Day 13 - Milan to Kalamazoo

Our return trips meant a day's worth of travel for both of us.  Mona and I were each on separate flights heading back to Kalamazoo.  Mona's flights took her from Milan to Frankfurt to Chicago to Kalamazoo.  My flights took me from Milan to Miami to Chicago to Kalamazoo.

We got breakfast and got on our way to our gates.  As we passed through the airport was noted several interesting things.  First, Mona spotted a couple of soldiers from the Italian army doing rounds in the terminal.  I later learned that the standard issue Army rifle for Italy is the Beretta AR70/90, chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO rounds.  The soldier on the left in this picture is carrying an SC70/90 Random factoid: like the US move from the M16 to the M4, Italy is in the process of moving from a weapon popularized in the 1980s to a more-flexible system allowing more customization and variety of a single platform, instead of many, specialized rifles and carbines.

Next, we spotted a very (ahem) interesting add for a new car.  It was funny to see paparazzi clustered around a car, taking pictures.  Still, it was a good laugh to start the day and served as a good landmark to find our way between the departure/arrival gates and the hotel.

In the terminals, we said our goodbyes and split up for our separate gates.  Mona did great getting to her flights, but I managed to go most of the way down the wrong terminal, as I thought she had texted me.  In fact, I had just re-read a text from earlier in the trip.  DOH!  This meant that I ended up sprinting down most of the B terminal to get to my gate.  I was the last passenger checked in, but there were still passengers lined up on the jetbridge getting onto the plane.  I basically ran all that way, just to stand in line.  Oh well!

When we connected back in Kalamazoo at home, we regaled each other with tales from our individual flights.  Nothing major to report, but I did want to sum up my observations on this trip.

Clothing - 8/10

We both made pretty good decisions about what to bring to wear.  Mona says that many times she brings too much variety of clothing, and only wears 70% of it.  I wore practically everything I brought, except for one pair of heavy pants.  When we were planning, weather reports for Venice were in the 50s and 60s; in reality, they were never below 65 and got up to 75 twice; once in Venice and once in Cinque Terre.  Next time, I'll probably bring the same layout.

Luggage - 8/10

For this trip, Mona took her standard rollaboard bag.  It's seen travel all over the world - we've had it for so long, I can't remember the first trip it when on.  I'll probably have to look at our travel pictures to see when we first got it.  Over the years, the wheels have stayed on and functioned well - which surprised me, based on the number of three-wheeled bags I always see.  However, the zippers have all broken off, one by one, and when we got to Lugano, Switzerland, the handle finally broke off.  The bag survived long enough to get back to Kalamazoo, but it's going to go in the trash next.

My new REI backpack worked pretty well.  I was able to fill it with all the clothes I needed on this trip, and the chest strap pulled the weight of the shoulder straps to the front, making it more comfortable.  The bag was balanced well-enough for me to run with it on my back, which proved to be the deciding factor in my dash to the gate in Milan. The only thing it lacks is a waist strap to pull more weight down to my hips.

I also bought a smaller daypack to replace the single-shoulder messenger bag I've carried since our trip to India.  The new pack was big enough to comfortably carry a tablet, where the old bag could not.  This smaller daypack had both chest and waist straps, which was really nice for keeping my hands free.  The top was also a drawstring, which made access pretty easy.  I think this bag will see a lot more use for our smaller trips, since it fits everything I need.

Money - 10/10

Thanks to our Capitol One card, we were able to pull cash when traveling without paying any extra fees.  We always got good exchange rates, so this was very nice.  ATMs were conveniently located in every location we visited, which was nice, but very many places accepted credit cards.  We also used card+PIN everywhere we used the credit cards, which was a pleasant surprise.  The Post Italia ATMs in Italy and Switzerland did not charge a fee for withdrawals, so we basically pulled money from our accounts at market rate.  Score!  We did a good job spending the cash we converted, too.  I spent all the Euros I had, and in Switzerland we gave the last of our Swiss Francs to the hotel shuttle bus driver.

Travel Accessories - 6/10

This is the place we have to find a way to improve.  Travel accessories, like water bottles, umbrellas, etc. just don't seem to make the trip.  Very early on, Mona lost her favorite pink water bottle.  I, too, lost my water bottle on the train to Melide.  I also lost an umbrella.  Even though I have hooks for everything, it's still very easy to unhook things and forget them.  Ah well!

