to really appreciate it feeling as we did.  We went to bed early and the next day set out again, this time dropping our bags at the train station because we were taking the night train out.  It was a tough day and very very cold, especially when you feel like crap and have nowhere to go to warm up.  We ended up just going and sitting in the train station to wait for our train because we couldn't stand Venice anymore.  It was all tourists, and the Italians there were rude and/or trying to rip you off.  We left gladly, hoping the much heralded Cinque Terre area would improve our feelings towards Italy.


A Venice "street"



Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's square)

We're staying in the small town of Vernazza, and it is gorgeous.  The people here are very friendly.  We spent most of yesterday sitting in the Blue Marlin bar watching the antics of the boisterous Italians and waiting for our Laundry, which crazy Massimo was kindly doing for us in his own personal washing machine.  Today we did a big hike between neighboring Monterosso and here and it absolutely zapped us.  We're gladly spending four nights here: surely the most relaxing time we'll have had so far, and probably the most memorable of our time in Italy.


A view of Vernazza at the end of our hike.  We're staying in the red building behind all the boats in the harbour.


Random trail in Monterosso



The view from our room, Monterosso is in the distance