After breakfast, we drove to the city of Carrara and then headed up the hills looking for a quarry to tour. We saw a place selling souvenirs and signs in English offering tours. I asked the guy standing by the four-wheel drive vehicle if there were tours. He said yes and told us the price of 10 euros each. We said okay and got in his vehicle.
We got a private tour of a working marble quarry. He showed us how they cut both the vertical and horizontal cuts. It's amazing how they cut out these big blocks of white marble. He is a driver of one of the trucks that move the blocks to the city to the factories that cut the blocks into pieces per customer orders.
After the tour, he showed us some pictures of how they used to harvest the marble by hand and move the blocks by ox cart and train. There are many tunnels through the mountains connecting one quarry with the others. They were cut for the trains but are now one-way roads for trucks during the week and for tourists on the weekends. He said the quarries close during the summer because it gets too hot and when it rains the roads within the quarry are too slick. He mentioned how important safety has become within the quarries.
We bought a couple of things to take home to the kids.
On the way down the hill, we parked in a shady wide spot on the road and had a snack. Across the valley, we noticed a huge cemetery. They seem to now primarily use square panels built into a wall. They are about 2 foot square and are all nicely decorated.
We then went looking for a beach. GPS brought us to a private beach with no admittance. We drove around and found one on our own. We paid to park and walked onto the beach. Not sure if we were supposed to pay or not but the guy standing by the entrance said hello to us and did not ask for any money. We put our toes into the water - still cold. We put out our towels and just watched the kids play and the people trying out the newest water toys.
We noticed that there was a guy showing people a bike mounted to a set of pontoons. They seemed quite efficient on the water and the people seemed to be actually riding the bikes with the back wheel somehow powering the craft. I walked over to see how they worked. The guy showing the vehicles wanted us to try them. We both did - they were fun and very stable on the water and the gears on the bike changed the speed just like on land. The guy invented the craft. You can bring all the pieces in a backback, riding to the beach on the bike you mount on the pontoons. A rotating flexible rod turns when the back wheel turns. The flexible rod attaches to a propeller mounted to the bottom of the front wheel. The propeller turns when you pedal and the craft turns when you turn the handle bars
See http://www.shuttlebike.com/ He is selling the craft all over the world. Something like 850 euros so not cheap, but it would be fun to ride to the lake and then take this out and ride across the water. The pump to inflate the pontoons attaches to the same rod that turns the propeller, so once you mount the bike you pedal and inflate the pontoons.
Before we left the beach, Beth had a strawberry/chocolate ice cream bar and I had a coke. We then drove south down the road near the beaches. On our way back home, we thought it would be interesting to see where the GPS would take us if we entered Nicola. Up to this time, we always entered Ortonovo and then followed the instructions in Joe's book. The GPS sent us up the hill in a totally different way. The road became increasingly steep and narrower. We finally quit going this way when it tried sending us up a gravel path thru the woods that seemed suited only for a four-wheel drive vehicle.
We drove back down the hill and followed our ususal route home. No more using GPS instructions to get to Nicola.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Friday, May 6th, the Cinque Terre
After another great night's sleep, we got a late start to drive to the Cinque Terre. Following the suggestion in Joe's book, we drove to the first town, Riomaggiore. It was hectic driving through the larger cities (Beth is constantly "breaking" in the passenger seat), but I am getting used to having my friends on motor scooters, and motorcycles sharing my space in the lane. I am not sure how any of the teenagers on scooters survive to become adults after watching their riding style around much larger vehicles.
We arrived in Riomaggiore and looked for the ramp mentioned in Joe's book. We found it and got a ticket from the friendly guy in the ticket booth. He said to go to ramp 5/6 and raised the bar so we could enter the ramp. The parking spaces were sized for a Fiat 500, which is smaller than a Mini. Some of the spaces were like garage stalls with solid walls. I could not believe I could get this Renault into these spaces. It is hard to see out the back and it has the turning radius of a aircraft carrier. With Beth's help, I finally got the car into an end space but had to fold the mirror and climb out the passenger door.
