Imagine hearing some Italian children yelling these words, plus a bunch more, as you're slowly swimming in the harbor here in Vernazza. D and I were headed towards this shouting group and slowly realized they were talking to us, then realized there was something in the water they were talking about, and then listened carefully and figured out it was a jellyfish. Of course, we were helped in these linguistic detective efforts when we saw one of them actually pull the jellyfish out, tentacle side up, and toss it away. We turned around and headed back the way we'd come at that point, especially because next we heard them yelling about an octopus....soon we were safe back on shore.
Today was another very hot day...we left for our 3 hour hike this morning at 9, trying to beat the heat, but soon were literally dripping with sweat as we walked along. We were hiking along the coast to the next two towns, and the views were great...there are terraced olive groves and vineyards along the way, which the locals still work, mountain-goat-like. We hopped the train back, then hung around here in Vernazza, did laundry, and some shopping...which brings me to the story of the opera-singing shop keeper.
We wanted to buy a few small ceramics in a little shop we'd seen earlier...the man there was listening to opera, and moved to turn it down when we came in, but i said I liked it, so then he showed me he was listening to Figaro, by Mozart of course, and so I said I'd been to Salzburg, etc. etc. Encouraged, he showed me the words, which he'd been following along and singing, and points to where I should join in on the female part. I was shy at first, and then I couldn't figure out what to sing even though he was trying so hard to show me, but eventually I managed a few awful notes and he was so glad....said bravo, shook my hand, and we sang a little more. Meanwhile, he'd wrapped the pieces we bought without paying attention to how many, so we had to tell him how much we owed....best of all, D has most of this on video from her camera...
At night here, the harbor beach where everyone lays on the sand during the day is cleared off, soccer goals are brought out, and the local bars and restaurants field teams, complete with uniforms and coaches. Phil Cunliffe, you would love it! Everyone in town plus tourists lines the harbor square and cheers them on. Great fun, but loud when we were trying to sleep at midnight and they were still playing....
Tomorrow we leave for Siena and then more Tuscan hill towns for a few days before Rome. Happily, Siena has the same Internet point that we used in Florence to send the photos...so I will try there. Ciao for now...time for our evening gelato. They have sangria flavor and panna cotta here; got to try it!
e
Friday, July 15, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
The trains do not run on time....
Buona sera from Vernazza...
more about where we are in a minute, but I just want to note, (and apologize in advance for nationality stereotyping), than trains in Italy are VERY different than trains in Germany/Austria. Today coming in from Florence we waited, and waited, and waited, listening to delay announcements and shrugging our shoulders along with the other tourists. Ah well. We've learned to pad our itinerary for an hour or so just to account for these little delays.
So, tonight we are on the beautiful Ligurian Sea on the west coast of Italy, in a little town in the Cinque Terre called Vernazza. The internet point here will not let me upload pictures, so I'll try to describe....our room overlooks the harbor and little beach. The temp. today was about 92 degrees or so, maybe more, and with no humidity and a light breeze making the wavelets in the harbor sparkle, that's not so bad. We went down to the beach right away, laid out for a bit, and then rented a kayak for an hour. With unsure and slightly unsteady strokes at first, we made our way out of the harbor and along the coast. We could see our little village behind us, and high on the hills, the two villages on each side, which are reachable by a hike that we will do tomorrow. The villages cling to the hillside, with brightly-colored houses, usually a church tower and a ruined castle in each.
The streets here are amazing...you climb on their stairs rather than walk them....we went exploring after having dinner at a little restaurant underneath the castle overlooking the ocean. (The huge table of Rick Steve tour people only slightly took away from the ambience...it's a little deflating to hear discussion about downtown Oakland while on the Italian seaside....)
So more tomorrow about our hike! Hopefully the only other internet place in town will be open tomorrow and let me post photos...
ciao!
Erin
more about where we are in a minute, but I just want to note, (and apologize in advance for nationality stereotyping), than trains in Italy are VERY different than trains in Germany/Austria. Today coming in from Florence we waited, and waited, and waited, listening to delay announcements and shrugging our shoulders along with the other tourists. Ah well. We've learned to pad our itinerary for an hour or so just to account for these little delays.
So, tonight we are on the beautiful Ligurian Sea on the west coast of Italy, in a little town in the Cinque Terre called Vernazza. The internet point here will not let me upload pictures, so I'll try to describe....our room overlooks the harbor and little beach. The temp. today was about 92 degrees or so, maybe more, and with no humidity and a light breeze making the wavelets in the harbor sparkle, that's not so bad. We went down to the beach right away, laid out for a bit, and then rented a kayak for an hour. With unsure and slightly unsteady strokes at first, we made our way out of the harbor and along the coast. We could see our little village behind us, and high on the hills, the two villages on each side, which are reachable by a hike that we will do tomorrow. The villages cling to the hillside, with brightly-colored houses, usually a church tower and a ruined castle in each.
The streets here are amazing...you climb on their stairs rather than walk them....we went exploring after having dinner at a little restaurant underneath the castle overlooking the ocean. (The huge table of Rick Steve tour people only slightly took away from the ambience...it's a little deflating to hear discussion about downtown Oakland while on the Italian seaside....)
