We got up early and had a light breakfast in our room. We took the train to Corniglia, the only Cinque Terre town of the five not on the water. We walked the long road up to the town, rather than take hundreds of steps. Only 250 people live here. There were beautiful lemon trees everywhere, so Brenda and Mary kept singing the oldie "Lemon tree, very pretty..."
We saw the town square and the sanctuary of San Bernardino and beautiful old churches. Corniglia is famous for their wine so we bought a bottle to drink later. We stopped and drank cappuccino in a quaint little shop. After wandering around for an hour and a half we took the zig-zagged 395 steps down to the train station. Donna got a little distracted taking pictures and realized the others were quite far ahead. She looked at the time and the train was supposed to be arriving soon, so she broke out into a fifty-year-old sprint. She told us, "I was getting tired but I needed to keep going so I started chanting to my self "Happy Cake", which distracts me and makes me think of my two year old nephew, Morris (MoMo). This is what he calls a birthday cake and he likes to sit on my shoulders and chant "Happy Cake".
Next we took the train to Vernazza, a town of about 500 villagers. Unfortunately, in October of 2011 they had torrential rains that caused a massive mudslide. The town was open, but there was a lot of restoration going on. The beautiful beach that once existed on the seaside of the town was covered in mud. The beautiful stone church overlooking the sea was still intact and didn't appear to be too damaged.
After wandering around and taking pictures in Vernazza, we went back to the train and went on to Monterrosso. In Monterrosso we bought some excellent focaccia and ate it as we walked along the beautiful beach from the train station to the harbor, where we got on a boat to travel to Portovenere. This is a town my Aunt Silvia (who was born in Italy) recommended, as it was one of her favorite places to go as a child. On the boat ride we passed by each of the five cities and I was able to take pictures from the ferry. It was very nice to get the sea side view of all the towns.
In Portovenere, we wandered along the boardwalk. We stopped and had caffe latte and fancy ice creams. (It's amazing how one will buy food just to use a clean potty.) We walked to the famous striped church, a ruined castle, a very interesting old cemetery, and a church where they were doing the rosary. It was a beautiful town. Thank you, Silvia, for recommending it.
We took the boat back to Manarola where we ate dinner at Aristide (again!) Elena stopped by our table and chatted with us. We learned that her grandparents own the restaurant, her grandmother does all of the cooking, and her mother and she do all of the morning baking (the wonderful chocolate croissants). For dessert we had the famous panna cotta with caramel.
During dinner we were able to witness a traditional Good Friday vigil. As we were dining, the lights suddenly shut off and we heard singing. Some of the town's people paraded by with torches, a large cross, and men holding a crucified Christ lying on a wooden platform. They carried it with poles on their shoulders. A small service was held in the town's center. We had perfect seats as our table overlooked the whole procession.
After dinner, Elena invited us to stop by the bar for Limoncello. At the bar we found Elena's mother (Monica), her father, and her uncle. We asked Elena to tell them that if Nana was missing we had kidnapped her. Her father got out a knife and indicated what he would do to us if we did. Mary countered by putting her finger under her coat as if hiding a gun. We all whole-heartedly laughed, and realized how charades and smiles work in every language.
Elena poured us all a Limoncello, taught us how to say something like "Ching, Ching," tap the shot glass on the counter (supposedly to help women keep a nice derrière) and then instructed us to tip our heads back and drink the whole thing at once. A couple of us tapped the shot glass numerous times, needing all the help we could get in the big bottom department. Elena drank the Limoncello with us, then gave us each a gift of a purse holder with their restaurant name on it. Sentimental Beth began to cry and Elena scolded her "Don't look at mama." who had also stared to tear up.
We said our goodnights and told her we would stop in the morning before we left to say good bye and get some chocolate croissants. She said she would make sure and hold out four for us. We exchanged email addresses and slowly made our way to bed, realizing how this small village will forever be a part of us.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Day 5 - Manarola
Donna was up at the crack of dawn, stepped outside and--it was so beautiful--that she ran back inside to grab her camera. She confided to Mary, "This is when it is good to wear your actual clothes for pajamas". She left the others sleeping and wandered around the village of Manarola taking pictures. She returned about an hour later saying, "Oh my god...you should get up. It' s so beautiful out there".