Universal plugs - 10/10

Italy uses a specific power plug style for its plugs.  I had two universal adapters (one grounded with three plugs, one un-grounded with just two) from Amazon for less than $10 in total that worked great everywhere.  It was easy to plug in our US travel chargers for our devices, and still have a standard, grounded outlet to plug in laptops.  This made it super-easy to stay charged every where we went.  Italy used the three-prong plugs everywhere, but in Switzerland, we needed to use the two-prong plug (the grounded plug in Switzerland is a little different).  In Milan, Mona could use the ungrounded two-prong adapter to plug in her iron. which was nice.  If you're visiting both Italy and Switzerland, you'll definitely want both a three-prong and a two-prong adapter - older hotels may only have two-prong plugs.

Overall - Great Trip!

This trip was a true and utter blessing from my wife.  With all of the care she took in arranging our tickets and our stays, it was easy for me to just focus on getting around.  Getting to-and-from many of our stops took a lot of mental effort and discipline.  Not to mention, dealing with street signs and directions in Italian, navigating unfamiliar roads and keeping track of our bags.  On our next trip, I'll probably look to consolidate more things into a single daypack, and see what I do to keep my hands free.

I'm very thankful the weather cooperated the entire time.  We no rain on the trip until we got to Milan at the very end, so we could travel easily and see everything we wanted to see.  As we look at our next trip, I'm sure Mona will help us pick another great destination, and we'll believe for more great weather!

Thanks for following along with us on this journey!

Day 12 - Lugano to Milan

Sadly, our last day in Lugano came very, very early.  It was a damp, gray morning, as the rain had

settled in overnight.  The day would be much cooler, only getting to 60 degrees.  Mona would be gone to her conference today, and I would have errands to run to get us ready to return home.

We headed down to breakfast, enjoyed the last of our coffee and took in the gray clouds descending on the mountain.  After breakfast, we packed Mona's bags, so that we could drop them at the front desk for the day - this freed her up to carry less stuff for her last day.  I walked Mona to the bus stop just down the street from our hotel.  We rode them #4 back to the train station and headed over to the #436 bus stop.  This bus stops just up the street from Franklin University, making for an easy walk.  Dropping Mona off at the University, I returned to the room to pack.

Unfortunately, the luggage I bought for Ramona was too small, so I had to take it back to the department store.  I quickly packed my belongings, then brought down my bags to the front desk.  From there, I returned to the train station and rode the funicular train back down to the department store.  Returning the luggage finally freed me up for the rest of the day.  What to do?

I took the train from Lugano to Melide, to see a park called Swissminatur.  This park features almost 200 miniature replicas of famous buildings, churches and castles from all over Switzerland.  You can easily lose hours here.

Returning on the train, I met Mona at the train station and headed back to the hotel.  We met our

shuttle driver at the front desk, and quickly returned to the station.  Our train arrived after a short wait, and we finally on our way!  The first class car we sat in remained very quiet most of the ride.  We passed the time looking over pictures of our trip and playing a few games on our phones.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the train, was that the first class car was SOOOOOO quiet!  I mean, the sound of the outdoors were masked in the car.  There were only one or two people in the car between stops, so there was little conversation.  An overhead display showed our current stop, next series of stops and the arrival times at each.  Because of this, only very quiet announcements were made just before each stop.  It was incredibly peaceful and relaxing.

Shortly after nightfall, we reached our destination - Milan airport.  Mona had booked a night for us at the Sheraton hotel, so that we could quickly pass through security for our early morning flights.  The hotel was actually located within the confines of the airport, much like the Westin at Detroit Metro.  After check-in, we took a walk, exploring the enormous airport.  We walked all the way across the terminal, getting a feel for the food courts.  Sadly, my ability to get one more gelato was thwarted by my need to rest my aching feet.  I've been averaging more than 18k steps a day for the last two weeks and I was ready to get back to normal!

Returning to our room before bedroom, there was just a few minutes to push out a quick blog post and call it a night.  In the morning, we would catch our flights back to Kalamazoo!

Day 11 - Lugano

Another day in Switzerland!  Now, Ramona's conference begins.  While we'd been blessed with beautiful weather, with clear skies and warm temperatures throughout our whole trip in Europe, today would be a cloudy day and then temperatures would fall.  The morning was much cloudier than the other days had been.  Today,  the high would only be 64 degrees, compared to the 70s we had experienced much of the trip. By the time we leave for Kalamazoo, the highs here would be down in the 50s. 

