People think I’m crazy for going all the way to Italy for six days, but you know what? We only have so many tomorrows, and I’m determined to make the most of all the ones I have. And six days in Italy is better than no days in Italy.
If you’re expecting a long, detailed blog about my day in Florence, you’re going to be disappointed. You see, it started to rain shortly after I arrived and that kind of derailed my plans for the day…
Just call me “Chef Laura”. My last day in Cinque Terre found me strolling the streets of Vernazza, sipping rich Italian hot chocolate, indulging in a local sweet treat, and making a homemade pasta dinner.
I’m pretty sure today was the best day of vacation so far. The weather in Cinque Terre has been picture perfect this week. Clear blue skies, 70+ degrees… perfection. So imagine my surprise to wake up this morning (after another 10 hours of sleep!), pull open the curtains, and see cloudy skies. I didn’t let the lack of sun deter me from my plans, though, and the weather forecast showed sun later in the day.
I almost wimped out today. Almost. My plan was to hike from Monterosso to Vernazza, look around Vernazza for a while, then push on to Corniglia. My legs were protesting so much that I almost gave up and took the train from Vernazza to Corniglia. But like the trouper that I am, I forced myself to continue on and put more mileage on my hiking shoes.
Do you ever have a day where you can’t imagine being anyplace else or doing anything different? Today was that day for me. I woke up way too early but I couldn’t wait to begin my day exploring Monterosso.
17 hours. That’s how long it took me to get to this week’s vacation destination of Monterosso al Mare, Italy. Monterosso is part of Italy’s Cinque Terre, literally the “five lands”. The area is composed of five seaside villages set on cliffs bordering the Ligurian Sea between Genoa and Pisa. Monterosso is the largest of the five villages with a population of about 1,500 people and is the northernmost village.
The Great Staycation of 2023. That’s how I’ve been referring to this weekend in my mind. Now that I have a new baby niece down in Florida, most of my weekend trips have been/will be spent there. But having just been in Florida a few weeks ago, and going back there for Thanksgiving, I needed something to do for the long Veterans Day weekend. Enter the staycation.
It was another smoky morning in Whistler so my plans to ride the Peak to Peak gondola in Whistler never materialized on this trip.
Smoke, smoke, smoke. I woke up to cloudy/smoky skies in Whistler this morning and there was a strong smell of forest fire smoke in the air from fires burning in British Columbia. I was planning to do the Whistler Blackcomb Peak to Peak gondola this morning but ended up changing my plans because the air was so smoky.
Traveling with Laura 