11 Search Results for ""ligurian sea""

• The Ligurian Sea from Monteros

  • From: Martrese
  • Description:

    During a two-week stay in a Tuscan villa, my husband & I drove north and spent a night in the unbelievably charming hillside town of Monterosso al Mare (one of the five towns of the Cinque Terre area). It was one of the most memorable parts of our holiday. We were dining al fresco when the full moon rose over the sea. We didn't want the evening to end.

  • 3 weeks ago
  • Views: 63

• A View to Die For - Cinque Ter

  • From: janicet1
  • Description:

    In the middle of our 2 week long trip to crowded Italian cities, my husband and I spent 2 glorious days in the largely undiscovered Cinque Terre.  In the two days we spent on the hiking trails we could count the other hikers on 2 hands.    It was a joy to be so alone in the midst of such stunning scenery.  The views of the Ligurian Sea are breathtaking and the approach to each of the towns--jaw-dropping.  The  landscape is punctuated with houses of color---red, yellow, ochre—that all look like they could crumble into a pile and tumble into the blue sea at any moment.  The Five (Cinque) towns, each have distinctive features but they all have one thing in common.  Fantastic views…….This view of Manarola was taken from a special perch—the local cemetery.  Seems that the dearly departed were afforded the best views!

  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 277

• Picturesque Manarola

  • From: blairherzog
  • Description:
    The picturesque town of Manarola was our home base in the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre means "Five Lands" and is comprised of five small towns near the Italian Riviera. These towns, which have been spilling down the mountainsides since Medieval times, are small communities that give a taste of traditional Italian life. Above the towns, the hillsides are terraced with grapevines and lemon trees. We stayed in Manarola, the least touristy of the towns, and loved it. Everywhere we went in this area, the fresh air was filled with sweet scents.
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 935

• The prize at the end, a dip in

  • From: pmerz
  • Description:
    During our Italian Holiday in July of 2006 we just had to do the famous hike between the five villages in Cinque Terre, even though we were warned it might be too much for our 9 and 6 year old daughters. We reasoned we could always get off the trail at any of the villages and take the train back to Riomaggiore and our hotel. As you can see, the trail starts off as more of a promenade ambling lazily along the water's edge between Riomaggiore and Manarola, where it's actually called the via dell'amore, or walk of love. Once pass Manarola however, the trail immediately narrows and heads straight up the cliff with heart-stopping views of the rocks and water below. Between Corniglia and Vernazza the trail is truly at its most difficult, winding up and through vineyards and actually containing a series of stairs that would put any serious stair machine aficionado to the test. (the picture of the girls where they're NOT happy was immediately after the stairs) Pass Vernazza things start to calm down a little, and the reward at the end is a dip in the Ligurian Sea at Monterosso, followed by a fun train trip back through all the villages in an old train on tracks cut straight through the cliffs that open out onto stunning views. Absolutely necessary items for hiking the Cinque Terre: sturdy sneakers or sandals, (we all did it in Teyva sandals), one water bottle per hiker, (you can refill in each village), swimsuits, (we wore ours under our clothes), and towels. My husband was our pack mule, and carried the towels and water bottles in a back pack.
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 419

• The girls are NOT happy at thi

  • From: pmerz
  • Description:
    During our Italian Holiday in July of 2006 we just had to do the famous hike between the five villages in Cinque Terre, even though we were warned it might be too much for our 9 and 6 year old daughters. We reasoned we could always get off the trail at any of the villages and take the train back to Riomaggiore and our hotel. As you can see, the trail starts off as more of a promenade ambling lazily along the water's edge between Riomaggiore and Manarola, where it's actually called the via dell'amore, or walk of love. Once pass Manarola however, the trail immediately narrows and heads straight up the cliff with heart-stopping views of the rocks and water below. Between Corniglia and Vernazza the trail is truly at its most difficult, winding up and through vineyards and actually containing a series of stairs that would put any serious stair machine aficionado to the test. (the picture of the girls where they're NOT happy was immediately after the stairs) Pass Vernazza things start to calm down a little, and the reward at the end is a dip in the Ligurian Sea at Monterosso, followed by a fun train trip back through all the villages in an old train on tracks cut straight through the cliffs that open out onto stunning views. Absolutely necessary items for hiking the Cinque Terre: sturdy sneakers or sandals, (we all did it in Teyva sandals), one water bottle per hiker, (you can refill in each village), swimsuits, (we wore ours under our clothes), and towels. My husband was our pack mule, and carried the towels and water bottles in a back pack.
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 375
  • Not yet rated