We started the day with a quick breakfast in the hotel restaurant.  Mona opted to visit the fitness center for a workout, while I studied the local transit system. She wanted to take buses to the university, as well as easily getting around to a few places. I, too, wanted to see a few places here in Lugano.  Fortunately, the region has an extensive system of trams, trains and buses, all of which are covered by the Ticino ticket we received. Basically, we can travel anywhere within the Ticino region by bus or train for free during our stay. Talk about a bargain!

After breakfast, we made plans to get to Franklin University for the conference. I spent a bit of time reviewing bus timetables figuring out which buses we can take. I made a quick list of stops and times, so that whenever we were ready to go, I had an idea which bus was available and where to walk. We proceeded away from the hotel headed to the street. We waited just a few minutes for the #4, then found out way to the station. We weren't able to catch the #436, which dropped off right in front of the university, so we took the #2 which meant a short walk. The side street took us through small, quiet neighborhoods with the traffic on the distance. After a short uphill walk, we found ourselves at the University. Mona got registered for her conference, and I was free to explore!

I took the bus back to the train station, and planned to buy our return train tickets

from Lugano back to Milan (our return flight leaves at oh-dark-early from there on Wednesday).  I learned that the travel counters here use a ticketing system that combines several services into the same counter, and allows you to see your place in the appropriate queue.  This station let you ship or pickup DHL packages, purchase tickets or send money via Western Union.  It sure would be nice to see the Secretary of State get this level of efficiency! 😕

An agent helped select the train and travel class, and I scored a pair of tickets for $30 each.  The handle on Mona's luggage had broken during our last leg, so it was up to me to purchase another one before we packed.  A quick Google search turned up a department store at the base of the funicular station, so it was time for another vertical train ride!  I found the luggage section and wasted no time getting a bag picked out.  Lucky for me, the exchange rate was little better US Dollars to Swiss Franc, than the rate we'd paid for US Dollars to Euros.

Now that I had luggage, what would I do next?  Why, get my daily gelato fix!  Sadly, gelato cost us much more in Switzerland than it had in Italy.  Still, it was quite tasty.  I had ample time to walk along the edge of Lake Lugano and take in the overcast afternoon.

I headed back to the hotel to coordinate with Mona, as she and a colleague had plans for dinner when her evening sessions were over.  She was able to secure an invitation to the evening reception, so I dropped on in!

Dinner featured a nice assortment of Swiss treats to make everyone feel welcome.  We had a pleasant

dinner conversation with her colleagues, then struck out for after-dinner snacks.

The patisserie we tried to visit the other night was on our way, so we took the bus and headed out.  Fortunately, it was open this time, and we were able to score some excellent dessert!  After a short walk back to bus stop, we had just a few minutes to wait before the return trip to the train station.  From there, just a few minutes saw us back our hotel.  Tomorrow would be our last day in Lugano, so it was time to pack.

Day 10 - Lugano

A night of good sleep works wonders - a night of good sleep in a swanky hotel is even better!  The

Villa Sassa offered us a sizable suite, complete with a spacious balcony and view of the majestic mountains.  As we saw from our pictures last night, the many houses dotting the mountain twinkled like stars, and provided a stark contrast in the morning light.  Mona got up earlier than I did, and snapped a nice picture of the sunrise behind the mountain.  By the time I could drag myself out of bed, the sun was clear of the mountains and already warming up the air.

We headed down to sample the continental breakfast.  Other guests filled the busy restaurant, so we found an empty table outdoors on the patio.  As the sun rose higher, it started to fill the valley with light as well, and the lake came into full view from our table.  It would be nice to get both views from our hotel room, but I can see why those rooms would reserved for guests paying the top-tier price.

With breakfast behind us, we planned for our day.  We learned that on Sundays, nearly everything shuts down in the city.  Grocery stores, markets, shops and many services are unavailable until Monday morning.  One of the hotel amenities includes the Ticino Ticket, named for this area of Switzerland.  This ticket includes local travel on the bus line and the funicular trains that vertically climbs the mountain.  We decided to take advantage of this today.

Leaving our hotel, we chose to walk a bit to the Church of St. Lawrence, then explore from there.  It was a short distance from the hotel, downhill from a major highway.  We passed a bus stop, not even a minute from the hotel.  At the stop, there was a ticket vending machine, designed to use near-field (NFC) touch-to-pay systems on a smartphone.  As much of Europe has shifted to cash-less or nearly cash-less sales, nearly every recent smartphone includes a proximity system to wireless transmit bank information to perform a sale.  Simple touch your phone to the pay symbol, and your account is automatically debited the amount.  The bus stops all include such a system, where a user can select the ticket(s) necessary, then just touch your smartphone to pay for it.  I also noted the system had no place to insert coins, bills or even a credit card - truly a fast transaction!