We all got ready and Donna actually took the time to put on real clothes. We strolled down to Aristide, where we had caffe macchiato, yogurt, cereal, marmalade- and chocolate-filled croissants. After breakfast we strolled along the path Via dell'Amore (the Romantic Road) . Thousands of people have written on the walls, so we joined in the fun. Beth commemorated our trip by writing "Celebrazione di Amicizia (celebration of friendship): Beth, Brenda, Donna, and Mary 4/5/2012".
Brenda also left a message saying, "Miss you, Michael. I feel you watching from heaven. Love always, Mom".
We saw hundreds of padlocks attached to the fences along the way. It is an old tradition that is said to bind two people's love forever. We took some humorous pictures of flat Terri with some creative drawings on the wall!
We had a wonderful long walk in the town of Riomaggiore. We passed the local shops on Via Colombo and a young boy practicing with his soccer ball helped to point the way to the church and castle. We made our way up a steep path to San Giovanni Church. Kids were playing soccer in its courtyard.
We ended up eating dinner overlooking the water and the view was beautiful, the food was ok, but the service was lousy. It was very disappointing after the previous nights feast. After dinner we returned to Aristide and had the heavenly panna cotta for the second night in a row.
We all got ready and Donna actually took the time to put on real clothes. We strolled down to Aristide, where we had caffe macchiato, yogurt, cereal, marmalade- and chocolate-filled croissants. After breakfast we strolled along the path Via dell'Amore (the Romantic Road) . Thousands of people have written on the walls, so we joined in the fun. Beth commemorated our trip by writing "Celebrazione di Amicizia (celebration of friendship): Beth, Brenda, Donna, and Mary 4/5/2012".
Brenda also left a message saying, "Miss you, Michael. I feel you watching from heaven. Love always, Mom".
We saw hundreds of padlocks attached to the fences along the way. It is an old tradition that is said to bind two people's love forever. We took some humorous pictures of flat Terri with some creative drawings on the wall!
We had a wonderful long walk in the town of Riomaggiore. We passed the local shops on Via Colombo and a young boy practicing with his soccer ball helped to point the way to the church and castle. We made our way up a steep path to San Giovanni Church. Kids were playing soccer in its courtyard.
We ended up eating dinner overlooking the water and the view was beautiful, the food was ok, but the service was lousy. It was very disappointing after the previous nights feast. After dinner we returned to Aristide and had the heavenly panna cotta for the second night in a row.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Day 4 - Travel to Cinque Terre (five cities)
We left Bellagio, taking the ferry back to Varenna. While strolling along the beautiful rocky shore line, we found the Varenna Cafe, rated 1 of 544 restaurants in the area. Here our favorites were ravioli with artichokes and amaretto ice cream. The owner of the cafe believed the stone arched structure of the building to be an original boat house. There was a hole in the stone ceiling leading to an upstairs apartment. The owner told tales of this being an escape hatch for the woman of the house to shove her lovers down quickly when her husband came home. Based on his flirtatious nature we suspected he may have known this from experience.
We departed Varenna and headed to Cinque Terra. Due to our difficulties the previous day with Vera (our GPS), she was pouting and would not speak to us, which suited us just fine. It was easier for Mary to watch the screen and provide directions than it was to follow Vera's voice. In reality, Mary had unknowingly turned down the volume. It rained most of the day and was our longest driving day. We drove through Milan and on to La Spezia and by this time it was dusk. From there to Manarola was only 10 miles but it took 30 minutes due to the winding mountainous roads.
We had to park outside of the town in the public parking. Only residents are allowed to park within the city gates, which was a good thing as we would have been scraping buildings throughout the town. No wonder the garbage truck is the size of a Matchbox car. We are still pissed at Brenda that she didn't play volleyball in high school because she claims she could stretch out her arms and touch both sides of the street; in reality, this was very close to true.
