I'd rather be in sunny Italy

It was one year ago that I left Rome to travel north to the town of Lerici on the Italian Riviera. It was one of the most exciting holidays I've ever experienced and I'll never forget it as long as I live. From Lerici, we travelled by boat over to the Cinque Terre region of Italy - an area with its gorgeous pastel-coloured towns hanging off the side of the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean. As I look out my window today, I see the trees across the street that, one week ago, were brilliant yellow, red, and orange are now all but bare. The wind is gusting and the rain is pelting down. I must admit I'd rather be in sunny Italy experiencing the culture, flavours, sights, and smells. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today about that glorious adventure, and thought I might share some photos of this time last year with those of you who have become online friends since then. If you've never been to Italy, I highly recommend it. It's a country with a variety of geographical areas from arid Sicily to the northern mountains that overlook the lake district. The people are so friendly and the food is mouth-watering. Tuscany is exactly as it looks on calendars, and Umbria is an area that is perhaps not as well known, but definitely worth visiting. Over the next month or two, I'll do a few postings of some of the highlights of my trip. So...here's a little taste of the start of my trip to Italy.

This was the view from our hotel patio.

My roommate Vicki (below) and I walked to the town (around the curving street ahead) to buy some wine and celebrate and toast the beginning of a fantastic holiday. This is what the center of town looked like - beautiful colours, brilliant fountains, and lots of families playing and visiting.

This is the town of Portovenere, the first town on the Cinque Terre.

(I don't know why, but this photo and the next one will open up to be bigger. So do click on them to see the spectacular colours of the buildings.)

This is one of my travel mates, Peggy, as we approached Portovenere by boat.

That day was obviously laundry day. Everyone hangs their laundry out their windows in Italy.

This is the town of Riomaggiore, as we approached it by boat. It is just up the way from Portovenere and it was interesting that all the streets went up or down, not side to side.

This is the Via del Amore (the street of love) and we all walked from one town to the next along the side of the mountain here. Gorgeous views over the Mediterranean Sea and a scrumptious lunch of pasta with their famous pesto sauce awaited.