We went off down the hill to see this town and then to find our way to the other four towns. We finally found the tunnel leading to the path to the next village. We bought our Cinque Terre Cards that allowed us access to what is termed a National Park. The people in most tourist offices are nice but not what you would call overly helpful. They will answer a question but do not seem willing to add suggestions or comments to aid in your journey.
We walked on the Via dell' Amore to the next town, Manarola. Many statements of love have been left on this walk including padlocks, carvings on plant leaves, marble plaques, etc. We then saw a bunch of broken, cut, padlocks in a pile. Were these from relationships that did not last or just were in the way of path maintenance? We took many pictures and enjoyed the flat path.
The path from Manarola to Corniglia was under construction, so we had to buy a train ticket. There was a sign on the ticket office that the train workers were going to be on strike between 2 PM and 6 PM . This would not help in our visit to the Cinque Terre. We rode the train to Corniglia and were fools to not know enough to take the bus into (up) to the town. Instead we walked (climbed) the 400 steps up to the city center. There must have been 40 switchbacks on this stairway, like going up the stairway in a 20-story building. That's okay since we do need to keep exercising!
We bought a pannini sandwich in a small shop mentioned in Rick Steve's book. I had the lady sign the page in the book where her name appeared. She seemed to like that. The sandwiches were very good. We then toured the little town and tried to decide what to do next. The walk to the next town seemed too far and too much uphill. We wanted to take a boat and followed the signs toward the marina. But half way down we stopped and talked to a couple from Boise, Idaho. We learned that no boat came to this city, so back up the hill we went.
Time for some ice cream. Found a small shop where the owner was friendly and the gellato was delicious. We went to where the bus stopped and we took it to the train station, where we learned that the trains were still running even though they were supposed to be on strike. We took the train to Vernazza and toured this little town.
We bought a boat ticket back to Riomaggiore since we had to get our car out of the ramp before it closed at 7 PM. We watched the local kids jump off the rocks into the sea, even though there were signs saying in was not allowed and it was dangerous. The boat ride provided the opportunity to take some nice pictures of 4 of the 5 towns from the sea.
We got our car out of the ramp without problems after paying our 17 euro fee and headed home. We had another fun drive in traffic, but without incident and there was no one in the toll booth where we exited so it was free.
Atter a light snack at home, we were ready to update blogs, write emails and recharge batteries. How did we ever get by without so many battery powered devices?
We're thinking we will go to Carrera on Saturday and go to the marble museum and see the quarries.
We arrived in Riomaggiore and looked for the ramp mentioned in Joe's book. We found it and got a ticket from the friendly guy in the ticket booth. He said to go to ramp 5/6 and raised the bar so we could enter the ramp. The parking spaces were sized for a Fiat 500, which is smaller than a Mini. Some of the spaces were like garage stalls with solid walls. I could not believe I could get this Renault into these spaces. It is hard to see out the back and it has the turning radius of a aircraft carrier. With Beth's help, I finally got the car into an end space but had to fold the mirror and climb out the passenger door.
We went off down the hill to see this town and then to find our way to the other four towns. We finally found the tunnel leading to the path to the next village. We bought our Cinque Terre Cards that allowed us access to what is termed a National Park. The people in most tourist offices are nice but not what you would call overly helpful. They will answer a question but do not seem willing to add suggestions or comments to aid in your journey.
We walked on the Via dell' Amore to the next town, Manarola. Many statements of love have been left on this walk including padlocks, carvings on plant leaves, marble plaques, etc. We then saw a bunch of broken, cut, padlocks in a pile. Were these from relationships that did not last or just were in the way of path maintenance? We took many pictures and enjoyed the flat path.
The path from Manarola to Corniglia was under construction, so we had to buy a train ticket. There was a sign on the ticket office that the train workers were going to be on strike between 2 PM and 6 PM . This would not help in our visit to the Cinque Terre. We rode the train to Corniglia and were fools to not know enough to take the bus into (up) to the town. Instead we walked (climbed) the 400 steps up to the city center. There must have been 40 switchbacks on this stairway, like going up the stairway in a 20-story building. That's okay since we do need to keep exercising!