• View from the easy part, the v

  • From: pmerz
  • Description:
    During our Italian Holiday in July of 2006 we just had to do the famous hike between the five villages in Cinque Terre, even though we were warned it might be too much for our 9 and 6 year old daughters. We reasoned we could always get off the trail at any of the villages and take the train back to Riomaggiore and our hotel. As you can see, the trail starts off as more of a promenade ambling lazily along the water's edge between Riomaggiore and Manarola, where it's actually called the via dell'amore, or walk of love. Once pass Manarola however, the trail immediately narrows and heads straight up the cliff with heart-stopping views of the rocks and water below. Between Corniglia and Vernazza the trail is truly at its most difficult, winding up and through vineyards and actually containing a series of stairs that would put any serious stair machine aficionado to the test. (the picture of the girls where they're NOT happy was immediately after the stairs) Pass Vernazza things start to calm down a little, and the reward at the end is a dip in the Ligurian Sea at Monterosso, followed by a fun train trip back through all the villages in an old train on tracks cut straight through the cliffs that open out onto stunning views. Absolutely necessary items for hiking the Cinque Terre: sturdy sneakers or sandals, (we all did it in Teyva sandals), one water bottle per hiker, (you can refill in each village), swimsuits, (we wore ours under our clothes), and towels. My husband was our pack mule, and carried the towels and water bottles in a back pack.
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 448

• We walked UP these stairs!

  • From: pmerz
  • Description:
    During our Italian Holiday in July of 2006 we just had to do the famous hike between the five villages in Cinque Terre, even though we were warned it might be too much for our 9 and 6 year old daughters. We reasoned we could always get off the trail at any of the villages and take the train back to Riomaggiore and our hotel. As you can see, the trail starts off as more of a promenade ambling lazily along the water's edge between Riomaggiore and Manarola, where it's actually called the via dell'amore, or walk of love. Once pass Manarola however, the trail immediately narrows and heads straight up the cliff with heart-stopping views of the rocks and water below. Between Corniglia and Vernazza the trail is truly at its most difficult, winding up and through vineyards and actually containing a series of stairs that would put any serious stair machine aficionado to the test. (the picture of the girls where they're NOT happy was immediately after the stairs) Pass Vernazza things start to calm down a little, and the reward at the end is a dip in the Ligurian Sea at Monterosso, followed by a fun train trip back through all the villages in an old train on tracks cut straight through the cliffs that opens out onto stunning views.
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 438
  • Not yet rated

• Beginning our "walk" in Riomag

  • From: pmerz
  • Description:
    During our Italian Holiday in July of 2006 we just had to do the famous hike between the five villages in Cinque Terre, even though we were warned it might be too much for our 9 and 6 year old daughters. We reasoned we could always get off the trail at any of the villages and take the train back to Riomaggiore and our hotel. As you can see, the trail starts off as more of a promenade ambling lazily along the water's edge between Riomaggiore and Manarola, where it's actually called the via dell'amore, or walk of love. Once pass Manarola however, the trail immediately narrows and heads straight up the cliff with heart-stopping views of the rocks and water below. Between Corniglia and Vernazza the trail is truly at its most difficult, winding up and through vineyards and actually containing a series of stairs that would put any serious stair machine aficionado to the test. (the picture of the girls where they're NOT happy was immediately after the stairs) Pass Vernazza things start to calm down a little, and the reward at the end is a dip in the Ligurian Sea at Monterosso, followed by a fun train trip back through all the villages in an old train on tracks cut straight through the cliffs that opens out onto stunning views.
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 419
  • Not yet rated

• View of Vernazza from the trai

  • From: pmerz
  • Description:
    During our Italian Holiday in July of 2006 we just had to do the famous hike between the five villages in Cinque Terre, even though we were warned it might be too much for our 9 and 6 year old daughters. We reasoned we could always get off the trail at any of the villages and take the train back to Riomaggiore and our hotel. As you can see, the trail starts off as more of a promenade ambling lazily along the water's edge between Riomaggiore and Manarola, where it's actually called the via dell'amore, or walk of love. Once pass Manarola however, the trail immediately narrows and heads straight up the cliff with heart-stopping views of the rocks and water below. Between Corniglia and Vernazza the trail is truly at its most difficult, winding up and through vineyards and actually containing a series of stairs that would put any serious stair machine aficionado to the test. (the picture of the girls where they're NOT happy was immediately after the stairs) Pass Vernazza things start to calm down a little, and the reward at the end is a dip in the Ligurian Sea at Monterosso, followed by a fun train trip back through all the villages in an old train on tracks cut straight through the cliffs that opens out onto stunning views.
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 411
  • Not yet rated

• Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy

  • From: ktmae55
  • Description:

    You may have the universe if I may have Italy. ~ Giuseppe Verdi

     

    Dan and I went to Italy on our Honeymoon. We were married in Detroit so we first flew to Chicago and then on to Pisa, via Madrid. We flew on Iberia, because they had the best prices, and were very happy with the service.