So more tomorrow about our hike! Hopefully the only other internet place in town will be open tomorrow and let me post photos...
ciao!
Erin
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Picture Post 2
Breakfast in our room here in Florence
Florence below
The hand of Erin
At the top of the dome
Guess the Bible story...
Picture Post
The duomo
Inside frescoes of the duomo (we climbed up there!!)
D's breaking the rules...(read the sign :) [It is prohibited to walk on flowerbeds]
Gelato girls
One more thing...
I forgot, but remembered as I looked at the pictures I just sent Doug, that I wanted to write a health update:
I am taking my vitamins everyday, and have been feeling great. Plus, thanks to my lovely Dansko sandals and Merrell tennis shoes I've feel just the normal amount of tired and not hurting-every-step like last year in London. HOWEVER, there has been somewhat of a mosquito incident...in Venice, our room had mosquitoes at night, and they especially liked me. So right now, I've got something like 30 bites on my hands, arms, legs, and face...so those dots in the picture are battle wounds...but the mosquito won.
ciao!
e
I am taking my vitamins everyday, and have been feeling great. Plus, thanks to my lovely Dansko sandals and Merrell tennis shoes I've feel just the normal amount of tired and not hurting-every-step like last year in London. HOWEVER, there has been somewhat of a mosquito incident...in Venice, our room had mosquitoes at night, and they especially liked me. So right now, I've got something like 30 bites on my hands, arms, legs, and face...so those dots in the picture are battle wounds...but the mosquito won.
ciao!
e
Ah, Florence
Well, we have been extremely on-the-go here; yesterday we realized at 9:00 p.m. that we had only had 3 short ten-minute breaks all day :) But there is so much to see here...here are some highlights so far:
THE DOME: The cathedral (duomo) has an incredible dome (cupola) that was the first of its kind since antiquity and an architectural wonder of the day. My favorite fact about it is that the workers had to climb up at dawn, not leave till dusk, and there was a kitchen installed at the top so they would have no excuse to go back down. They worked for twenty years....but boy, is it amazing. Today we climbed the 460+ steps to the top and got to see the frescoes from very close...also, outside, on the top, you can see all of Florence's landmarks spread out below you....
DAVID: So I know those of you who've seen him have your own thoughts and impressions, but for those of you who haven't, I just want to say that he is pretty great. It's remarkable to me that something I'd seen so many pictures of over the years could still be so impressive in person. He's big, towering over viewers, and he's a masterpiece, yes, but most of all what I remember is that he looks like he's someone I'd want to have a conversation with; he looks thoughtful, and kind.
FOOD: specifically, two things: gelato, of which we've tried the following flavors...rice, orange-chocolate, peach-amoretto, coffee/chocolate chip, chocolate mousse, "cookie", and a few more I can't spell. The gelato here is simply the best. Another food highlight is a little place called "I Fratellini" (The Brothers) that serves the best little sandwiches ever with a glass of wine right on the street for 4 euro. I've had three of their sandwiches in two days...finally today one of the brothers asked me if I liked their food, and I asked how many they sold each day, and he said, with a shrug, "Not so many, but it's a good life". I think he's being modest; the place is packed every time we walk by.
There's so much more to say, but this is already long and I want to try to send some more photos. (Thanks Doug, you did a great job posting them :)
Tomorrow morning we leave for Cinque Terre, on the west coast...
much love,
Erin
THE DOME: The cathedral (duomo) has an incredible dome (cupola) that was the first of its kind since antiquity and an architectural wonder of the day. My favorite fact about it is that the workers had to climb up at dawn, not leave till dusk, and there was a kitchen installed at the top so they would have no excuse to go back down. They worked for twenty years....but boy, is it amazing. Today we climbed the 460+ steps to the top and got to see the frescoes from very close...also, outside, on the top, you can see all of Florence's landmarks spread out below you....
DAVID: So I know those of you who've seen him have your own thoughts and impressions, but for those of you who haven't, I just want to say that he is pretty great. It's remarkable to me that something I'd seen so many pictures of over the years could still be so impressive in person. He's big, towering over viewers, and he's a masterpiece, yes, but most of all what I remember is that he looks like he's someone I'd want to have a conversation with; he looks thoughtful, and kind.
FOOD: specifically, two things: gelato, of which we've tried the following flavors...rice, orange-chocolate, peach-amoretto, coffee/chocolate chip, chocolate mousse, "cookie", and a few more I can't spell. The gelato here is simply the best. Another food highlight is a little place called "I Fratellini" (The Brothers) that serves the best little sandwiches ever with a glass of wine right on the street for 4 euro. I've had three of their sandwiches in two days...finally today one of the brothers asked me if I liked their food, and I asked how many they sold each day, and he said, with a shrug, "Not so many, but it's a good life". I think he's being modest; the place is packed every time we walk by.
There's so much more to say, but this is already long and I want to try to send some more photos. (Thanks Doug, you did a great job posting them :)
Tomorrow morning we leave for Cinque Terre, on the west coast...
much love,
Erin
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
More Pictures Continued Part 2
Venice
San Marco Square
D and E at rialto bridge
D and E on ponte vecchio, florence
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