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Always amazing when a fun thread like this one gets ten days old - - and I've never even paid it any attention. Great to read about someone having fun posting a trip report real time - - and not taking flak for it! And good to see Annette's name here! Even if it was over a week ago. We ought to correspond, Annette. Best wishes, Rex

Thanks again for the lovely report. can't wait to hear the rest

Hi again! This afternoon we arrived in Vernazza, after flying along the autostrada (unlike people in my home state of Washington, Italians -- like the French -- understand how to drive on expressways; they're my kind of people), and then taking the thrilling drive down the little winding road to the parking lot above the town. We were supposed to return our car in La Spezia today, but I just found out that all businesses are closed until Monday because of Italy's Liberation Day weekend (you'd think Kemwel -- who we rented from -- would have had that kind of information about Italy when we rented from them, but they didn't...bad points for Kemwel in my book.) Anyway, Vernazza is absolutely MOBBED with people (mostly Italians) -- also because of the Liberation Day weekend so, since we still have the car until Monday, I may drive to Lucca tomorrow since I really wanted to see it and we didn't have time while based in Siena. We had five fabulous nights in Siena & Tuscany. Our first night in Siena we spent drinking vino rosso if a cafe on the Campo and then had a delicious dinner of penne & pollo (and more vino rosso) at our locanda. Spent Tuesday entirely in Siena. In the morning they had a wonderful ceremony in the Campo for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians with hundreds of children holding up different colored balloons (needless to say, photographers were having a field day.) That night, we had dinner at a osteria in Siena that we loved. Very cozy and colorful, great food, and complimentary grappa and amaretto after dinner. On Wednesday, we drove south to Montalcino, Pienza, the abbey of Sant Antimo (sp?), and Montepulciano. By the time we got to Montepulciano it was almost dark, so we didn't really get to see it that well. We had dinner at an osteria that was recommended to us and it was delicious. We really liked Pienza, especially the stunning view of the town from the south/southwest (a better approach than from the west) and also liked Montalcino. But I think my favorite place of the day was the abbey. Not only it is beautiful in its simplicity inside, but it has a gorgeous location, south of Montalcino. On Thursday, we drove east; intending to visit Cortona, Arezzo and then Chianti, but fell in love with Cortona and ended up staying there until almost nightfall. Not only did we meet one of our most colorful characters on this trip -- a woman from Naples named Allesandra who runs a paper shop on the main street, Via Nazionale, who speaks near-perfect English, and who had us in stitches with her stories of tourists and their questions -- but we loved the fantastic views from the town, and also parked ourselves at an outdoor table with vino rosso and watched the evening passiegetta (sp?). We never made it to either Arezzo or Chianti but it didn't matter since we loved our time in Cortona and would happily return there anytime. The Giordano in Cortona also has one of the most moving war statues I've ever seen, with an angel cradling a dead man it its arms. That evening, we returned to the osteria in Siena that we enjoyed so much on Tuesday evening and had another fine meal. Oh, we also briefly stopped in Monte San Savino on the way to Cortona and really liked that town as well. And it was there that we learned that Thursday was Liberation Day in Italy.

On our final day in Tuscany, Friday, we drove west, to Colle Val d'Este (small, but very charming), and then headed further west to Volterra. We thought about visiting San Gimignano as well, but didn't have time since we had to get to Chianti later in the day. Although we ended up having very little time in Volterra, we loved it almost as much as Cortona. Awesome views over the surrounding countryside -- just as in Cortona -- although we liked Cortona's intimate piazzas better. (The landscapes to the east of Volterra, along with those south of Siena, were my favorite in Tuscany and my favorite towns were Siena, Cortona, and Volterra.) After leaving Volterra, we zipped over to the Chianti region (which, scenery-wise, I liked, but also found a bit disappointing after the gorgeous lush green area around Volterra) where we visited the winery at Badia di Coltibuono because my girlfriend's stepfather had performed a wedding of an American woman and Italian man and they work at this winery. The woman wasn't there but we met the man, Antonio, and he was very friendly and charming. We tasted some of the wines and bought a couple bottles. Antonio also confirmed something I'd recently read, that per capita consumption of wine in Italy has plummeted during the past 30 or so years. After a beautiful drive south to Siena with the evening sun, we had our final dinner in Siena at our locanda again, and it was just as delicious as the first. We were also sad because we loved our room (beamed ceilings and a completely marble bathroom), the locanda, its location (only a half-block from Il Campo), and especially the owners, Marcello & Sonya, who were friendly, funny, gentle, and very gracious. Marcello is also an artist and you can tell this locanda is a labor of love, with the unique way he has decorated it. This locanda, the Locanda Garibaldi, is now tied with my second-favorite place in Europe, with our locanda in Venice (my favorite is still my hotel in Nice), and we've discovered we really like the locanda concept. If the places in Venice and Siena are any indication, it seems to suit us very well. Anyway, all for now...Ciao!