From the parking area we had to wind our way down the steep and curving streets with all our luggage in tow. By this time it was dark. We made it to the church square, where we needed to ask for directions. Luckily a very kind Italian man spoke English and was able to direct us to Da Paulin apartments where we were staying. We rang the doorbell and were greeted by Geraldo who said, "You will not stay here, it is only a bit farther". He proceeded to lead us down and then back up a very steep hill to our private apartment that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea (see attached picture, taken from our balcony).
He suggested we eat at Aristide. We started our meal with a recommended local wine. Our dinner favorites were anchovies with lemon, seafood ravioli and pesto lasagna. For dessert we had panna cotta with caramel sauce; it was better than the Better than Sex Cake. In fact Brenda enjoyed it so much that she cried. At the end of our meal they gave us shots of Limoncello (a famous liqueur that tastes like lemon drops - John Matiska, eat your heart out) .
We ended our day laughing as we were journaling our blog and Brenda and Beth confessed that they had imagined us having to sleep in our Ford Fiesta in the public parking lot. How dare they doubt Mary and Donna's planning and preparation.
We departed Varenna and headed to Cinque Terra. Due to our difficulties the previous day with Vera (our GPS), she was pouting and would not speak to us, which suited us just fine. It was easier for Mary to watch the screen and provide directions than it was to follow Vera's voice. In reality, Mary had unknowingly turned down the volume. It rained most of the day and was our longest driving day. We drove through Milan and on to La Spezia and by this time it was dusk. From there to Manarola was only 10 miles but it took 30 minutes due to the winding mountainous roads.
We had to park outside of the town in the public parking. Only residents are allowed to park within the city gates, which was a good thing as we would have been scraping buildings throughout the town. No wonder the garbage truck is the size of a Matchbox car. We are still pissed at Brenda that she didn't play volleyball in high school because she claims she could stretch out her arms and touch both sides of the street; in reality, this was very close to true.
From the parking area we had to wind our way down the steep and curving streets with all our luggage in tow. By this time it was dark. We made it to the church square, where we needed to ask for directions. Luckily a very kind Italian man spoke English and was able to direct us to Da Paulin apartments where we were staying. We rang the doorbell and were greeted by Geraldo who said, "You will not stay here, it is only a bit farther". He proceeded to lead us down and then back up a very steep hill to our private apartment that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea (see attached picture, taken from our balcony).
He suggested we eat at Aristide. We started our meal with a recommended local wine. Our dinner favorites were anchovies with lemon, seafood ravioli and pesto lasagna. For dessert we had panna cotta with caramel sauce; it was better than the Better than Sex Cake. In fact Brenda enjoyed it so much that she cried. At the end of our meal they gave us shots of Limoncello (a famous liqueur that tastes like lemon drops - John Matiska, eat your heart out) .
We ended our day laughing as we were journaling our blog and Brenda and Beth confessed that they had imagined us having to sleep in our Ford Fiesta in the public parking lot. How dare they doubt Mary and Donna's planning and preparation.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Day 3 - Travel To Bellagio
We returned to the airport via water taxi and bus, where we picked up our rental car, a Ford Fiesta that looked like it had been in a bumper car race. After documenting all it's dings and confirming them with the rental agent, we were off to Peschiera del Garda to pick up Amarone wine for Kent. His only request from us after being so kind and generous and purchasing our airline tickets with his frequent flier miles so that his wife could spend her fiftieth birthday in Italy with her friends.
At the Zenato winery while we were tasting our wine, the owner, Carla Zenato came in. Although she spoke very little English, Tina who was helping us with our order was a very helpful translator. After purchasing our wine for Kent, several bottles to drink on our trip and chatting for quite some time, Carla graciously offered us a bottle of Rigoletto in celebration of our fiftieth birthdays. Beth was so moved that she began to cry.