We bought a pannini sandwich in a small shop mentioned in Rick Steve's book. I had the lady sign the page in the book where her name appeared. She seemed to like that. The sandwiches were very good. We then toured the little town and tried to decide what to do next. The walk to the next town seemed too far and too much uphill. We wanted to take a boat and followed the signs toward the marina. But half way down we stopped and talked to a couple from Boise, Idaho. We learned that no boat came to this city, so back up the hill we went.
Time for some ice cream. Found a small shop where the owner was friendly and the gellato was delicious. We went to where the bus stopped and we took it to the train station, where we learned that the trains were still running even though they were supposed to be on strike. We took the train to Vernazza and toured this little town.
We bought a boat ticket back to Riomaggiore since we had to get our car out of the ramp before it closed at 7 PM. We watched the local kids jump off the rocks into the sea, even though there were signs saying in was not allowed and it was dangerous. The boat ride provided the opportunity to take some nice pictures of 4 of the 5 towns from the sea.
We got our car out of the ramp without problems after paying our 17 euro fee and headed home. We had another fun drive in traffic, but without incident and there was no one in the toll booth where we exited so it was free.
Atter a light snack at home, we were ready to update blogs, write emails and recharge batteries. How did we ever get by without so many battery powered devices?
We're thinking we will go to Carrera on Saturday and go to the marble museum and see the quarries.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Thursday May 5th a day of rest and getting organized
We slept well and got up late, but we thought it was well deserved. We spent most of the morning getting our stuff organized in the house and then scouted out the local area.
We went down the paths we had drug our luggage up and could not believe we had actually been able to pull the fully loaded cart with its relatively small wheels over the very bumpy cobblestones and to the steep paths. I think it helped that we were tired and it was dark, so things did not look as bad as they do in the light.
We drove to the local supermarket to get some fresh fruit, cheese and meat. We ate at the local McDonald's just to get a meal without any hassle as we get accustomed to being in Europe. We drove around some to understand where Nicola was relative to other towns and just enjoyed the fact we were here and could relax as we were not in a hurry to go anywhere.
We kind of felt like we had wasted a day, but it was good to relax on the terrace overlooking the hills and the sea. We wandered all around Nicola trying to see all that is here in this very old town. While walking, we noticed that there are an awful lot of cats living in the village. At one place, we saw nine cats sitting on someone's porch.
At one point while looking out our window, we watched the local priest helping a group of pre-teens practice getting in line to enter the church. We guess it was practice for confirmation or something like that. We will see on Sunday. We watched from the windows as the boys and girls then played rather loudly after the priest had released them. They have very little flat ground to play on, so the plaza is basically it.
At night, we had a light snack of summer sausage, cheese, crackers and apples. That will probably become our primary snack after eating out during the day. Overall, a great day in Italy just enjoying being here. Tomorrow, we will actually go somewhere.
We went down the paths we had drug our luggage up and could not believe we had actually been able to pull the fully loaded cart with its relatively small wheels over the very bumpy cobblestones and to the steep paths. I think it helped that we were tired and it was dark, so things did not look as bad as they do in the light.
We drove to the local supermarket to get some fresh fruit, cheese and meat. We ate at the local McDonald's just to get a meal without any hassle as we get accustomed to being in Europe. We drove around some to understand where Nicola was relative to other towns and just enjoyed the fact we were here and could relax as we were not in a hurry to go anywhere.
We kind of felt like we had wasted a day, but it was good to relax on the terrace overlooking the hills and the sea. We wandered all around Nicola trying to see all that is here in this very old town. While walking, we noticed that there are an awful lot of cats living in the village. At one place, we saw nine cats sitting on someone's porch.
At one point while looking out our window, we watched the local priest helping a group of pre-teens practice getting in line to enter the church. We guess it was practice for confirmation or something like that. We will see on Sunday. We watched from the windows as the boys and girls then played rather loudly after the priest had released them. They have very little flat ground to play on, so the plaza is basically it.
At night, we had a light snack of summer sausage, cheese, crackers and apples. That will probably become our primary snack after eating out during the day. Overall, a great day in Italy just enjoying being here. Tomorrow, we will actually go somewhere.