P.S... Wendy, will do; I'll tell Chica hi for you. Kay, sorry to hear you were starting to get a little depressed. About going to Venice? I hope (and think) you'll love it, but everyone's tastes and experiences are different. For us, the key to enjoying Venice as much as we did was not spending all that much time in the overly-touristy parts of town. If there is going to be another general strike on May 9th, I'd assume the vaporettos won't be running, and perhaps the same for the Alilaguna shuttle from the airport to San Marco. As for water taxis, airport conditions, and other businesses, sorry, but I don't know what you could expect. On the day of the general strike when we were there, most businesses seemed to be open, but some weren't. The vaporettos weren't running during the day, but began running at around 5:00 pm. And we didn't pay any attention to the water taxis. We do know that the gondoliers, however -- including Guiseppe, the Fabio lookalike who ripped us off -- were working.

Mille grazie Capo--great report. You seem to have done it right.

Capo, thanks so much for such a great report. A wonderful, vicarious trip for us all. So, a locanda is a restaurant that rents rooms above? Your descriptions of your choices sound very good. Might have to look into this for the next trip. I look forward to more....

Great report Capo. Thanks for the info. At least I know I can get a gondola to the hotel if necessary. I was "down" because I am going for 32 days and have so much to do, not because I am going to Venice. I really enjoy your postings. I visited Tuscany in '00 and thought Volterra was stunningly beautiful. Have a safe trip home. Kay

Grazie a voi, Bob, Dayle, and Kay. Glad you, and others, are enjoying this. Since I rarely write in longhand anymore and don't carry a laptop, palm, or other electronic device, writing on message boards like this is kind of my way of keeping a journal as well as, hopefully, providing some helpful information to others. Kay, gondolas will probably be in operation but I highly doubt they would run all the way to the airport, if you need transportation into Venice from there. Well today the hordes of Liberation Day weekend visitors to Vernazza finally cleared out, and it's MUCH more peaceful, more like the way I remember it from 1987. We had a nice little breakfast at the Blue Marlin and watched the passing parade of people. Then we bought a 3-day Cinqueterre pass and headed south to Corniglia. When I was here in 1987, I'd only hiked the stretch from Monterosso to Vernazza, so all of today was new to me. What a gorgeous hike! And busy too, with incredible numbers of people. Stunning views all the way and Corniglia was much more charming than I expected, with a lovely little piazza, and a wonderful overlook. The hike to Manarola (or, as I call it, Rock & Manarola) wasn't nearly as scenic, but was quite a bit easier. Manarola's colors are gorgeous and it also has a beautiful little park and children's playground overlooking the ocean and the town. We discovered that the views of both Corniglia and Manarola are much better coming from the north, so I'd recommend hiking from north to south. We only saw Rioamaggiore briefly because we wanted to catch a train back to Monterosso but, from what we saw, it looked nice. Now that I've seen all three of these towns, however, I can definitely say that I think Vernazza is the most picture-postcard-perfect of the four, especially with its piazza fronting on the lovely little harbor. Monterosso's old town is very cool and I think if I stayed somewhere else besides Vernazza, it might be there. Of course, we haven't seen Portovenere yet -- that will be tomorrow -- and photos of that look wonderful as well. Now we're off to dinner. Only had a piece of pizza for lunch today in Corniglia, so we're famished and are ready for some delicious vino, pesto, and seafood. P.S. Since we're both dog lovers, we've really been enjoying all the dogs we've seen in Italy, but now we're seeing tons of cats in Vernazza and they're very cool they way they just lounge around the harbor, the piazza, and all the narrow passageways. Ciao!

Thanks again, this has been a really fun report to read!