     

    We landed in Pisa and caught the bus from the airport to the train station (about 5 minutes). At the train station we shared a pizza and a pint of beer – our first official meal on the honeymoon!

    Then we boarded the train to Manarola on the Ligurian Sea in Cinque Terre, which means Five Lands. The five towns that make up the Cinque Terre used to be sleepy fishing villages, but have become quite popular with tourists in the last ten years or so. After about an hour on the train, the terrain began getting hillier. We went through a very long tunnel and suddenly came out to a beautiful view – a near sheer drop off of a cliff down to the sparkling blue Ligurian Sea. We got off the train in Manarola and followed the directions up, up, up to the near top of the seaside cliff and found our cute little hotel – Arpaui.

     

    

     Just a few of the over 100 steps to our hotel.

     

    It was actually more of an apartment – just a place with 4 separate rooms and a terrace that faced the sea. There was no front desk or room service and the woman who let us in didn't live there and spoke hardly any English. But we managed to communicate with gestures, paid her the 200 euros for 3 nights, and then settled in.

     

    Our view was amazing – a picture perfect scene. Once we looked down out of our window and saw the clear blue sea and people jumping into it off the rocks we got a second wind, threw on our suits and ran down to the water. We found a small lagoon area off to the side of town where the water was calm and clear. Dan jumped in first, while I stood there afraid. Finally the voice in my head said "you are on your honeymoon, now jump!" The water was cold but it was so refreshing after the long travel. We drew a crowd splashing around and eventually were joined by some boys from Chicago who had been traveling around for the last 3 months. We took turns jumping off the rocks while enjoying the beautiful scenery around us.

     

    

     The view from our window.

     

    After we washed up we headed into town for dinner. We ate at a little bistro where the waitress spoke English and we were served complimentary pesto crostini to start. Cinque Terre is famous for its pesto, which is said to have originated here along with foccaccia. I bought a jar to bring home (and now wish I would have bought 10!) I had the pesto gnocchi and Dan had the swordfish pasta, both of which were delicious. We finished up with some gelato and then retreated to our beautiful deck to watch the sunset and talk to some Australians who were in the room next to us. We woke up at 4am and peeked outside our window which looked out into the sea, and saw the lights of the other towns. It looked so magical and almost surreal. I just kept saying that I couldn’t believe we were actually there.

     

    

    The towns at dawn.

     

    After sleeping a bit more, we went into town for breakfast of café (espresso) and nutella pastry and then set out to do the hike. There are 5 towns, 3 to the north of ours and one to the south. We hiked north to the first town of Corniglia - easy until we hit the stairs. Corniglia is up off the sea so it was about 400 stairs up to the town. I thought I was dying. Then we did the very difficult hike on to Vernazza which took us about 2 hours. There were all these “super hikers” on the trail with hiking sticks – I hated them. Halfway between the two towns there was a bar so we stopped for a beer (and I wondered how that guy gets to work each day!) and then had some yummy lunch of pesto foccaccia in the town of Vernazza. We were really tired so we took the train to the next and north-most town of Monterosso. Monterosso is the beach resort town – they have more expensive hotels and they are the only town with a beach, though it is made of pebbles and rocks, not sand. While we were there it started to rain so we took the train back to our town. The other towns were nice, but we loved Manarola and are so glad we stayed there.

    Manarola, seen from the trail to Corniglia. 

     

    When we got back to Manarola the clouds had lifted and the sun was shining again. Exhausted after the hike, we swam for a bit, then washed up and then went to dinner. This time our waiter spoke no English, but somehow we managed to order wine and mussels (a first for me but again I wanted to try something new and I was so glad I did). Then we struck up a conversation with 2 Italian women who spoke English. They helped me order the sea bass with the head and skin removed. Dan ordered lasagna. My fish came, but it still had the head and skin on and unfortunately our friends had already left. I was apprehensive but Dan removed it and it was so good - worth the trouble of cleaning it ourselves. Dan's lasagna was also the best lasagna we've ever had - the sauce was so light and the pasta layers were so thin. For dessert we had the best tiramisu either of us have had. That meal still lingers in my memory for being so amazing.