When we left the winery we drove down to Lake Garda where we enjoyed the view and had lunch and caffe macchiatos. After that we attempted to drive to Borghetto, based on a recommendation from Tina. We entered the address in our GPS (that we have affectionately named Vera) and we were off, winding our way throughout the countryside where we saw a large old castle on the hill. Still following our directions from Vera, we began traveling on a gravel country road. We saw a farmer with his tractor over part of the road, but Mary tells Donna that Vera says to keep going so we passed the farmer and continue through what turns out to be his farm yard and a dead end. Using my Minnesota born farm girl logic, I refused to follow Vera's directions over the hill and down the rocky cliff on a road that only exists in Vera's electronic mind. When we back up to turn around, we stop next to the very bewildered farmer to tell him we are looking for Burghetto but I call it Burnato and he is very confused. He makes a very valiant attempt to help us, but finally he tells us 'non capisco Anglais' and we drive off. It reminded Mary of the movie 'Rat Race' and she said, "We should have bought a squirrel".
We continued on to Varenna, where we took the ferry over to Bellagio, located on Lake Como. To describe Lake Como, imagine the water as two legs and the torso of a body. Bellagio is the north tip of land (the crotch) between the two legs. Looking from Bellagio over the lake you can see the Swiss Alps. We strolled around the elegant town and enjoyed the exquisite gardens where tulips were in full bloom. We ate dinner at Ristorante Bilacus, rated 2 out of 37 restaurants in Bellagio. We enjoyed caprese salad, pasta bolognese, linguini with giant prawns, penne with salmon and parmigiana risotto.
We returned to our hotel Excelsior Splendide. It is a renovated palace built in 1907 located right on Lake Como. Our room was on the third floor and had a beautiful view.
At the Zenato winery while we were tasting our wine, the owner, Carla Zenato came in. Although she spoke very little English, Tina who was helping us with our order was a very helpful translator. After purchasing our wine for Kent, several bottles to drink on our trip and chatting for quite some time, Carla graciously offered us a bottle of Rigoletto in celebration of our fiftieth birthdays. Beth was so moved that she began to cry.
When we left the winery we drove down to Lake Garda where we enjoyed the view and had lunch and caffe macchiatos. After that we attempted to drive to Borghetto, based on a recommendation from Tina. We entered the address in our GPS (that we have affectionately named Vera) and we were off, winding our way throughout the countryside where we saw a large old castle on the hill. Still following our directions from Vera, we began traveling on a gravel country road. We saw a farmer with his tractor over part of the road, but Mary tells Donna that Vera says to keep going so we passed the farmer and continue through what turns out to be his farm yard and a dead end. Using my Minnesota born farm girl logic, I refused to follow Vera's directions over the hill and down the rocky cliff on a road that only exists in Vera's electronic mind. When we back up to turn around, we stop next to the very bewildered farmer to tell him we are looking for Burghetto but I call it Burnato and he is very confused. He makes a very valiant attempt to help us, but finally he tells us 'non capisco Anglais' and we drive off. It reminded Mary of the movie 'Rat Race' and she said, "We should have bought a squirrel".
We continued on to Varenna, where we took the ferry over to Bellagio, located on Lake Como. To describe Lake Como, imagine the water as two legs and the torso of a body. Bellagio is the north tip of land (the crotch) between the two legs. Looking from Bellagio over the lake you can see the Swiss Alps. We strolled around the elegant town and enjoyed the exquisite gardens where tulips were in full bloom. We ate dinner at Ristorante Bilacus, rated 2 out of 37 restaurants in Bellagio. We enjoyed caprese salad, pasta bolognese, linguini with giant prawns, penne with salmon and parmigiana risotto.
We returned to our hotel Excelsior Splendide. It is a renovated palace built in 1907 located right on Lake Como. Our room was on the third floor and had a beautiful view.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Day 2 - Venice
We arrived in Venezia around 10 am after 15.5 travel hours. We took a water taxi through the grand canal to St. Marco's square. We got lost on the way to our hotel, tried to talk to a kind construction worker who spoke no English, unfortunately we did not move far enough to the side of the street, so a local brutus rudely moved Mary outof the way, with a two handed shove. Luckily all her years of athletic training and life on 'Fear Factor' (aka life with Kent Bradley) saved her from a face plant on the ground. Then a pint sized, English speaking, Venetian, Ms. Del Favore came to our rescue. Twenty five years our senior we had to race to keep up with her. She also explained to Beth that saying 'permaeso' would get the locals to move out of her way, however Beth kept saying 'permesio' which caused a group of local teenage boys to snicker and remain in her path. Ms. Del Favore explained the confusing quadrant system of the streets in Venice, and even got lost herself, but she stayed with us for over twenty minutes and safely delivered us to Ca Formosa, our hotel.