Down the hill, we found ourselves outside the ornate church.  We took a few pictures outside,  admiring the view of the mountains.  Inside, we were treated to stained glass frezas, ornate oil paintings and marble statues.  Like us, other tourists quietly tiptoed about, taking pictures as they went.

In front of the cathedral, we took a few more pictures, then planned our next stop - the funicular train station.  Not far from the train station we arrived in, an adjacent station held a stop for the funicular train, which traveled up the mountain, instead of along it.  From the cathedral, we took a series of winding roads and began a long, downward slope.  

On either side of us, row after row of shops and businesses were closed.  On Sunday, it seems like the town literally shuts down.  Combined with the fact that late October is

well-after the tourist season, it seemed to make sense businesses would close on such a slow day.  Near the bottom of the hill, we found the funicular station.  We pulled out the Ticino tickets we received from the hotel and the attendant waved us through.  Minutes later, the car quietly descended the track to our stop.  After boarding, the car rose up the mountainside, slowly but quietly.  At the top, the funicular station ended adjacent to the train station, this one was actually quite close to our hotel.  Walking into the station, we soon found an ATM and pulled out a few Swiss francs.  I think we could still use our Euros here, but we had only a few of those left.

From the train station, we looked at ways to navigate down to the water, as Mona wanted a chance to go to the beach.  Thanks to Google, we could take a bus from the train station, ride it a few stops and end up at the waterfront.  Catching the #2 bus was easy - it was less than 60ft from where we stood.  The bus looped a few adjacent streets and began to head through the downtown business district.  Plenty of closed shops were visible, save for the Subway restaurant that was fairly full of people.

The bus came to a stop just ahead of a bridge over a small canal, which was our final destination.  To our right, the canal flowed out to the lake, through a large marina.  We headed towards the waterfront to find a nice park.  We reached the beach, which was barely 20ft long, much smaller than the pictures we'd seen online.  Only later would we realize that this was related to the season and tide - this late in the year, the beach was swallowed by the water, leaving only a few feet of actual sand.

Undeterred, we set off in search of another beach we saw, this one was a paid beach at a local sports club, just down from the (nonexistent) public beach.  We walked along and found the sport club, but as this was a for-fee club, we kept walking.  We kept getting passed by patrons with gelato, so we opted to find dessert instead!  A few blocks away, a small gelato restaurant came in view, so we grabbed a few cones.  The helpful gal behind the counter clued us in that there was very little accessible beach on this side of the lake - we'd have to drive miles to the other side in hopes of finding the other public beach.  Ah well - at least we had pools, sauna and steam rooms at the hotel!

We walked back from the gelato to an adjacent bus stop.  We could catch a bus here that would lead

back to station.  As the day wore on, lunch was at the top of the priority list.  Back at the train station, a nice restaurant beckoned, so we opted to eat here.  A calzone and a pizza were near the top of our to-do list, and the waiter was happy to oblige.  However, both items covered an entire plate - each!  There was more-than-enough food for two meals, so a to-go container was necessary.  We finished paying the bill with a few minutes to spare, so we walked over to the adjacent bus stop.  From the station, we could catch a bus that was a direct line to our hotel, dropping us off right in front - how convenient!

Days of walking made my feet feel link worn-down pencil erasers, so it was time to enjoy the amenities of the hotel.  We changed and went down to the hotel spa, to enjoy ourselves and wash away the many days of walking.  Today was the last day to enjoy the steam room, as it would be closed for the next few days for service.  The steam room, sauna and hottub were all very nice and relaxing, after days of go-go-go travel.

Dinnertime was at hand, so we opted to try our luck with the buses again.  Mona picked a restaurant near a stop from earlier in the day - Google gave us just a few minutes to make the walk in time to catch the bus.  The winding road seemed to take us right where we wanted, but just as we emerged onto the street, a bus was headed right for us.  I quickly ran after it and caught it, not realizing that it was going in the wrong direction until we boarded it.  DOH!  Fortunately, it only had a few stops before it would reverse direction and head back in the direction we originally intended.  As we rode, Mona spied a Mediterranean restaurant near our stop, so off we went.  The restaurant had a nice mix of Middle Eastern fare, so we enjoyed a quiet dinner.