    After dinner we headed across the street to the bar. On our way in we met two women from Chicago. They had struck up a conversation with 2 Italians, one of whom was the owner of the bar. He pulled out his guitar and played while one of the women sang and soon it turned into a full blown sing-a-long with us, the Italian men, the 2 Chicago women, 3 girls from Ireland, a local couple from Manarola, the bartender, and later our waiter from dinner all singing along to U2, Beatles, Billy Joel, and other American classics.

     

    

     

     

    

     

    

    Our sing-a-long.

     

    They also treated us to a traditional Manarola song that was just beautiful. The bar was supposed to close at 10, but the owner closed the doors and let us stay until about 11:30. On they way out we were told to be very quiet. They said if you are too loud in the streets late at night, the locals will pour water on your head out their windows. Dan and I walked (quietly) down to our hidden lagoon and then decided to take a midnight swim.

     

    Looking through town towards the sea, fishing boats lining the streets.

     

    The next morning we were a bit tired so we just wandered around Manarola, took the walk to the one south town of Riomaggiore (a very short, easy flat walk). While we were on the walk we saw a tour group and heard this rather large German woman say indignantly "I did not pay all this money to walk around looking at rocks!" which became a running joke of the trip. Then we took the train back north to Monterosso and the boat back to Manarola to get a view of the towns from the water. Upon arrival we learned there is no dock in Manarola – the boat pulls up to the rocks and a ladder is extended with wheels on the end of it. Whenever a wave hit, the ladder bobbed up and down on its wheels on the rocks. It was slightly scary exiting the boat! For dinner we hit the local market for some buffalo mozzarella, pesto bianco and a few more slices of the local foccaccia (it was addicting). We ate it up on our veranda, watched the sunset, and then went to bed early.
     View of town from our patio.

     

    The next day we said good bye to Manarola. I was so sad to leave. I could have spent the whole honeymoon there. I love it's laid back vibe, friendly fun people, great food, and wonderful views. Dan and I really want to go back there and stay for at least a week!

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 911

• Our Honeymoon in Italy - June

  • From: ktmae55
  • Description:

    We went to Italy on our Honeymoon. We were married in Detroit so we first flew to Chicago and then on to Pisa, via Madrid. Over the years I have developed a pretty intense fear or flying so I took two xanax, a sleeping pill and, upon waking mid-way through the flight, had a few small sips of wine. We arrive in Pisa around 10 the next morning and waited about an hour for the train to Manarola.

    We shared a pizza and a pint of beer – our first official meal on the honeymoon! Then we boarded the train to Manarola. After about an hour, the terrain began getting hillier. We went through a very long tunnel and suddenly came out to a beautiful view – a near sheer drop off of a cliff down to the sparkling blue Ligurian Sea. We got off the train in Manarola and followed the directions up, up, up to the near top of the seaside cliff and found our cute little hotel – Arpaui. It was actually more of an apartment – just a place with 4 separate rooms and a terrace that faced the sea. No front desk or room service and the woman who let us in didn't live there and spoke hardly any English. But we managed to communicate with gestures, paid her the 200 euros for 3 nights, and then settled in.

    Our view was amazing – a picture perfect scene. Once we looked down out of our window and saw the clear blue sea and people jumping into it off the rocks we got a second wind, threw on our suits and ran down to the water. We found a small lagoon area off to the side of town where the water was calm and clear. Dan jumped in first, while I stood there afraid. Finally the voice in my head said "you are on your honeymoon, now jump!". I did. The water was cold but it was so refreshing after the long travel. We drew a crowd splashing around and eventually were joined by some boys from Chicago who had been traveling around for the last 3 months. We took turns jumping off the rocks while enjoying the beautiful scenery around us.

    After we washed up we headed into town for dinner. We ate at a little bistro where the waitress spoke English and we were served complimentary pesto crostini to start. Cinque Terre is famous for its pesto, which is said to have originated here along with foccaccia. I bought a jar to bring home (and now wish I would have bought 10!) I had the pesto gnocchi and Dan had the swordfish pasta, both of which were delicious. We finished up with some gelato and then retreated to our beautiful deck to watch the sunset and talk to some Australians who were in the room next to us. We woke up at 4am and peeked outside our window which looked out into the sea, and saw the lights of the other towns. It looked so magical and almost surreal. I just kept saying that I couldn’t believe we were actually there.