After dropping our luggage we returned to San Marco Square where we had caffe, Prosecco and gelato, while enjoying a stringed quartet and watching the children feed the birds. We toured St Mark's Bascilla while Beth explained the workings of 'The Almighty Penalty Box' (the confessional) and marveled at the gold-leaf mosaics, the multitude of eternity candles and marble. We went on to Campanile di San Marco (Bell Tower), where we had a view of the entire city and saw across the square where the Greek Gods hammered the bells of the Torre dell'Orologio.
Later, we passed the Bridge of Sighs as we made our way to the gondola serenade where we were directed to a shiny black gondola with bright red crushed velvet cushions. Mary insisted that Beth and Donna sit in the forward facing seats to avoid motion sickness. Little did we know that we would be joined by a newly wed asian couple who found us entertaining despite being forced to sit four feet apart at the front of the gondola. We were senernaded by an accordian player and a superb Itailian tenor singing 'Volare' and many other familiar Itailian tunes.
The evening was concluded with a fabulous meal at La Caravella served by waiters in black tuxedos, where we were found to be as entertaining to them as they were to us. The wine and food were absolutely magnifico, among the many delightful courses were three cheese pastry puffs, seafood ravioli, Turbot fish, limone ice with fresh berries and caramel creme crepes. We enjoyed a peaceful stroll back to our hotel,taking in the fresh night air, enjoying the sights and sounds of the Venice night life, even though we were extremely jet lagged.
Upon arrival at our hotel, we were moved from Ca Formosa to Ca Malipiero so that we could have a private bathroom. Ca Malipiero had a tile stating that it was built in 1484 and decor to match. The room was a bit gawdy with red sconces on the wall and red velvet bed spreads. Brenda had difficulty finding the flusher on the European toilet, which was a silver button four feet above the toilet on the side wall. However it was clean and we all slept very well.
After dropping our luggage we returned to San Marco Square where we had caffe, Prosecco and gelato, while enjoying a stringed quartet and watching the children feed the birds. We toured St Mark's Bascilla while Beth explained the workings of 'The Almighty Penalty Box' (the confessional) and marveled at the gold-leaf mosaics, the multitude of eternity candles and marble. We went on to Campanile di San Marco (Bell Tower), where we had a view of the entire city and saw across the square where the Greek Gods hammered the bells of the Torre dell'Orologio.
Later, we passed the Bridge of Sighs as we made our way to the gondola serenade where we were directed to a shiny black gondola with bright red crushed velvet cushions. Mary insisted that Beth and Donna sit in the forward facing seats to avoid motion sickness. Little did we know that we would be joined by a newly wed asian couple who found us entertaining despite being forced to sit four feet apart at the front of the gondola. We were senernaded by an accordian player and a superb Itailian tenor singing 'Volare' and many other familiar Itailian tunes.
The evening was concluded with a fabulous meal at La Caravella served by waiters in black tuxedos, where we were found to be as entertaining to them as they were to us. The wine and food were absolutely magnifico, among the many delightful courses were three cheese pastry puffs, seafood ravioli, Turbot fish, limone ice with fresh berries and caramel creme crepes. We enjoyed a peaceful stroll back to our hotel,taking in the fresh night air, enjoying the sights and sounds of the Venice night life, even though we were extremely jet lagged.
Upon arrival at our hotel, we were moved from Ca Formosa to Ca Malipiero so that we could have a private bathroom. Ca Malipiero had a tile stating that it was built in 1484 and decor to match. The room was a bit gawdy with red sconces on the wall and red velvet bed spreads. Brenda had difficulty finding the flusher on the European toilet, which was a silver button four feet above the toilet on the side wall. However it was clean and we all slept very well.
Day 1 - Flight to Venice
Kent can't spell Kilian. Brenda wins the packing award. Beth has hot baggage. Despite all this we arrived safely in Venezia. Sorry we have not posted sooner, have been busy and no Wi-Fi.
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