The days grow short (well actually longer since daylight savings started, but fewer days until we leave for Italy). Again, Capo, join JOdy and the others with how much I've enjoyed your periodic updates on your trip. Kay - Since we will be in Venice at the same time you are arriving, was concerned about your comments about a possible strike on the 9th. I e-mailed info@veniceword and got a note back this morning, stating that they were unaware of a strike being held on that date. Guess they should know--hope they're right. j

Capo Been so enjoying your report and you inspired me to finally finish writing my Venice (Easter) report up! I finally finished it today! I am not posting it here, though if anyone would like a copy please email me. It's long, so be warned! Thanks for sharing all the details and for taking time out of the travelling to update us all... Capo, how far did you tend to hike per day and what fitness level would you say is needed to do the walks you mention? It sounds lovely but I know I am not usually a country walker though I do walk a lot in Cities it's often interrupted by coffee stops! Looking forward to hearing some more soon... Kavey

Capo: your report on Venice was great. I´m planning to visit Venice in the fall. How did you make your reservations in the Antica Locanda Montin? Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us. Monica

Monica, we made reservations at the Locanda Montin via email. I don't have the email address handy right now, but I'm sure you can find it on the web, since that's where we found it. Kavey, the hike from Vernazza to Corniglia is about 1 1/2 hours and is the most strenous of the three segments south of Vernazza. From Corniglia to Manarola is about an hour and is relatively easy and the hike from Manarola to Riomaggiore is the easiest of all, a 20 minute stroll. Today we're going to hike the other long, somewhat-strenuous segment, from Vernazza north to Monterosso. And then we're going to catch the boat from Monterosso roundtrip to Portovenere. We learned late yesterday that there was one bad accident -- and possibly (although we're not sure) a death -- on the Vernazza-Corniglia trail. One woman definitely got a compound ankle fracture and an Italian guy at the Blue Marlin swears that another person fell from the path and died. (I just overheard my girlfriend talking to the guy who runs the internet place we're at, and he says that, indeed, a person did fall from the path and die.) I would not call any of the paths dangerous, but you definitely have to be aware of where you're walking as, in some spots, there's not a lot of margin for error. Yesterday, we drove into La Spezia to drop our car off and actually had one of our most delicious meals -- spaghetti with a wonderfully spicy meat sauce -- at a little trattoria, Trattoria Il Gargantua, while waiting for the office to re-open. I also walked around La Spezia's centro storico a bit while waiting for our train back to Vernazza and thought it was kind of interesting, though certainly not as picturesque as any of the Cinqueterre towns. Last night we had dinner at La Torre in Vernazza with a couple we met from Portland. We didn't care that much for our food, but the wine was good, and the view over Vernazza at night was spectacular.

Sorry to hear about that accident. Please do take care both of you in your future walks. Thanks for the details. I'll keep the shorter walks in mind! Kavey

Capo or anyone, What are blood oranges? Are they known in spanish as "granadas"? Thanks.

They are a variety of oranges which have a rich deep red flesh, the juice when squeezed has a deep red colour too. I had a spremuta (freshly squeezed orange juice) every single day in Venice a few weeks back because I found the flavour of the blood oranges used so delicious.

Bonjour from Nice! We arrived here late yesterday afternoon from sunny & warm Vernazza to -- ugh! -- clouds, rain, and wind. The boat trip to Portovenere on our last day in Cinque Terre was great, and Portovenere itself is a very picturesque town, although I'm glad we stayed in Vernazza. And nothing to make your last dinner in Cinque Terre exciting than to have your waiter's sweater catch on fire from your table's candle. Wow! Luckily, we jumped up and snuffed it out with our napkins and he didn't get burned, but it was still pretty damn scary. Our final dinner, at Belforte, was fabulous, our best in Vernazza. Had a mixed seafood plate, including octopus, and my girlfriend was brave enough to eat a fish eye! Tomorrow we drive to some hilltowns, and perhaps Menton and Monaco. Au revoir!

Ahhh, Capo, what a great report!! I can't believe I missed this the 1st time around. You've really brought Venice to life for me. I was always reluctant to go there because I'd heard how expensive, how smelly it was. But the way you describe it's colors, etc. makes me want to go.

I do hope someday that you will tell us how the rest of the trip went, your days in Rome and other places.