Wednesday, May 4th, second day of travel, Germany to Italy
Wednesday was a very full day. After a good night's sleep at the Taylor's, and brotchens (rolls) for breakfast, we said goodbye and set off for Ortonovo, Italy. We had no problem filling up with diesel fuel at a station near the Taylor's house.
I then made a mistake and took the wrong turn onto the autobahn and promptly ran into a stau (traffic jam). This added about an hour to our day, basically stopped on the highest speed highway in the world. We got turned around near the Ramstein airbase and then headed the correct direction towards Italy. We set the GPS and had no problems with directions for most of the rest of the day.
We had a lunch of goulash soup at the last rest stop in Germany before entering Switzerland. The soup and brotchens were very good and brought back memories of our years living in Germany. One thing new was the ticket we had to buy to use the restroom, 70 euro cents but then 50 cents of the ticket could be used in the shop. Another thing new since we lived in Germany is the growth in the number of areas on the autobahn with speed limits. They now have many overhead electronic signs that they can use to set different speed limits based on traffic flow.
The entry into Switzerland required the purchase of a sticker to put on our windshield that allows us to use their highways. It is good for the year, so it is better than the French and Italian toll system.
Our travel through Switzerland was pretty uneventful. Many beautiful vistas and many tunnels, including the Goddard tunnel which is 17 KM, over 10 miles long. That country is so clean and well organized - a good rest before the chaos of driving in Italy.
The travel thru Italy was tiring and feeling like we were a slow moving pylon in the way of the Italian drivers. The speed limits seem to be a slight suggestion for them and maybe a minimum speed. But everything we have read says to not speed and get sent tickets based on pictures from the numerous cameras we passed. The GPS would beep and supposedly warn us of the camera positions, but many times we never saw a camera and the Italian drivers certainly did not slow down.
We had one instance of making a couple of Italian drivers mad at the French (our car has French license plates) at a toll both. I picked the toll lane with automatic money entry. But then we had a problem understanding how much it needed. We ended up throwing all of our euro coins into the hopper, but that was not enough. Finally, I put in a 5 euro note and it gave us over 4 euro coins in change so I guess we were close in our estimation of the cost and the amount of coins we threw into the hopper. No one honked or threw anything at us, but the expression on the drivers' faces in the cars in the lane behind us was not one of love.
Our last few miles to Nicola were stressful, trying to read the directions that Joe Kohler had provided compared with what we were seeing in the dark. We finally determined that we had entered the area on a different autostrada from the directions and needed to get back on the autostrada and exit where the directions started. Then we were okay except for the width of the roads and the agressivenness of the Italian drivers when it did not seem like two cars could actually fit at the same time on the road.
The road up the hill to Nicola was as Joe had described it - narrow. It appears like a path for walking or a very narrow one lane road. Luckily for us it was late, after 10 PM, so there were no cars coming down the hill as we were working our way around the tight turns on the way up. We found the parking area and a parking spot. Even though we had not yet found the house, we were relieved to be able to get out of the car.
We grabbed a few things and set off in the dark looking for any path to the house. We knew the house was on the plaza near the church which is always on the highest point in these hill towns, so we took every turn that went uphill. We came out next to the church and knew that we had found the house. We opened the door and turned on some lights and made a quick tour of the house. It's a very nice place to visit and a great place to be for almost three weeks.
Back down the hill we went to the car to get all our stuff. Chris had loaned us a folding two-wheeler which we used to save our backs and limit the number of trips. Laura had suggested her backpack as my suitcase and it was a good idea as I could wear the backpack while pulling, bouncing, the cart over the cobblestones as we made our way up the paths. We made three trips and had everything out of the car and into the house. We went to bed tired but happy to be 'home'. We are thankful we spent nearly four months at bike spinning classes, as much huffing and puffing was involved during the luggage moving exercise.
Now the real vacation can begin.
I then made a mistake and took the wrong turn onto the autobahn and promptly ran into a stau (traffic jam). This added about an hour to our day, basically stopped on the highest speed highway in the world. We got turned around near the Ramstein airbase and then headed the correct direction towards Italy. We set the GPS and had no problems with directions for most of the rest of the day.
