About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

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.

13 comments:

heiresschild said...

i remember when you took this trip last year leslie. my, how times does fly. doesn't seem like a whole year since then. the pics are so beautiful.

Janice Thomson said...

Once again delightful and beautiful photos Leslie. What a wonderful trip that must have been.

Jo said...

Omigosh those photos are beautiful. I'd rather be in sunny Italy as well. The rain is pounding on my roof this evening.

Was that a whole year ago????

Holy doodle!

Leslie: said...

Yep, Josie, I can't believe it's been a whole year! I'd love to go back there but spend more time in Florence and get up to Venice, too. Some day - *sigh*

someone else said...

These pictures brought back such glorious memories. We spent a couple weeks in Italy three years ago and the Cinque Terre was our favorite part. We also took that hike between the towns, which was just breathtaking! I want to go back.

Leslie: said...

Susan isn't it absolutely glorious over on the Cinque Terre? It was my favourite place to visit, even though the streets were up and down.

Rain is pounding down again today here. It is BAD!

jmb said...

We had a car when we went Cinque Terre so we stayed in Baia, nearby. We walked between two of the towns and then visited the others on the train and boat combined. Very beautiful but I would hate to live in any one of those towns.

Lovely photos Leslie.

Leslie: said...

I agree, jmb, about living there. The views are stupendous, but I don't think I'd even want to stay in the town (think about dragging your luggage up those hills!)

Ruth L.~ said...

I may only get to Italy vicariously, through other people's stories and pictures. These are beautiful, Leslie.

BTW, World menopause Day? Who knew? I'm not sure how I would have "celebrated." Maybe burned some pads I still have in my closet.

Leslie: said...

Hi Ruth, I thought it was hilarious when they announced it on The View this morning. I'm already passed all that nonsense, but thought it amusing enough to post on my site. I'll take it down tomorrow.

JR's Thumbprints said...

That one photo looks like all the buildings are sliding into a ravine, but what do I know -- the only other country I've been to is Canada.

Smalltown RN said...

more more...please gives us some more...what a fantastic trip...I just love all of those photos..you know I think not that long ago I saw this place features on one of those travel shows..and I can see why....thank you for sharing....

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Leslie. These are lovely pictures. You must have had a wonderful time. I look forwqard to seeing more. I saw your comment on Liz's blog about trying to post on mine - your comments are on and thank you. Auguri from Sicily.