Not too far from our next bus stop, we followed the quiet city streets.  Our bus soon arrived and we were once again back in our hotel.  For Ramona, the "vacation" portion of this trip was over.  Tomorrow was the first day of her conference, and she would be in sessions and meetings throughout the day.  What does tomorrow hold for Karl?  We'll see!

Day 9 - Riomaggiore to Lugano

Sadly, today was our last day in Cinque Terre.  I mistakenly thought we had visited Monarola, so we got started early to go and visit. This would finally cap our tour of all of Cinque Terre.

The weather was quite cool in the morning, just like yesterday, but that only meant that it would

quickly warm up, just like yesterday.  After finishing the last of the yogurt and other snacks for breakfast, we took the train one town over.  Monarola was just as quiet, with a tall, steep road leading up into the even-steeper foothills.  We climbed the road to stop at a nearby coffee shop, to have an Americano.  After a pastry and coffee, we proceeded back down towards the train, stopping for more arancini (breaded risotto balls).  Mona also spotted a nice store for souvenirs, so we snatched up a few t-shirts, a bag and jewelry.  One store over, we also grabbed another magnet for the fridge!

Monarola now visited, we took the train back to Riomaggiore and packed our bags to leave.  We secured a late checkout from our host, so we were able to leave our bags, while we toured Monarola.  The next train would take us to Milan, where we had a layover before our train to Lugano.  We made our way back to the Riomaggiore station for the last time, and waited only a few minutes.  Our next train whisked us away to Levanto, where we awaited a train to Milan. The Levanto station was quite small and simple, just two tracks.  I passed the time attempting to purchase a Salami sandwich from a vending machine, online to be denied.  Fortunately, I was able to get a Twix bar.

The train arrived and we were on our way to Milan.  There were a few stops, so our trip would take a couple of hours.  Ample time to make the first edits to this blog, and to watch a movie.  I had downloaded Shazam to my tablet, so I had something to kill part of the trip.  As the movie played, I was still drawn to the Italian countryside that flashed across the window.  Industrial areas, sprawling meadows, farms and railspurs made Italy feel much less like a foreign country, and more like just another neighborhood.  As with all our travels, "the world became just a little bit smaller"...

Arriving in Milan in the late afternoon, we were returned to the densely-packed Milano Centrale station.  Yup - just as busy as the last time we were here....  We pulled our luggage off the train, and stopped at rail station service desk.  The helpful attendant directed us to a ticket kiosk to book our final train from Milan to Lugano, Switzerland.  As we waited, Mona helped a confused couple using the kiosk before us.  They were having a bit of trouble telling the different travel classes apart (1st class and 2nd class).  Mona explained as best she could and they made a decision on their tickets.  The couple was from Singapore, here on holiday, and had a short exchange with Mona about Yale NUS.  We had visited this school during our Malaysia trip with students from her program at Western Michigan University.  Obtaining tickets of our own, we had about two hours to kill before our departure.

Fortunately, there is a luggage service at the train station to hold your bags.  If you need to find it, it's

on the Ground level, near the McDonald's.  None of the directions or posts indicated what floor it was on.  We dropped our bags and were now free to explore Milan for a bit!  We planned to make our way to the Brera neighborhood, but got turned around a bit at the start.  This didn't leave us much time there, so chose instead to find a closer place to eat.  We tried a restaurant that Google said was close and open.  Neither of which were true.  We finally decided on a nearby market, where Mona selected a salad with rice and I grabbed the sandwich I was denied early.

We stopped at a nearby park and ate on a park bench.  The sun was minutes from setting as we

finished, but we had ample time to get back to the station.  We headed back, crossing busy street after busy street, before finding ourselves before the station entrance.  We entered what appeared to be the right side of the building, but once again had to crisscross to get to the right floor.  Retrieving our luggage, we made our way back to the gate and awaited our train.

The train arrived a few minutes late and made a last minute change from one track to the next.  For some unknown reason, this led to a mad dash of passengers heading from the original track to the new one.  Did they know something we didn't know?  We our seats in jeopardy?  Not knowing, we rushed along with the crowd to our train.  Mona jumped aboard the last car and we started trying to figure out our seats.  A helpful woman indicated we were off by one car, so we headed to the adjacent car.  Not sure if we in the right seats, a helpful young man pointed out our seat assignments were on our tickets the whole time, and even indicated we were right where we belonged!  Finally settling in, we relaxed for the last portion of our journey.