We had a lunch of goulash soup at the last rest stop in Germany before entering Switzerland. The soup and brotchens were very good and brought back memories of our years living in Germany. One thing new was the ticket we had to buy to use the restroom, 70 euro cents but then 50 cents of the ticket could be used in the shop. Another thing new since we lived in Germany is the growth in the number of areas on the autobahn with speed limits. They now have many overhead electronic signs that they can use to set different speed limits based on traffic flow.
The entry into Switzerland required the purchase of a sticker to put on our windshield that allows us to use their highways. It is good for the year, so it is better than the French and Italian toll system.
Our travel through Switzerland was pretty uneventful. Many beautiful vistas and many tunnels, including the Goddard tunnel which is 17 KM, over 10 miles long. That country is so clean and well organized - a good rest before the chaos of driving in Italy.
The travel thru Italy was tiring and feeling like we were a slow moving pylon in the way of the Italian drivers. The speed limits seem to be a slight suggestion for them and maybe a minimum speed. But everything we have read says to not speed and get sent tickets based on pictures from the numerous cameras we passed. The GPS would beep and supposedly warn us of the camera positions, but many times we never saw a camera and the Italian drivers certainly did not slow down.
We had one instance of making a couple of Italian drivers mad at the French (our car has French license plates) at a toll both. I picked the toll lane with automatic money entry. But then we had a problem understanding how much it needed. We ended up throwing all of our euro coins into the hopper, but that was not enough. Finally, I put in a 5 euro note and it gave us over 4 euro coins in change so I guess we were close in our estimation of the cost and the amount of coins we threw into the hopper. No one honked or threw anything at us, but the expression on the drivers' faces in the cars in the lane behind us was not one of love.
Our last few miles to Nicola were stressful, trying to read the directions that Joe Kohler had provided compared with what we were seeing in the dark. We finally determined that we had entered the area on a different autostrada from the directions and needed to get back on the autostrada and exit where the directions started. Then we were okay except for the width of the roads and the agressivenness of the Italian drivers when it did not seem like two cars could actually fit at the same time on the road.
The road up the hill to Nicola was as Joe had described it - narrow. It appears like a path for walking or a very narrow one lane road. Luckily for us it was late, after 10 PM, so there were no cars coming down the hill as we were working our way around the tight turns on the way up. We found the parking area and a parking spot. Even though we had not yet found the house, we were relieved to be able to get out of the car.
We grabbed a few things and set off in the dark looking for any path to the house. We knew the house was on the plaza near the church which is always on the highest point in these hill towns, so we took every turn that went uphill. We came out next to the church and knew that we had found the house. We opened the door and turned on some lights and made a quick tour of the house. It's a very nice place to visit and a great place to be for almost three weeks.
Back down the hill we went to the car to get all our stuff. Chris had loaned us a folding two-wheeler which we used to save our backs and limit the number of trips. Laura had suggested her backpack as my suitcase and it was a good idea as I could wear the backpack while pulling, bouncing, the cart over the cobblestones as we made our way up the paths. We made three trips and had everything out of the car and into the house. We went to bed tired but happy to be 'home'. We are thankful we spent nearly four months at bike spinning classes, as much huffing and puffing was involved during the luggage moving exercise.
Now the real vacation can begin.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
First blog entry from Italy
This is my first chance since arriving to our home away from home in Italy for entries to the blog. After two full days of travel, (it seemed like three), we arrived at our friends, Joe and Phyllis Kohler's house in Nicola, Italy at 10:30 PM Wednesday night.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Everything went fine with our flight, except my seat wouldn't recline. Beth let me change seats so I could get some rest before our four hour drive to Germany to stay overnight with our friends, John and Chris Taylor.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The car pickup went okay once we were able to determine where we were in the Paris airport so we could direct the shuttle driver where to pick us up. We got a very short introduction to the car and the GPS system. We tried to enter Kaiserslautern as the city we wanted. The GPS system would not recognize this city. Back into the office I went to get help. A guy came out and was going to show us how to change countries. The problem was that we had a card with French maps. He took that card and came back a few minutes later with a card with Europe maps. First problem solved and we were ready to go.