    

    After sleeping a bit more, we went into town for breakfast of café (espresso) and nutella pastry and then set out to do the hike. There are 5 towns, 3 to the north of ours and one to the south. We hiked north to the first town of Corniglia - easy until we hit the stairs. Corniglia is up off the sea so it was about 400 stairs up to the town. I thought I was dying. Then we did the very difficult hike on to Vernazza which took us about 2 hours. There were all these “super hikers” on the trail with hiking sticks – I hated them.

    Halfway between the two towns there was a bar so we stopped for a beer (and I wondered how that guy gets to work each day!) and then had some yummy lunch of pesto foccaccia in the town of Vernazza. We were really tired so we took the train to the next and north-most town of Monterosso. Monterosso is the beach resort town – they have more expensive hotels and they are the only town with a beach. While we were there it started to rain so we took the train back to our town. The other towns were nice, but we loved Manarola and are so glad we stayed there.

    When we got back to Manarola the clouds had lifted and the sun was shining again. Exhausted after the hike we swam for a bit, then washed up and then went to dinner. This time our waiter spoke no English, but somehow we managed to order wine and mussels (a first for me but again I wanted to try something new and I was so glad I did). Then we struck up a conversation with 2 Italian women who spoke English. They helped me order the sea bass with the head and skin removed. Dan ordered lasagna. My fish came, but it still had the head and skin on and unfortunately our friends had already left. I was grossed out but Dan removed it and it was so good - worth the trouble of cleaning it ourselves. Dan's lasagna was also the best lasagna we've ever had - the sauce was so light and the pasta layers were so thin. For dessert we had the best tiramisu either of us have had. That meal still lingers in my memory for being so amazing.

    After dinner we headed across the street to the bar. On our way in we met two women from Chicago. They had struck up a conversation with 2 Italians, one of which was the owner of the bar. He pulled out his guitar and played while one of the women sang and soon it turned into a full blown sing-a-long with us, the Italian men, the 2 Chicago women, 3 girls from Ireland, a local couple from Manarola, the bartender, and later our waiter from dinner all singing along to U2, Beatles, Billy Joel, and other American classics.

    

    They also treated us to a traditional Manarola song that was just beautiful. The bar was supposed to close at 10, but the owner closed the doors and let us stay until about 11:30. On they way out we were told to be very quiet. They said if you are too loud in the streets late at night, the locals will pour water on your head out their windows. Dan and I walked (quietly) down to our hidden lagoon and then decided to take a midnight swim.

    The next morning we were a bit hung over so we just wandered around Manarola, took the walk to the one south town of Riomaggiore (a very short, easy flat walk). While we were on the walk we saw a tour group and heard this rather large German woman say indignantly "I did not pay all this money to walk around looking at rocks!!!" which became a running joke of the trip . Then we took the train back north to Monterosso and the boat back to Manarola to get a view of the towns from the water. Upon arrival we learned there is no dock in Manarola – the boat pulls up to the rocks and a ladder is extended with wheels on the end of it. Whenever a wave hit the ladder bobbed up and down on its wheels on the rocks. It was slightly scary exciting the boat! For dinner we hit the local market for some buffalo mozzarella, pesto bianco and a few more slices of the local foccaccia (it was addicting). We ate it up on our veranda, watched the sunset, and then went to bed early.

    The next day we said good bye to Manarola. I was so sad to leave. I could have spent the whole honeymoon there. I love it's laid back vibe, friendly fun people, great food, and wonderful views. Dan and I really want to go back there and stay for at least a week!

    We took an early morning train from Manarola and got into Florence around 11am. We stored our bags at the train station and wandered around Florence. We stayed near the train station and saw most of the tourist sights. We also wandered a market and fell in love with this amazing piece of leather luggage. After a light pizza lunch we took the bus 20 minutes into the countryside to our B &B – La Limonaia. Apparently, if you call ahead Guilio will come get you from the bus stop, but we walked. It is not a far walk at all, but it was difficult with luggage and I was starting to get worried that this B &B was a bad idea. We were out of breath when we arrived, but once we saw the place we knew we had made the right choice – it was so cute and had a great view of the Tuscan countryside.

