Liguria

Last weekend we had a Monday holiday. We had family tromping around Europe, and our plan was to meet them on their last weekend in Germany. We ran into problems... they were moving every day, and the logistics were getting harder to formulate. We were looking at planes, trains, and possible automobiles just to keep up. When we realized it might not be possible, we had an empty long week ahead of us. Lately, we've tried hard to take advantage of time off, so we thought we'd accept Ryan's coworker's invitation to his parents' house is Liguria. I didn't know what to expect, but I never expected this. It's our view from the bedroom window.


Ryan's coworker was very brave to take us around. I can't imagine having to speak another language ALL weekend, but he did great. He took us to Cinque Terre. This area is is mainly rock and sea, so the area called Five Lands gives respite for travelers wanting to enjoy the water and actually walk on the shore. We stopped at a few of the five, and had a great time. The views were unimaginable.












The water looked beautiful, but the advantage of having a local guide is that they tell you things you wouldn't necessarily read in the guide books. In the picture below, there's a long pipe you can see running under the water, next to the boat on the right. That's a sewage pipe. Guilio said it it lets out about 10 kilometers from the beach. I've got family coming in July... guess they won't be bringing their bathing suits.


The best part of the trip was a little terrace outside Guilio's parents' house, covered in vines, with a sea view. We would pull chairs out there, bring a book, and some of Guilio's family wine. I could have sat out there forever. I tried to take a video of the sounds - we were too high to hear the water, but you could hear the wind in all of the plants and trees around us, and birds. Lots of birds. The video didn't really work... kind of boring. I've never seen baby grapes before, but that's a picture of what they look like. They covered the trellis we were sitting under.















There were flowers too.



We took a walk one day to the shore that took about an hour. There was a stray cat (there were cats everywhere) that kept following us. I have a string of three videos where the cat catches up to us, pretends not to be following, then runs ahead. Posting videos isn't really working at the moment, so I'll have to try later.














On our last night, we had dinner at a great restaurant with a water view. The whole seating area was open - no windows - and the weather was perfect. They wheeled in a tray of fresh seafood, including lobsters that were still alive, in case we wanted to pick one out. No thanks! Don't really want you to kill anything that I can still see moving. On the walk back, we passed a church that was bombed in World War II. Legend has it, everything was ruined except for this statue.














On our way out of town, we stopped at Portofino. They had the biggest yachts I've ever seen. They were lined up, smallest to largest. It really sucks for those tiny yachts.















They also have really big flowers. These were as big as my head.


It was a nice trip. Things have been hectic lately, and it felt good to get away and relax. It was also great to be reminded that we have friends willing to show us around and speak English. I think that means we're making progress here. Some girls planned a little trip in Bern tomorrow to see Sex and the City 2. I thought about suggesting Eat, Pray, Love, but it's not that kind of a crowd. I think I'm in for a pretty girly night, but I'm looking forward to it. I've never seen Bern, and again, I'm pretty sure this means we have friends.






My friend for the past few days has been Titi the French dog. His parents are in Paris. It's been so pretty lately, so we brought a blanket and the pup to the park. We even had friends meet us there. More friends!