Are You Porter?

Cinque Terre consists of five little villages that cling to a mountain side that kisses the sea.
We arrived in Cinque Terre at night with a light rain falling. The apartment we rented was located in the village of Riomaggiore. (I chose this village because I liked the way the word was spelled. (true story. ha!)

I had correspondence with the apartment owner through email only and the directions we were given were 'follow the "main street" to Columbo St. and ask for Simone at the store between the bar and the pharmacy'.   Of course directions are never quite as simple as they sound. 

My sister and I left the train station and immediately feel lost (as is very common for us) so we ask the first person we see if she knows the address we are looking for.  She did not, but tells us which direction to head to. We are literally the only people out on the streets and we walk through this long dark tunnel pulling our suitcases. Just outside the tunnel we find Columbo St and look for a bar and a pharmacy of which we see neither at first. It's raining, we don't have our umbrella out (did I mention I lost my umbrella before we even made it to airport security!) This is a quiet street with a few locals walking home. One restaurant was open and a tiny grocery store had lights on. We did not see the bar or the pharmacy where we were to introduce ourselves to Simone. The dark stone street was quiet when we heard a man say, "Are you Porter?" (in a thick Italian accent.) We answer, "yes" and he waves and says, "Come with me."

So, we follow this totally random stranger and he leads us up a steep hill and numerous stairs until we reach a metal gate. "Here is the hard part." he says. I can only image what that means because I'm gasping for breath from the walk up the side of this mountain town in the rain. Also, I'm wearing a 'boot' because I'd broken a bone in my foot several weeks prior. Ugh!

He opens the metal gate and there are 67 steep stone steps up to our apartment. My sister is laughing and tells me that maybe next time I should ask about the number of steps involved when renting our next apartment. :)

When we reach the apartment my glasses are fogging over because I'm so hot and out of breath. Does that sound like fun? Not at that moment no, but it was in hindsight. The apartment was great and had an amazing top terrace that overlooked part of the village and the Ligurian Sea.

It was one of those things that makes you stare and doesn't seem quite real. A true piece of beautiful nature.
Neither of us had heard of the Ligurian Sea so we were fascinated by it. Both of us wanted to put our hands in the water so we could say we'd touched the Ligurian Sea.
  

Escape The Ordinary

Why my sister and I are good traveling partners

1. We have a way of communicating.
I could say something as simple as, "Remember the subway?" and it sends us both into a frenzy of sidesplitting laughter. 

2. We bring out the best in each other.

We are very different people with very different personalities but we tend to use that to push each other out of our own comfort zones. 

3. Good or bad.

Not everyone can look at someone sleeping on an airplane with her mouth gaping open and think
'I love her.'

4. Patience.

We're patient with each other. I'd say my sister's patience is tested when we travel though. I tend to think things are far funnier than she does. Especially when going through airport security and having the suitcase bust open and the contents forcing the emergency stop of the conveyor belt.
* seriously hysterical*

5. We somehow balance each other out.

She knows my sense of humor and yet she never gets mad when I'm the one laughing and taking pictures as she is dragging heavy suitcases down the stairs. And when the wind slams the door behind her and the rest of our luggage is locked upstairs and we have left the keys in the apartment. And we need to be at the airport in one hour.

Hmmmm..... It's 5:30 in the morning. Do we just holler until the neighbor hears us? Yep~ that's what we do. :) 'Hello' 'Can anyone hear us?' After waking up Nice neighbor lady she comes down and lets us back in the retrieve the other suitcase.
*again, So Funny*

Again?

Recently I've been asked several times why I want to travel to a place I've already been. The answer, it is one of the most fascinating places I've ever seen. There is a feeling of comfort and a sense of ease about it. And put simply it's because of a love for the country.

If vacations are about discovering new things then repeat vacations are about going more than skin deep. When you continue to get lost although you've been down this exact path numerous times before, contentment sets in and I feel more like an explorer than a tourist. 
You never really visit the same place twice. Each time it holds a different story, a different season. Each time you return you build upon what you experienced the time before. 
There is no competition for me that revolves around how many countries I've visited. After all, you can't call yourself a traveler if you don't have an impressive number on your 'country count' right?
Wrong. So very wrong.

I will never visit every country and there are many that I have no desire to see. There are however several more I look forward to exploring and they remain on my bucket list.

For now though, I'm looking forward to returning to one of my favorite countries, Italy, and dragging my suitcase over the cobblestone paths and up flight after flight of stone stairs.

Resolutions

2018 Resolutions? This year I'm saying, "Yes!" It's easier to keep those New Year pledges when it's something you truly enjoy. I'm vowing to explore more this year; to be more adventurous and more courageous. I'd love to be more spontaneous to travel as well, even if that means a quick weekend away or visiting a nearby landmark. You don't have to leave the country or get on a plane to call it traveling.

I'd also love to do a solo trip somewhere (the idea of solo travel excites me but the reality of it terrifies me.) 

Merry Christmas

This is how you transport your Christmas tree home in Venice.

 Buon Natale

Who Says?

From the time our children are quite young we ask them, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
When graduating high school we ask, "What are you going to study in college?" (which is yet another way of asking, "What do you want to be when you grow up?")
If someone answers with "I don't know yet." or "I think I want to backpack around Europe" they are met with the unspoken thoughts of  'oh goodness, they have no direction to their life!' Does one need to have a 'plan' to have a "life"? Is 'having a life' and 'creating a life' the same thing?

Is one happy with a forty-plus hour work week and then dreading when the bills start coming in the mail? 
I'm fifty-five years old and today I found myself thinking it was time for me to "create" a life. (yes, I actually thought that). Who says? Who says I need to follow those preconceived societal norms? Let me assure you, those norms haven't worked brilliantly at times.
I'm a grandmother of six and I'm FINALLY realizing that normal just isn't suited for me. 
So if any of my grandkids tell me they want to go travel and see the world, I'm going to give them a wink and a pat on the back and say, "Enjoy yourself my love."