    Christina, one of the owners, showed us around the place. It was very charming and what you would expect of a traditional Tuscan villa. It was very old - apparently Galileo had lived there briefly! She told us her friend Cristian was coming around 7 to talk to us about wine and we would have our aperitif at that time. We booked the 4 day honeymoon package so it was included in our stay. We assumed aperitif meant a glass of wine and maybe some cheese. We were so wrong! Around 7 we entered the wine bar and met Guilio and Cristian, who is a sommelier and a cellar master for Fattoria le Sorgenti vineyards, where we would do the wine tour on our trip . Also, he was really cute! I felt bad thinking that on my honeymoon, but there was no denying Cristian was one hot Italian! We were given a printed listing of our itinerary for the next 3 days. We enjoyed some mini sandwiches and some grissini (breadsticks) with proscuitto and talked to Cristian about the wine. All was delicious and we assumed that was it for the night. Wrong again. After Cristian left, we moved to a table for more wine and several courses - a Tuscan cold quiche (pretty good), some marinated veggies and artichokes, tuna stuffed peppers with sun dried tomatoes (not for me), and my favorite, some goat cheese topped with the most amazing herbs and some of Guilio's olive oil (soooo yummy). Then we had some Vin Santo (sweet dessert wine) with chocolate chip cake and then some port wine from Sardinia. After that we certainly didn't need to go out to eat as we had planned, so we went for a short walk around the countryside.

    The next morning we woke up to a huge breakfast spread of cakes, fruits, cheese, meat, breads, muffins, coffee and juice. We had a bit of time to relax afterwards and get ready for our cooking class with Donatella. Donatella (Christina called her “Mama”) spoke no English so Christina had to translate. We learned how to make the pasta dough and roll it out. It was so fun. I had a hard time mixing but was really good at rolling it out, and Dan was the opposite. So I guess we make a good team – he mixes I roll. Then we made ricotta and spinach ravioli and some tagliatelle. We also made the sauce for each - tomato for the tagliatelle and butter and sage for the ravioli. We sat down and were served an aperitif and wine, then each pasta course, then more Vin Santo and some biscotti for dipping. All was very delicious and I can't believe how simple it was.

    Then we changed and got ready for our spice tour with Pierre. We were picked up and driven to his farm and walked around learning about the herbs that he grows. It was interesting but I have never really been into cooking with herbs and spices so I zoned out a bit at times. Dan loved it, but city girl that I am; I wasn't as enthused about the many flies and birds flying around me. I tried to not act like I was miserable and afterwards Dan said "sorry you had to deal with that" and I said I was trying not to let him notice and he said "I just know you. Bugs and dirt aren't really your thing". But after the tour, we sat down to sample the many herbs and herb/salt blends with some wine and cheese. This part was definately “my thing”! Wow, they were so good so we bought 5 jars of various blends for only 19 Euro. I had been converted and now I can't wait to cook with all the herbs and spices!

    That night, we were on our own for dinner so Guilio drove us into his small town to a beautiful restaurant that had a terrace overlooking the countryside. We had crostini, salad, wine, potatoes, steak and ravioli for only 50 euros. We shared a cab home with the other couple who was staying there who was also on their honeymoon and also from Chicago!

    The next morning we were up early for another great breakfast, this time with an omelet of cheese and those delicious herbs as well and then off to the wine tour. Guilio drove us, the other couple, 3 girls from Florence, and Cristian around the vineyard for a tour of the grounds and some wine education. We also met the owner of the vineyard who was out working in the field. After the tour, it was time for the vineyard lunch. After the lunch, we got dropped off in Florence for the afternoon. We got some more lunch, just a snack really, and went back to find the leather luggage that I had wanted. We haggled a bit on the price and were able to get it at a really good deal and now I have a beautiful Italian carry-on! We were both tired by about 6 so came back to the inn to get ready for our special private candlelit vineyard dinner.

    This was the highlight of the trip !!!! Guilio drove us up to the top of the vineyard hills, overlooking all of the Fattoria le Sorgenti vineyards where we could see Florence in the distance. We pulled up and at the top of the hill, under a tree was a table set with candles just for us. Cristian and (I can't remember his name!) the vineyard owner's son were there manning the grill. Cristian poured us some sparkling chardonnay and we had bread and olive oil, tomato crostini, and a salad topped with olive oil and some of Pierre's herbs. I was in ecstasy.

    

    Then came the meat - the best lemon grilled chicken I have ever had, along with sausage, ribs, and pork, and enough to feed 4 people easily! All served with the vineyard's award-winning Scirus wine. The best wine I have ever had in my entire life! We really enjoyed talking to Cristian, but the men also gave us ample time alone to enjoy the sunset and then we had more wine and some yummy chocolate cannoli for dessert. It was one of the most romantic and memorable experiences of my life! We were served wine by the man who made it, our food was cooked at the vineyard by the owner's son, and the food was seasoned with the herbs of the man we met the day before! I felt like it was a dream, all this was just for us?! It made me feel like we were millionaires, when actually we had only paid $250 per night for the entire package!