Under the cover of night, there was very little to see from the windows.  We could only tell we were

nearing a stop when the overhead display and audible announcement called out the stations.  We finally made it Lugano station and left the train, now in a different country from where we started!

According to Wikipedia, Lugano is a city in southern Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Ticino region. Its Swiss-Mediterranean mix of cultures is closely related to that of Italy’s northern Lombardy region. This mix is reflected in its architecture and cuisine. The city stands on the northern shore of glacial Lake Lugano, surrounded by mountains. 

From the station, we caught a taxi and made it to the hotel in mere minutes.  The front desk clerk checked us in, and a bellhop lead us to our room.  I was a little surprised that the taxi driver and the staff all spoke to us in Italian, until I remembered what Wikipedia said.  I had been practicing my "ciao" all week, so I was glad to see I could get a bit more mileage out of it.  The Villa Sassa hotel includes a spa, and is highly-rated for its amenities.  Our bellhop indicated there are five buildings connected on the property, with both indoor and outdoor pools and a spa available to the guests.  When we reached our room, we found robes and slippers waiting for us.  The view of the city at night was incredible, magnified by the cool glow of the lights in the outdoor pool.  With such relaxing amenities, it would be no wonder that we'd get to relax and enjoy the conference, after the go-go pace we'd maintained for much of the week!

Day 8 - Riomaggiore and Cinque Terre

What a day!  After coming all this way, what else would we do?  "Why, let's visit six towns in less

than 24hours!"  Challenge accepted!

If you count our visit to La Spezia last night, we would visit all of the towns of Cinque Terre in a single day.  We planned to start our day early and get a good head of steam going.  Since we had a good stock of fruits, breakfast foods and - most importantly - coffee, we were in good shape.  Just as in Venice, we had a nice moka pot, so strong coffee was easy to come by.  

Mona's yogurt and granola cup actually included a spoon in the lid.  Better yet, it

extended into a full-length spoon!  Manufacturers should really take note of this...

With breakfast done, we planned to take the train and check out the other towns of Cinque Terre.  Each of the five towns are a little bit different and provide their own atmosphere, so we wanted to experience them all.  Just outside our apartment, the street was already bustling with small trucks delivering goods to all the shops that had opened.  With the weather alert lifted, all of the restaurants that were closed yesterday were all open, and there were scores of people walking around.

At the train station, we soon learned of a 24-hour national rail strike.  No one was really sure how this would affect the local trains, so we planned to take whatever was available, whenever it was available  It was just too hard to know what this might entail.  To simplify things, Mona purchased a pair of Cinque Terra travel cards, which gave us passage for the day on the local trains, the local buses and gave free access  to other facilities in the area.  It was like having a hop-on, hop-off pass for the trains, which would certainly make travel very easy today.  The weather was a little warmer than yesterday, and today's high was expected to reach 72 degrees.  This was warm for October and pretty much at the upper-limit of my attire.  I had shorts and a thin shirt, but in the mild humidity and very strong sunlight, it felt like it was nearly 80.  Maybe I'll see a bit of tan in my pictures?

Mona and I boarded the train and took it to Monterosso, near the end of the Cinque Terre.  This way,

we could hike our way back, take the bus or take the train.  From the Monterosso station, we merged with a massive queue of people leaving the station, heading into the city.  From here, we could catch one of several trail heads to hike the many, many walking paths.  As we walked along the sea, we encountered maps of the trails and relative distances.  We soon saw some of the times: 1hr and 45 minutes just from one town to the next.  Mona was well-prepared for quite a bit of arduous hiking.  I was less-than enthused, but still willing to give it a go.  As the walking path turned upwards, we started to climb to one of the trail heads. From there, we wandered a bit into town, searching for souvenirs.  We wandered a bit through the small town, then ambled down to the seashore.  The water was surprisingly warm - it felt almost as warm as the lakes had been this summer. Perhaps my enterprising wife might take a dip in the sea???  As we worked our way back to the train station, we made a stop for gelato, as a sign beckoned "local lemon".  We had seen many citrus trees - oranges, lemons and limes - in different areas, so I was curious.  It turns out the local limone gelato has a much sharper flavor than the limone we'd tried in Venice.  Yum!

After lunch, we took the train (which seem to be running fine) to Vernazza, the next city to the east

from Monterosoo.  The city is known for it's small enchanting bay and castle with an ancient lookout fortress, where you can see the entire gulf of Cinque Terra.  As we climbed the path, however, an older Italian couple near the top warned us that the path was closed, due to the heavy rains. Due to the rain, the path to Corniglia was closed, so we opted to walk just a bit further and head back to the train.   We proceeded just a bit further and encountered a young American couple.  The young lady eagerly took a few pictures for us.

