Oct 19, 2006 - The Tour Moves On

Prior to ESCAPING Rome I did manage to visit the Pantheon and the Vatican with all of my money intact. (no photos posted) Moved the tour to Genoa, Italy on October 15th. Since arrinving in Genoa internet service has been very spotty thus no updates since October 13th. On the 17th we again made a side trip, this time to Naples, Italy to rescue Nancy. She had arranged for ground transporation to take her from Naples to Portofino (near Genoa) but decided the seven hour trip was not to her liking and we therefore flew to Naples and brought her...

Sep 16, 2006 - Portofino

During the last week or so we had been in contact with Ros's cousin, Owen, in Bern, Switzerland trying to work out the best time to visit. Every time we had tried in the past it had failed & this time we planned to go in a week but found out they wouldn't be there. Our only option was to go the coming weekend, which meant cutting short Italy & a long drive straight to Bern from La Spezia. After very short notice to Owen it was all arranged for us to arrive on Saturday morning. However, the only problem was... we mixed up our days! We...

Jul 23, 2006 - Portofino

After breakfast we head down to the ferry terminal for the shuttle to Portofino. Portofino is only around 5 klms around the point from where we are staying so it takes only 15 mins to get there. On the way we see the most magnificent yachts and cruisers moored around the bay - one even had a full-size helicopter sitting on the top deck!! Portofino is a lovely little village - all the usual exclusive designer shops (Armani, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana) however it doesn't appear as showy or pretentious as Capri was. We end up staying here about an...

Jul 22, 2006 - Santa Margherita Ligure

We left Rome by train at around 7.30 this morning to travel north up to the Italian Riveriera. Arrived just after 1:00pm into an absolutely beautiful location. As soon as we got out off the train we were looking down onto a bay full of boats and umbrellas packed onto beaches with villas crammed onto the hillsides all around us. After checking into our hotel, we changed into our beach gear and headed down to the waterfront. We decided to go to one of the private beaches where you have to pay as I keen to get an umbrella for a bit of shade....

Jun 27, 2006 - Genoa

As I was staying in Genoa I decided that I shoudl check out the town. This is the birth place of Christopher Columbus, and I saw his house. Ironically, across the street from his house was a post office which I used to mail some stuff back to Vancouver. How ironic mailing stuff to the New World across the street from the home of the person who accidentally discovered it. Very cool. Then I also went to the Aquarium. Very nice, it s supposed to be the biggest or second biggest in Europe. It was pretty cool seeing the mediteranean animals. but...

Jun 22, 2006 - Riomaggiore, Cinque-Terre, Italy

Cinque-Terre is an Italian national park, protected area, containing 5 small towns interconnected by a series of paths. The paths run along the rocky coast of crystal blue water, flanked by dense forests, olive trees and vineyards. It's become a tourist destination and the locals capitalize on that by renting rooms to travellers. We arrived in Riomaggiore, the first town on the way from La Spezia, with no where to stay and no idea what to do. Fortunately we met a young american girl on the train who knew the deal in Riomaggiore. You just go...

May 12, 2006 - 8th - 12th May (The Boys on Tour)

So we head out of San Remo and are faced with heavy traffic. It's not very pleasant so we decide to head inland to, making our way through the mountains to try and experience real Italy rather than the beach resorts of the Italina Riviera. I was a little unsure as to how they would handle it since neither of the guys have done any serious cycling but slowly but surely we maek ou way up the valleys to our first climb, a 1400m ascent over Col d'Oggia. A little extreme maybe but the only route to Pieve d'Tecco, our propose destination and the...

May 5, 2006 - Genoa, Italy

Sitting in the transit centre of Genova I had just received my lunch and was munching away at my pizza, I looked up in horror as I saw the time 13:48. We had a train to catch at 52 past, luckily it looked like it had been delayed and the board showed the next train from our platform at 57 past. I eat what I could of my pizza and teared down the stairs to the platform, stuffed some chips in my mouth (almost choking) and ran to the train. Argh, we couldn't find carraige 8. We asked a nearby attendant by showing our tickets and she looked at...

Apr 14, 2006 - If You Go On One Trip in Your Lifetime, Go to Cinque Terre!

If I had to choose one place to spend the rest of my life, it would without a doubt be Cinque Terre. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been. My pictures are ok, but don't even begin to capture the area's presence. Check out www.cinqueterre.com for more photos and information. Cinque Terre is a string of five little towns, situated on cliffs right beside the Ligurian Sea. The only way to get between the towns is to take a local train or hike. There isn't really anything to see... (thank goodness as I was a bit sick of museums)... I...

Dec 28, 2005 - Sunny One Day & Snow the Next

The day after Boxing Day we decided to take a drive up to Portofino (are you sick of us yet - Florence one day, Portofino the next). The weather was magnificent and we had a great day wandering around, lunching and generally enjoying ourselves without the hassle of tourist hordes (Portofino is tiny and very, very crowded in the summer months). Imagine our amazement the next day when it started dumping down snow - it happened so quickly that Al wasnt able to drive up the hill 20 minutes after leaving the house. Gill and Tony were also out...

Nov 21, 2005 - Savona

We arrived in Savona, Italy this morning. Believe it or not, I got up early this mornnig for my workout. Decent gym on board. Of course, no one else got up until late. So, we didn't get into Savona until nearly lunch time. Savona is a neat little Italian port city. We found a taxi driver when we got off the ship. He spoke no English. Of course, my Italian is steller. Ha. We figured out that he thought Savona was not worth the effort and wanted to take us to Genoa. Of course, we could have gone to Genoa if we had gotten up a little earlier....

Sep 14, 2005 - Honeymoon, baby

So it wasn't the all inclusive resort honeymoon that many people drean of. In fact, we had to try about 20 places before we finally found a place to stay that was worthy of a honeymoon, and when we did, it was not a 4 star hotel, but someone's rental appartment. But after all that, it turned out to be an amazing honeymoon. We were in one of Ali's favorite places ever, a place called Cinqueterre on the Med in Italy. The beuty of the rugged, cliff-ridden coast is unbelievable. We don't have the photos anymore, they got sent home for safe...