    The next day we slept in and then had more wonderful breakfast, chatting with Christina about life, Italy, Tuscany, politics, and more. One of my favorite things about staying at La Limonaia was talking with Guilio and Christina. They are such warm hearted amazing people. They have such pride for their country and for what they do. They have created such an amazing place. They also do a bunch of other tours – a truffle hunt, pizza making class, cheese making, etc.

    We spent our final day in Tuscany doing some shopping. I got a 5 Euro pashmina and Dan got 5 Euro sunglasses. I bought a really cute dress and a jacket at Zara for 100 Euro. Then we headed back to the inn to rest up for our final dinner. At 7, other couple joined us for dinner in the wine bar. We had pecorino cheese served with saffron honey and then, ecstasy – some more cheese served with truffle infused honey. Oh my god!!!! Guilio agreed to sell us two jars after we could not stop raving about it. Then we had a cold bread soup (actually pretty good), veal with tomato sauce and some artichokes (tasty), and a really good Brunello wine. For dessert it was a fantastic chocolate chip gelato cake and some sweet port-like wine.

    The next morning we sadly said good bye to La Limonaia and to Guilio and Christina. This is an amazing special place and these are such welcoming people. This is another place that we really want to come back to!

    The next morning we took the train to Venice. We got off the train in front of the Grand Canal and got so excited! We quickly realized however, that our map to the hotel was completely useless. We argued and bickered and wandered aimlessly and asked for directions and took wrong turns and sweated and groused for about an hour before finally finding our B & B, tucked in a courtyard off a square, down a narrow twisty alley, over a bridge about a 5 minute walk from the Rialto bBidge. Then our B & B was up 4 flights of narrow, winding stairs. By the time we arrived we were drenched in sweat and cranky. This was our least favorite B &B. the host weren't all the friendly to us and to get to the hotel portion, we had to walk in their house which was very odd and uncomfortable. We got checked in and showered and changed and set out around 4 to get some food.

    

    Venice is odd. It's beautiful and amazing but it’s also hot and crowded and the people are kind of rude (when you have 70,000 residents against 11 million tourists per year I suppose you get cranky) and it was much dirtier that I expected. There was trash on the ground and in the canals and there was a lot of graffiti.

    As soon as we left the hotel we got lost. We found a square to sit and have a beer and a slice of pizza for 3 Euro. We quickly found out that if you are willing to stand and eat, or maybe eat outside walking or sitting on the ground you can get food really cheaply. But if you want to sit and eat, expect to pay a fortune. After the pizza and beer we wandered some more, stopping at bars along the way for a prosecco for me and "spritz" for Dan. The spritz is white wine, soda, and campari and most places charge 1 Euro for a glass. Finally we stumbled (almost literally after all those spritzes and processos) into a cichetti bar. Cichetti is like Italian small plates. We asked for cichetti for 2 and got 2 HUGE plates of bread, veggies, meats, and cheeses for 22 Euro. We pigged out and then decided to walk around some more, since we had no idea where our hotel was. Then we randomly found it all of a sudden! In Venice there are signs everywhere pointing the way to either the Rialto or San Marco so Dan decided to go to Rialto and find our way from there to our hotel. He figured no matter where we were in Venice we could find Rialto and from there we could find our hotel. So we did that, and on the way back to our hotel we found a crepe shop and got a delicious nutella and gelato stuffed crepe for 3 Euro.

    The next morning we had a light breakfast at the B &B and then set out to explore Venice. I had just read "City of Falling Angels" and wanted to find some landmarks from the book so we found the Santa Maria Della Salute church, the Fenice opera house, and then just walked around San Marco and various neighborhoods of the island. We of course got lost a lot again but it was fun. We had some pizza, fries (we had a craving!) and wine for 27 Euro for lunch (so much because we sat at a table. They charge a cover charge of 1 -2 Euro per person but then you don't tip. Also they charge for water – sometimes as much as 4 Euro! Our pizza was 11 Euro, the fries were 5, wine was 7, water was 2, and cover was 2) and then we headed home and took a nap and a shower.