At the station, we took the train to the next city over, Corniglia.  This city is famous for its houses perched along the steep cliffs, and is visible from all of the other cities in Cinque Terre.  There is an apparent lookout from which you can see the other cities, but we were unable to find it. From the train station, we saw signs pointing to the town and started on our way.  Just under 1km from the station stop, we met a large set of stairs, leading to the center of town.  A small, handwritten sign had a noteworthy message.  We began climbing the stairs, thankful there were plenty of benches for weary climbers to stop and rest.  Along the way, we were greeted with a warm, seabreeze and the smell of ripening citrus fruits.  At the top of the climb, we reached a road leading to the central area of Corniglia.  We followed it down, snapping pictures as we went.  Satisfied with a few pictures, we turned ourselves back to the station, to head to Riomaggiore and lunch!

We reduced our load a bit, and headed to lunch just a few doors down from our apartment.  At a nearby restaurant, Mona got an order of gnocchi and I had a plate of fish and chips.  Ramona was very excited to try an Italian beverage called Galvanina Bio Fru.it, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

The weather had cooled slightly from the sweltering heat of the morning, but it was still hot enough for Mona to take a dip!  She donned her swimwear and we got back on the train to Monterosso.  Back on the beach, Mona strolled right up, dropper her things and dove right in!  It's official: my wife had now swam in the Ligurian Sea!

The Manarola marina did not disappoint.  The small marina was covered with a variety of fishing boats.  Cool, blue waters sparkled in the late afternoon soon.

From Monterosso, we opted to take the train line to the end and visit Levanto.  Like La Spezia on the

east end of Cinque Terre, Levanto was a larger city on the west end, with the smaller cities of Cinque Terre wedged between.  We walked just a few steps from the station and could suddenly hear much, much more vehicular traffic, as many more cars, motorcycles and delivery trucks roamed about.  We even saw tuk-tuks, small three-wheeled trucks, like the ones we'd seen in India years ago.

We continued through Levanto to the seashore.  We were greeted with a gorgeous view of a sprawling beach.  While not teeming with people, it was about as busy as the beach at Monterosso, but it had a different cilentele - surfers!  As the evening waves wafted in, a dozen or more surfers were spread across the shoreline, catching the occasional wave.  We were content to stand and watch for quite some time, watching a few of them get up on a wave and take a few turns.

We made our way back to our apartment and opted for a simple dinner of pasta.  Tomorrow would see us packing up from Cinque Terre and making our way towards Lugano, Switzerland.  As we had visited all the cities of Cinque Terre, our challenge was completed!

Day 7 - Desenzano to Riomaggiore

Before long, it was time to say farewell to Desenzano.  Our next stop would take us to the oppositeRiomagiorre, one of the five coastal villages of Cinque Terre.  Read the Wikipedia article - it's pretty nice and takes 30 seconds. 👍 She also booked our train tickets, three separate tickets to get us from Desenzano to Milan to Cinque Terre.

coast of Italy.  Just as we left the Adriatic Sea behind in Venice for the quiet shores of Lake Garda, now we would head to the Ligurian Sea off the west coast of Italy, near Genoa.  Mona had booked a few nights for us in

Overnight, we had a bit of rain in Venice, as I found the streets were still wet from an overnight rain.  Rain was forecasted for the area for the next few days.  Later in the day, I would learn of the heavy rains and flashflooding that affected Spain, France and Italy - don't worry, folks, we are just fine!

We planned to book a taxi to the train station in the morning, instead of carrying our bags through the streets for the mile walk.  Before bed, I booked a taxi online.  In the middle of the night, the reservation had been canceled.  Doh!

  After spending a bit of time, I found the number for a local taxi and stammered my way through explaining where we were and that we needed to get to the train station.  Google Translate for the win!!!

Quick note - you can easily use debit cards at train/bus station kiosks, grocers, museums, attractions and "touristy" locations, but there are plenty of "cash-preferred" services, like the pay toilets (anywhere from 1 to 2 euros [1€ to 2€]), taxis, bus token machines, bars, etc. that prefer currency.  

Still, we needed to pay cash for the taxi, so I headed off in search of a bank machine.  The post office in Italy includes an ATM machine, and fortunately we had passed one the other day.  I walked into town and asked for directions, which got me there in plenty of time.  However, the walk back was taking so long, I opted to jog as much as I could.

