my trip to italy!!
i finally have time to share some fotos and stories from my splendid trip to cinque terra and lake como...
so.....
those were the stairs leading to out first hotel in cinque terra. though they look easy enough... the 30 minute hike up a mountain without any barrier between ocean and mountain was not. add a little rain and mud and no lighting at night... well you have a problem. my poor 50 year old mother had to do this hike with her backpack and a 50 pound bag of souveiners.. my sister almost had a heartattach. since i joined my family the next day i couldn't help them up the first time. we changed our hotel two days later to one at the bottom of the mountain with a window overlooking the square. so much better. other than that cinque terra is beautiful. though tourists have mulitplied everytime ive been there it still holds its quiet and unique old world italian feeling.
the view at night:
an italian breakfast:
they now charge 3 euros for each hike you do since the five towns are considered a national park. you can easily buy a day pass which includes the hikes, trains, and bus!
during our 3 days in cinque terra my poor sis got sick first, followed by my mom.. the cold has just caught up to me now....
anyway...
our next stop was lake como,
our hotel was an old victorian with a grand staircase!
we had a huge balcony overlooking the mountains and lake!!
lake como is amazingly beautiful....
it used to be the summer retreat for rich arstiocrates, politicians and bankers.
there are many villas you can tour but lucky for us, our hotel was right next door to the best one!
and yes, that is where new royalty live as well, Goerge Clooney. he bought a villa further down on the lake and it seems the locals love him! everywhere you go you hear his name..
anyway,,,
back to our hotel..
there was a secret garden....
it was an old victorian garden with different paths.. interesting plants... and a little creepy... i loved it!!!
the only setback to our hotel and actually lake como in general was the missing water taxis. it takes 15 minutes by ferry to get across the lake to a major town.. now if you need to get across before 6am or after 10pm.. you're screwed... we found this out after we purchased tickets for a bus to milan airport. the pick up was in the town across from us.. easy huh.. nope, we had to be there at 5:30am.. thinking getting a water taxi across the lake wouldn't be a problem. we purchased our tickets. later that night we started asking about where to get a taxi across the lake. the only options were a taxi ride (car) around the whole lake (one hour) or hire a private yacht.. we called the private yacht.. the guy wanted 100 euros for 20 min! we agreed... then we told him we need it at 5am.. the fucking lazy bastard said no, he wouldnt get up in the morning for a 100 euros!
so we ended up taking a taxi at 3:30am.. 100 euros total for a one hour taxi ride!!
fucking christ...
but i still love italy!
so.....
those were the stairs leading to out first hotel in cinque terra. though they look easy enough... the 30 minute hike up a mountain without any barrier between ocean and mountain was not. add a little rain and mud and no lighting at night... well you have a problem. my poor 50 year old mother had to do this hike with her backpack and a 50 pound bag of souveiners.. my sister almost had a heartattach. since i joined my family the next day i couldn't help them up the first time. we changed our hotel two days later to one at the bottom of the mountain with a window overlooking the square. so much better. other than that cinque terra is beautiful. though tourists have mulitplied everytime ive been there it still holds its quiet and unique old world italian feeling.
the view at night:
an italian breakfast:
they now charge 3 euros for each hike you do since the five towns are considered a national park. you can easily buy a day pass which includes the hikes, trains, and bus!
during our 3 days in cinque terra my poor sis got sick first, followed by my mom.. the cold has just caught up to me now....
anyway...
our next stop was lake como,
our hotel was an old victorian with a grand staircase!
we had a huge balcony overlooking the mountains and lake!!
lake como is amazingly beautiful....
it used to be the summer retreat for rich arstiocrates, politicians and bankers.
there are many villas you can tour but lucky for us, our hotel was right next door to the best one!
and yes, that is where new royalty live as well, Goerge Clooney. he bought a villa further down on the lake and it seems the locals love him! everywhere you go you hear his name..
anyway,,,
back to our hotel..
there was a secret garden....
it was an old victorian garden with different paths.. interesting plants... and a little creepy... i loved it!!!
the only setback to our hotel and actually lake como in general was the missing water taxis. it takes 15 minutes by ferry to get across the lake to a major town.. now if you need to get across before 6am or after 10pm.. you're screwed... we found this out after we purchased tickets for a bus to milan airport. the pick up was in the town across from us.. easy huh.. nope, we had to be there at 5:30am.. thinking getting a water taxi across the lake wouldn't be a problem. we purchased our tickets. later that night we started asking about where to get a taxi across the lake. the only options were a taxi ride (car) around the whole lake (one hour) or hire a private yacht.. we called the private yacht.. the guy wanted 100 euros for 20 min! we agreed... then we told him we need it at 5am.. the fucking lazy bastard said no, he wouldnt get up in the morning for a 100 euros!
so we ended up taking a taxi at 3:30am.. 100 euros total for a one hour taxi ride!!
fucking christ...
but i still love italy!