Wendy & Tim in France & Italy 2011

Well, those lucky people following this adventure will have realised that yesterday was a non-event!
A @@!!## strike held yt TrenItalia left us stranded in Ventimiglia.. we had to book a hotel there for the night and hope that travel insurance will come to the rescue when we get back! Basically we sat all afternoon in the Railway station at Ventimiglia watching as each successive train was cancelled. We were told it was a strike but that there would be a train to Milan at 5.00 pm..
However we decided that was a very uncertain option.
We did meet some interesting people though -
Greetings to Frank!!
Also hello to Penny and her companion!! hope you both got back to Turino!

So we were up bright and early today and took the early train to La Spezia.. a 5 hour trip along the coast, stopping most stations .

Having found the Hotel Mary, we soon set off again to explore the Cinque Terre.

There is a beautiful little train which winds its way along the track between these wonderful little villages perched on the hillsides!!!
Well that's what we (err I !!) thought from my research!!

Not b..y likely!!! the villages are served by train (we bought the 1 day Cinque Terre card) but it's the ordinary trenItalia trains which run mostly through the many tunnels.. They stop (often partly in a tunnel !!) and one walks and then climbs stairs to discover the villages!

There were a great many people .. many with big cases, who had apparently booked their accommodation in one of the villages.. I hope they realised just how many stairs/steps they would need to climb to reach their rented accommodations.

We first explored the furthest village - Monterosso which was the largest and a bit touristy.. then got to Venazzo - which we found to be very picturesque and natural.
We then caught the next train to Corniglia - the smallest village..

Here's some information and links

Here are some web links so you can follow along:

Travel tips for cinque Terre
The five villages
The Walks
Walk one
Cinque Terre information

Been very busy exploring .
Since our last blog entry we're been to the Cinque Terre which was great.. especially our stay at hotel Mary, in La Spezia.
We also got to see Levanto and some of La Spezia..

Now, would you believe it's 9.30 PM on Thurs 26th and we're sitting in a rocking boat station at the Ospedale boat stop in Venice.. in order to catch up. We were lent the use ofr a Voafone USB internet stick but had no signal at the studio as the 4 storey buildings are packed so closely together.. The GPS does not work here.. it's amazing .. at every turn there is another piazza with another huge church!!
Yesterday, on arrival, we explored the area over many bridges, down little laneways.. very intriguing..
today we walked 20 mins to discover the San Marco Palazza. There were MANY people!! and many gondolas!!
it's amazing how everything is transported by water.. an ambulance has just gone speeding past at 40 knots .. lights and sirens!!

We also had a free tour of the glass factory..

Wendy is getting seasick in this boat pontoon!! every boat that passes has bow wave !!!
We hope to catch up again tomorrow!!!