Getting back to the apartment, we packed our belongings and headed down to meet our taxi.  He

arrived a few minutes early, and quickly spirited us off to the train station.  At the station, however, we discovered our train had been cancelled at our stop.  Good thing we got there early!  Mona swiftly booked new passage from the station to Milan, and even got us onto an upgraded coach.  We headed down to the platform and waited just a bit for our train to arrive.  While we waited, both a freight train and high-speed commuter train blasted through the station.

Our train arrived and we rushed aboard, as the platform was teaming with riders.  Settling into our

seats, we had barely an hour in the leg, and would arrive at the station 15 minutes ahead of our original arrival time.  How?  We had passage booked on a high-speed commuter train.  This train was newer, faster and certainly more luxurious.  During the ride, I noticed the information display said we were travelling over 190kph, almost 120mph!  The latest high-speed railcards in Italy are currently the fastest ones in all of Europe, reaching over 360kph or 223mph!  That's Kalamazoo to Detroit in less than 45 minutes!

The ride was terribly quiet and smooth - so much more so than I'd expect at this speed.  Even with

nine scheduled stops, we quickly arrived at Milan.  As we exited the train, I was impressed with the architecture - a mixture of classic, marble columns and high steel-arched ceilings. As we looked for our platform, Mona spied a coffee stand, so we grabbed a few provisions.  We soon boarded our train from Milan to Genova.  This was not a high-speed line, just a traditional commuter train.  It was noticeably slower and a bit louder, as you could hear the diesel engine slowly pull away from the station.

Our next stop put us in Genova for a bit, before our final train to Riomaggiore.  This train

experienced more stops, as it dropped passengers along the cities of Cinque Terre.  We waited at the door as we neared Riomaggiore, but didn't hear the announcement for the stop.  The train seemed to come to a stop, but the door didn't open.  Before we realized it, we were moving again, headed to the last stop on the rail line, in La Spezia, the largest of the cities in this region.  Doh!  Ahh well!  We found a train running back in the right direction, leaving just moments after we arrived.  Back at the right station, we finally made it to Riomaggiore.  Heading into town, it was clear we were in a VERY hilly village.  The small

path leading away from the train station seemed to rise into the sky,

just like the tall, multi-story houses along the hills.  We found our lodgings and deposited our luggage.  As the region was under an "orange alert" from the heavy rains, many businesses in town had the option to close.  With time to kill, we wandered down the hill, having a look at what shops were still open.  The local market was open - and quite busy - as were quite a number of the local bars and restaurants.  This seemed like a good omen, but we opted to head back to the train station and go back to La Spezia, assuming this larger city would have more choices available.

On the way to the train station, we detoured to the marina, since it was in the same direction.  We were greeted with a fantastic view of the rugged cliffs below the city and stopped to snap some pictures.  A winding path led from the marina up to streets running through the city, so climbed it for a better look at the shore and city.

Retreating from the marina, we returned to the train station and made our way to La Spezia.  The train tickets were 4€ per person, one way, around $4 USD.  Pretty cheap travel!  As we waited by the train doors, we were ready to "push the exit button", certain to NOT get ourselves stuck on a train again!  In La Spezia, we noted we were

certainly in a much, much larger city, given the density of traffic and high concentration of people.  Near the train station, Google pointed out dozens of eateries, so we wandered off in search of what we could find.  What we found was a neat burger stand called HOB Burger.  They featured a classic mix of hamburgers with interesting ingredients.  Mona opted for a Mediterranean Burger, while I had Pulled Pork.  The fries were served in a little carton with a long wooden skewer.  I could utterly soak my fries in ketchup and not get my hands dirty. HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?!?  Ahem.  I will certainly invest in this idea when I return.

After dinner, we headed out in search of our daily gelato fix.  Uh-oh.  It was almost 8PM and many of the gelato stands we'd visited moments before were now closing for the day.  Undeterred, we headed back to catch a train and see what our options were back in Riomaggiore.  Doh, again!  Since it was almost 8PM, there were fewer trains running, and we'd missed the last one by mere minutes.  The next train was nearly an hour out.  So, we walked the streets a bit and found a market that hadn't yet closed.  We grabbed desert and other snacks, and made our way back to the station.  It wasn't gelato,  but it was a nice panna cotti - tasty!  Back in Riomaggiore, there was little to do but unpack, update the blog and prepare for tomorrow's adventures!