Sep 14, 2005 - Piemonte - Barolo to Barbaresco to Acqui Terme

We had an early start and cycled into Barbaresco for an early lunch. Enjoyed some lovely white Chardonnay and a Pinot Gris. Our destination today was Acqui Terme, about 86 km from Barolo. This town has natural hot springs, but we didn't arrive early enough to enjoy them. Had a wonderful experience with arranging our train trip the next day. Our lack of Italian and the clerk's misinterpretations made for a comical experience. After numerous attempts we were finally able to make our plans understood and identified the requisite trains for our...

Sep 4, 2005 - Genoa, Italy

Genoa was our last stop on our cruise, before returning to Rome. We had another shore excursion and saw some truly beautiful cities. Our first stop was Portofino. We took a ferry there...the ride was quite scenic. The small town of Portofino is amazing. All of the buildings are around the small harbor that has lots of little row boats, as well as huge yachts. The buildings are painted different colors and are basically all connected. We wandered around the streets and just enjoyed the beauty. Our next stop was Santa Margherita, where we had...

Aug 22, 2005 - Monte Carlo, Portofino, Ropollo, Santa Margarita & St. Tropez

Bon jour!!! (Our photos will be posted tonight. Got to get to shore right now!!!) I am so sorry to have not written you sooner but since I last wrote Vic and I have been going nonstop!!! On Friday morning after a brisk walk along the Promenade de Angeles and saying our farewells to Nice we drove into Monte Carlo, Monaco, and got settled into our cruise ship cabin. We got what they call an "early embarkation" that allows us to board in the morning instead of late afternoon, for a fee of course. That way we could put our bags on board, have...

Jun 9, 2005 - The Riviera Di Levante

From the little town of Rapollo we made a train journey into Genoa. It was a really miserable day but we got around. We saw Genoa's cathedral - it takes your breath away - but I definitely don't think we could call it pretty! We took a stroll around the waterfront and into the old town. A very pretty little town compared to the bustle of Turin but not too sure if that was just an effect of the weather! Next day was beautiful and we used the most of the sunshine to head out to Portofino by boat. Portofino is one of the most exclusive little...

May 12, 2005 - Genoa - Day 32

Arrived yesterday and have made a friend from Argentina - Diana (Deeana) . we met at the bus stop on the way to the hostel. Had a great walk from Comagli to San Fruttuoso then caught a boat to Portofino - a poster of which I had on the wall as a teenager!!! it was stunning and so pleasing to be there. had a very hard walk though having to use chains attached to the rock face to enable us to get across steep rock faces etc. Madness - but great sense of achievement. Wont write much now as have to find ferry info to get to Corsica tomorrow....

May 10, 2005 - Genova

Did we mention that EasyCruise is marketed to people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s? Well, being in the low to mid 30s ourselves, we slip into the middle range. Although, I am afraid that we are not up to par with the amount of partying that is expected of us. I can say that being on a small boat with big waves and lots of free alcohol can lead to some confusion in the morning. For example, there is the inevitable question of whether it is the rocking boat or the hangover that is making you feel nauseated, and while we're at it, is the boat...

May 3, 2005 - Some city in Italy, Italy

We ran away from Genova as fast as we could, and decided to get out at a town we deemed 'nice enough'. That town was 'some town in italy'. We saw people getting off the train and figured we would do the same, and ate pizza, and walked a bit to the left, arriving eventually at a campsight. Little did we know that at camp sights you need either a tent or a an RV. Since we have neither, the owner allowed us to sleep on the concrete floor outside for only 5 euros. What a steal! In the middle of the night it rained so much that there was...

Apr 17, 2005 - Genova

this day we drove 300 km to meet Daniella and Nico, our friends from Italy who we met in Peru. It was an emotional occassion and lovely in the city of Genoa or Genova.... We had a lovely day and went ato a stunning fish restaurant...smoked fish, dried fish, squid and octopus, mussels, pasta, gnochhi and fresh fish....superb Nico and Daniella gave us local wine, hand made olive oil and a Firenze cap for Joe. They drove around in their metallic pink Honda....fantastic

Mar 11, 2005 - Terror Alert

Yesterday Team Adventure recieved this urgent e-mail from our government and we thought we should share it with everyone else because this is EXTREMELY important. After you read this you will understand that you should not be leaving the U.S. for any reason because it is NOT safe. If you dare leave the land of the free you will be in grave danger and may discuss ideas and thoughts that are different then what is said in the U.S.,which is a bad idea. You might even find out that the rest of the world is not always too keen on the foreign...

Feb 22, 2005 - Cinque Terre

Hello, The wind was too strong in Arles and the forecast was that it would remain windy for 3 more days.. So, I went to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a beautiful place. It is a stretch of five little towns. The guide book recommends to walk from one end of the town to the other end - just the walk along is very famous because it contains picturesque scenes from the top of the mountain overlooking the ocean. When I got to Cinque, it was raining. But, I didn't come all the way there to sit in my room. So, I decided to walk it anyway. It...

Oct 3, 2004 - Genoa

We woke this morning with Heather still not feeling well aching all over, hot & cold shivers I think she has the flu. We docked at 7.00am and unfortunately it is foggy and we can't see venice which is supposed to be a beautiful harbour to sail into. Todays action will be travelling from Venice to Genoa by bus. Disembarkment went fairly smooth and we boarded our bus however our group was split up and some of us were on a bus with another group of Australians from Newcastle. Our trip through the mountains took about 5 hours was like being in...

May 31, 2004 - From the Ligurian coast

Hmmm... still can't post photos. The internet sites here in Italy don't all allow posting of photos or receiving of email. Since our last communication we have been ...busy. We rode North up the coast to Ravenna, and then basically followed the Po River Valley North and West towards Cremona and Pavia. The roads are FLAT! Six days without a climb! The valley itself is beautiful agricultural land, and for a lot of the route there is a bike path that follows the levee along the Po. There are beautiful cities - Ferrara is a university town...