We followed their directions to the local gas station where we encountered our second problem. The pump would not accept our credit cards. We couldn't go ask in the office because our punp was in a line where cars behind us could not get around. We had a quarter of a tank so decided to try our luck outside of Paris. Fifty or so miles down the road we tried again. This pump was confusing because it said it accepted Visa and American Express cards, but there was no place to enter a card. Luckily, there were no other customers so the nice lady came out of her little hut and told us to pump our diesel fuel and then come to her hut and she would scan our card. Now we were full of fuel and could drive over 600 miles before we needed to see if it would be another problem.
The drive to Kaiserslautern went well once we learned how to turn on the cruise control. With a 130 KPH (81 MPH) limit in France and the threat of heavy fines, we wanted to use the cruise control in the light traffic. Once crossing into Germany, it was fun to experience the autobahn again. Of course, there was some road construction, and many areas with speed limits, but we did.get our Renault up to 182 KPH or 114 MPH. It was fun for me, but Beth was a bit nervous at times. Our directions to the Taylors' home were very detailed so we arrived in early afternoon.
Chris drove us to the US Base and signed us in and arranged for us to get ID's so we could have access when we return. We went to the Commissary and got some needed essentials like peanut butter, cereal, Coke, and a bunch of snack type foods for our breakfasts and lunches. We met John when he returned from working at "Stars and Stripes", and Chris cooked a very nice dinner of authentic German sausages with brotchens and salad. We caught up on old times and what was going on with ours and their children.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Everything went fine with our flight, except my seat wouldn't recline. Beth let me change seats so I could get some rest before our four hour drive to Germany to stay overnight with our friends, John and Chris Taylor.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The car pickup went okay once we were able to determine where we were in the Paris airport so we could direct the shuttle driver where to pick us up. We got a very short introduction to the car and the GPS system. We tried to enter Kaiserslautern as the city we wanted. The GPS system would not recognize this city. Back into the office I went to get help. A guy came out and was going to show us how to change countries. The problem was that we had a card with French maps. He took that card and came back a few minutes later with a card with Europe maps. First problem solved and we were ready to go.
We followed their directions to the local gas station where we encountered our second problem. The pump would not accept our credit cards. We couldn't go ask in the office because our punp was in a line where cars behind us could not get around. We had a quarter of a tank so decided to try our luck outside of Paris. Fifty or so miles down the road we tried again. This pump was confusing because it said it accepted Visa and American Express cards, but there was no place to enter a card. Luckily, there were no other customers so the nice lady came out of her little hut and told us to pump our diesel fuel and then come to her hut and she would scan our card. Now we were full of fuel and could drive over 600 miles before we needed to see if it would be another problem.
The drive to Kaiserslautern went well once we learned how to turn on the cruise control. With a 130 KPH (81 MPH) limit in France and the threat of heavy fines, we wanted to use the cruise control in the light traffic. Once crossing into Germany, it was fun to experience the autobahn again. Of course, there was some road construction, and many areas with speed limits, but we did.get our Renault up to 182 KPH or 114 MPH. It was fun for me, but Beth was a bit nervous at times. Our directions to the Taylors' home were very detailed so we arrived in early afternoon.
Chris drove us to the US Base and signed us in and arranged for us to get ID's so we could have access when we return. We went to the Commissary and got some needed essentials like peanut butter, cereal, Coke, and a bunch of snack type foods for our breakfasts and lunches. We met John when he returned from working at "Stars and Stripes", and Chris cooked a very nice dinner of authentic German sausages with brotchens and salad. We caught up on old times and what was going on with ours and their children.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Europe Trip Update
We just verified that our flights are still as they were reserved. 49 days until we leave and 82 days until we return. On April 3rd, Renault will charge us for the remainder of our car rental fee and we will be good to go. We leave on May 2nd flying directly to Paris and will return from Paris on June 4th. Both are direct flights so hopefully Delta does not change things up before that time.
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