Europe

We enjoyed a bountiful breakfast at the Hotel Accademia and a much needed late start this morning. A short drive through picturesque towns and lush countryside took us to the Allegrini Winery.

After four wonderful days in the in the Cinque Terre, we had to move on. We fed the chickens, packed up, and said goodbye to Paula. One last fabulous breakfast and we were on our way.

Hiking the Cinque Terre trails and wandering through the charming towns on the sea left us a little tired and very hungry. Our dinner plans called for us to take the train into Monterosso and dine at the home of Daniella and Piero. Arriving early at the station, we took our places on the proper platform-now confident in our train skills.

It was another bright and beautiful day as seven of us headed off to Riomaggiore for a hike along the Cinque Terre trails.  Each of us had already decided our game plan for the day. Some were using the train and buses to visit each of the towns, seeing the sites and shopping, others were focused on hiking all the way to Monterossa, estimated to be a five hour hike with lots of ups and downs and treacherous trails.

We started our glorious day in the Cinque Terre with a tour through Monterosso with our guide Kate Little. Kate came to Italy on vacation over twenty years ago and when a rail strike led to her rail pass expiring, she took odd jobs to pay for her ticket back. Instead she stayed, married a local man and now has a son and a tour business. She knows all the good stories about the area and the best places to go.

After four beautiful, fun-filled days in the Piedmont, we made our way to Levanto in the Cinque Terre. At two and a half hours, the ride was the second of four transitional drives we’ll make. During the first drive, from Milan to Alba, we were jetlagged and new to the van and the other people on the tour.

Another bright, sunny morning welcomed a small group of us as we headed out to the Saturday outdoor market in Alba. We were on a quest for lunch treats, but found ourselves distracted by a sundry of other wonderful treasures along the way.

After a free evening last night, and trying to sleep through the sounds of nature in the form of very loud tree frogs, some of us got up early for a morning hike. Blue skies, crowing roosters, and farmers' fields gleaming in the sunlight beckoned. We wandered into people's backyards and into the hills full of hazelnut and fruit trees.

After a long day of travel, we'd arranged an early dinner--at 8:00 we were the first to arrive at the Osteria Italia in the Piedmont town of San Rocco Sena d'Elvio, population 25. Karla had sent a message ahead that there would be eight of us dining and warned of dietary restrictions. When we walked in, she was greeted as an old friend.

We're using Alba as our base of operations for three days in the Piedmont region of Italy. The foothills of the Alps are rich in culture and horticulture. Alba, known for white truffles, peaches and wine, is the home of Nutella, that hazelnut and chocolate concoction that surprises and delights the uninitiated. The slow food movement, an effort to combat the hold fast food has on so many people around the world, started in the Piedmont in 1986.

The tour group has arrived in Milan. Karla, Tamara and Judy are the Good News Girlz founders serving as guides for the ten-day Italy tour. Meet our travelers: Jean, Melanie, Scherry, Susan, and Tina.

Scherry and Jean stopped in London to visit friends on the way to Milan. They've conquered jet-lag. The others were especially glad for a free afternoon to nap or walk in the town of Alba.

Five times more appealing than your usual beach resort, the Cinque Terre, a UNESCO World Heritage site and National Park hugging the west coast of Italy, will charm you. The five tiny fishing villages with their clusters of pink, yellow, and green buildings set above a bright turquoise sea, the rugged coastline and the terraced hillsides make up what is known in Italian as the "five lands."

People come from around the world to see Leonardo Da Vinci's fresco of The Last Supper in the Santa Maria della Grazie. Now there's another reason to make the trip to Milan. La Rosa dei Venti, a small restaurant just off the Corso Sempione, is warm and cozy, and serves excellent food in a professional manner.

If Milan were in any country but Italy, I bet people would love it. How does a city compete with Rome and Florence and the beauty of the Cinque Terre? Maybe by ignoring the zings from people who haven't been there or live in southern Italy. My own view of the city was shaped by a few train changes there through the years and anti-Milan slurs from people I know born in Florence and Rome. 

First let me begin by saying that I do not sew.  I have occasionally rigged the odd Halloween costume or reattached a button maybe, but it stops there.  My 1936 kitchen has been in need of curtains since I moved in.  Blinds have sounded easy and appealing but never quite right.  Any curtain I have seen in Dallas has typically involved some shade of beige and I can't go there.