    Around 5 we got up for more prosecco, spritz, and cichetti. This time we found a string of cichetti bars and ordered per piece instead of just saying a plate for 2. Over the course of 3 hours we had some mini sandwiches, some deep fried potato balls, a deep fried crab claw, and lots of cheese and proscuitto and lots to drink, and spent about 40 Euro having a great time in all these little bars where we were the only people speaking English. Then somehow we took a wrong turn and ended up on the side of the island we had never been on. It’s funny in Venice how you can be surrounded by tourists and then one wrong turn down a narrow twisty street and you are completely alone. There was NO ONE around and we even saw a parking lot with cars! You know you are lost in Venice when you find the place where the cars are! Then luckily we found another bar, had another drink, and got directions back to Rialto. By this time it was 11 and everything was closing so we stopped by the crepe place for more dessert and then headed home.

    The next morning we had breakfast and then set out to figure out how we would get to the airport in the morning. We went back to the train station to the tourist office and ended up buying a 24 hour transportation pass. To get the most of it, we hopped on a water bus (the only kind there is on the island) and went to Murano, the island famous for it’s beautiful blown glass. We walked around and looked at the glass shops and bought some glass wine stoppers and then had lunch. Gnocchi in cheese sauce for me and mushroom ravioli for Dan with a bottle of water, for 19 Euro. Then we went back to the B & B and took a looooong nap. All this walking was really tiring us out! We got up at 5 and went down for a slice of pizza and a spritz, did some window shopping at Gucci, Chanel, Hermes, and all the other super pricey stores. Then we stumbled upon an amazing little pastry shop. We had a prosecco and spritz with some free bar munchies and then had 2 mini dessert pastries that were soooo yummy. It was our pre-dinner dessert. Then we wandered for about an hour trying to decide where to eat. I wanted fish and Dan wanted lasagna but we didn't want to spend more than 50 euros on food and wine. When you get wine in a bar it is 1-2 euros per glass. If you can find "house wine" it is less than 10 Euro for a liter. But all the nice sit-down dinner places only have it by the bottle for 15 Euro or more, plus 4 Euro for water, and 4 Euro for cover change. That's over 20 Euro and you haven't even ordered food yet!!!

    We finally found a place that seemed reasonable and ordered a 7 Euro bottle of wine and 2 Euro bottle of water (I swear my Venice water bill was about 50 Euro and we did not budget for that!!!) and Dan ordered a 7 Euro salad. Dan ordered a taglioline with white veal ragu and I ordered swordfish with fried zucchini flowers. Dan's pasta was good, but not 18 Euro worth of good. The zucchini flowers were actually good, but I knew as soon as I saw my 20 Euro swordfish that I was not going to like it. It was all black parts and when I cut into it, it was very raw, even red in some parts. YUCK. We waited and waited for our waiter to come back. Finally a different waiter came back to take Dan's now empty pasta bowl. He was about to take mine when I pointed out that I didn't eat any of it. He got our waiter who came and asked what the problem was. I tried to explain that it was raw and he said that fish should be medium and I said yes but not raw. And that is didn't taste very fresh – it was fishier than swordfish should be. He got very mad and took the plate away and next thing we know the Italian speaking owner of the store comes out to our table holding the GIANT raw fish on a plate screaming "fresca" at us and waving the plate around. We didn't know what to do so we just kept saying that we didn't like it. Then the waiter came and took away our bread and put down the bill, a polite way of kicking us out I suppose. What we should have done was stormed out, but instead we paid the 60 Euro bill and then I went and got a 2 Euro slice of pizza. I was soooo mad. I was embarrassed and frustrated and Venice had taken its toll on me and I started crying. So we decided not to go to San Marco for a drink, or to take a 100 Euro gondola ride and instead went back to the crepe place and took it bad to the room where Dan cheered me up with impressions of the fat German tourist (I did not pay all this money, to have a fish waived in my face!)

    We were up the next morning at 5 to get to the airport, fly 2 hours to Madrid and then fly home. I took more xanax and sleeping pill so it all went by very quickly. Overall it was a wonderful honeymoon. Manarola was magical, and Tuscany was amazing with such wonderful people. Venice was neat to see, but it wasn't my favorite place. I think I would go back to Venice at some point, but I am in no rush. I would like to see it in winter when it is very quiet as it was beautiful when no one was around at 5am. I would also lower my expectations and not plan to have a “fancy” meal. Venice is not known as a culinary destination, yet because of the crowds they can afford to charge a lot. We tried to avoid the touristy places on the Grand Canal but I think we got much better food for our money and had much more fun when we just ate at the cichetti counters with the locals.

     

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