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TRAVEL JOURNAL PHOTOS Trip
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The Italian Riveria Right now I am Cinque Terre, Italy. Cinque Terre is five cities together, much like New York City, but perched on rocky cliffs in the style of MC Escher and painted in the colors of Lucky Charms. They are a group of tiny villages connected by hiking trails that wind through hills terraced with grape vines and olive plants. Although the tourists have infiltrated Cinque Terre, it is still not overly touristy. This is not Amsterdam, where it's possible to crowd surf out of the train station. I am staying in Manorola, which I keep wanting to call Motorola. There isn't any nightlife here and only a handful of restaurants. Still, food here is excellent and I plan on bringing home some locally produced olive oil. My hostel is on top of a steep hill overlooking town and the sea. There, the canadian conspiracy continues. They have clocks on the wall for timezones and the Eastern Time zone is labled Toronto. HOwever, I got some good travel tips yesterday from a Montreal resident. While in Italy, I am also in railway purgatory. Yesterday, it took three hours to make a one hour daytrip to Camogli (a beautiful fishing town). After hearing about breakdowns people have endured, Im waiting for the momment that the train stops and we have to get out and push. Trains link the five villages of Cinque Terre but they are tediously slow to wait for. (the only alternative is to walk the 2KM between places) While waiting, freight trains and intercity trains will blow by the platform at a loud and frightening 80MPH. When I first got the timetable, I thought theyd be like a subway--trains every 15 minutes to jump between towns. Then I read the fine print... certain trains only run on Sundays or holidays. WHen they do show up, they can be 15 minutes or more late and seem appear about once an hour. A more accurate and simpler timetable would have been to print a card saying youll get a train whenever we feel like it. |
