October 12



Bongiorno!  Great word its like Aloha in Hawaii it can mean good morning, good afternoon, good day and good by, I like it :)

Checked out of our hotel in Florence yesterday and went to the central train station to catch the train up here to Monterossa al Mare.  The weather in Florence was great low 70s every day with Thursday night the only time we had rain.

 The trip was in two stages a commuter train from Florence to Pisa which was challenging with our suitcases and trying to get 5 seats together.  After standing for about 35 minutes of theone hour trip I was finally successful to obtain one.  The transfer in Pisa to the train was easy enough.... my legs ought to be in great shape by the end of this trip hauling luggage up and down steps... and the bonus was on the leg to Monterossa we had reserved seating in a club car style with 6 seats to a cabin.  Luggage racks, luxury, pure luxury :o)

Monterossa is situated in an area called Cinque Terra meaning the 5 villages. Quite cool yesterday here in the low 60s and very windy.  Until the 1890s these villages were only accessible by sea until the government put in a railway.  During WWII there were resistance groups that fought out of here against Mussolini and the Nazi occupation.  Check out the wikipedia page and the images very picturesque

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterosso_al_Mare
monterosso al mare

The place reminds me of White Rock BC when I first saw it all kinds of small restaurants along the beach (which is not that great but it is rated one of the top in Cinque Terra). Went to a cafe called Mikys (Pronounced mickees) which was laden with seafood in their menu.   One of the items was salt encrusted fish. A table next to ours ordered it and out comes this plate with a fish completely encased in salt... the salt is mixed with water and surrounds the fish completely by about an inch and then baked in the oven.  The waiter had to almost chisel the salt off the fish, the couple that had ordered it said it was the best fish they had ever tasted.

Today friends of Larry and Linda's, Luigi and his wife Georgia came down from their home north of here to visit. Everyone went to go for lunch at the next town down the road (by train) to Vernazza.   I got hit with the Italian version of Montezuma's revenge and decided to hold back and will meet up with them a little later.

Hope everyone is having fun at home talked to my brother Gary last night and understand there are still about 10 1/4 sections of canola to harvest.  Hope it all gets off soon.

Ciao
D&D