Ok I have internet and a computer for free! So I thought I would do an update here. After Jane and I split in Venice, I headed north! I spent my first night in Trento. It was the closest I could get to my dad's home town of Spormaggoire with a hostel. On the way there I bumped into a couple guys from Scotland and as there is only one hostel in Trento we ended up both staying there. When we got there we ended up going to a pub for some cheap pizza and check out the town. The next night I woke up and took a train and a bus for the low cost for 3 euro that took me to Spor. When I go there I had no place to stay and I found a cheap Albergo (hotel) and booked one night. There were very little people that spoke english So I quickly had to step up my Italian language skills. The town has only 1200 people and mix right in the mountains! What a nice place to kick back and look at the view!
Last time I was there I was 12 and the town has had a huge facelift! I went to the church, my dad old house, the bear park (which was free but now is huge and cost 6 euro to get in and now has wolves), I then continued walking Belfort Castle which over looked Spor. That evening after dinner I decided that I would go to the cemetery and see my great grandparents! So glad I decided to go. The next day I woke up and headed down to have my included breakfast which was fruit, cake, strudel (like dad makes) and yogurt. As I was eating a lady came up to me and was speaking to me in english imagine my shock. She said that the lady at the hotel told here I was from Canada and went to the cemetry, and to find out who I was! We continued to talk and she told me she was from Toronto and knew my 2 zias (aunts) and her mother used to be in the same apartment complex as my Nonna (Grandma). We spent the morning together and walked around as she was explaining what the new things and changes about the town. I also had lunch with here sister, husband and nephew where she bought! I will have to go back to Spor in the future and do some of the hiking in this area as it is well known for it! Maybe in another 15 year but hopefully sooner!
I took the bus and train back to Trento and did the tourist thing there for a couple hours and then proceeded to look for a sports store to buy a tent and sleeping back for Chique Terre etc as well the safari in africa! Everything was 40% off and everything wieghed no more than 2 kg! Next stop Verona
Verona (3 nights)
Verona such a nice city! A must see in Italy! Is the city of Romeo and Juilet. Where they have their houses, the famous belcony and Juliets tomb. Which is funny for a couple that never was real! Tourist Trap! Still very nice city and the atmosphere was amazing! I must say the cherry was when 4 of us at the hostel decided to go see an Italian Opera in the ancient arena! We saw La Boheme for 20 euro! Wow I am not a big opera person but just to see an event in this arena and just amazing experiance! At some points there was 200 people on stage with fire breathers, guys on stilts, 50 kids running around ballet dancers and a bunch of guys acting drunk! I have no idea what they were saying as it was mostly in italian so I would just catch the odd word here and there but I did google it before I went!
Genoa (Genova) (3 nights)
I then headed to Genoa which is an ancient port city. There is a some ruins left over but most of it was built over and as I am starting to realize port cities are almost always industrial and dirty! I just relaxed here and well I am glad I went but nothing to exciting to say about it other than Piazza De Ferrari was very nice with its fountain oh yea yet another nice church .
Levanto and Chique Terre (5 nights)
There are pictures in Jane's post for this one. I opted to camp here. So nice close to the beach, have the price of Chique Terre for food and such and only a 5 min train the the first town of Monterosso! Which means yes Levanto is just north of Chique Terre. The first day I went for a dive because this area was a protected marine enviroment! I got to see everything from octpus to lobsters to millions of fish! All for the low cost of 48 Euro! That afternoon and night a huge storm rolled in rain, thunder and lightning the works what night in my 2 person tent. When I woke up it was nice but a lot cooler than the day before about 20 degrees. Which was perfect because I decided to take the train to Monterosso and hike the five lands! I was told that it takes 5 hours to do but as there was a land slide between Corniglia and Manarola it made it 6 hours with the detour! I took it as a challenge! With many views, walking through many hillside vineyards It was amazing! I complete the whole hike in 3 and half hours not including my time to walk around each town. Appearently the italians did make these tail time for Canadians from BC or the Rocky Mountain areas! When I finally got to Riomaggiore I was able to sit down and enjoy a gelato and watch the sunset before taking the train back to Levanto. With my legs burning the next morning I knew there was one more hike I wanted to do and that was from Levanto to Monterosso! I decided to walk around town first to warm up my legs! After an hour or so I started the hike! It was 2 hours with a very steep grade but the reward was to come! Is when I got the summit it had an amazing look out where you could see all 5 towns and the cliffs behind I enjoyed a nice lunch before heading down to Monterosso and lay on the beach! Next day stayed at the beach in Levanto and relaxed. Levanto is a surf town and is holding the world cup in November for surfing! But try and find a place to rent a board almost impossible! I asked several people but they just kept sending me to places to buy a board! Good buisness op here! So Sepnt they day at the beach jealous and watching the surfers with their own boards. After a nice dinner I walked back down to the beach to watch another sunset and one of the best I have every seen! Blues, pinks, reds, and oranges!
Belogna (2 nights)
Happy Bithday to Me! Ok some of you know this but I will say it again! I went to Belogna for one reason, Ferrari and Lambo tours! I booked a tour of first the Ferrari Museum. Which was really neat with some of the first and most rare cars including the winning champion F1 cars, that I could only see on tv and in video games. I hate video games. After a included lunch we continued to the Lamborghini factory! Anyone who knows me knows that Lamborghini is my dream car! We stopped at a place called the Bull bar on the way. Where I had the chance to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo SuperLeggera (superlight) LP570-4. They LP is the position of the motor which is mounted in the rear of the car. 570 is the horse power and 4 is all wheel drive! I was super excited as soon, I would be driving one of my dream cars. I drove it for 20 min. The first few min was just calming my nerves and getting a feel for the car. Then my co-driver looked at me and said there is no speed limit on this road! I was on the AutoStrada! Italy's answer to Germany's Autobahn! I put my foot to the floor and shift through all 6 gears via padal shifter on the steering wheel! After I hit the 6th gear I started to let off and look down at the speedo which was coming down and just over 200km/h! Shhh don't tell Mom! This happened several times before returning to the bull bar where I had a permentant smile! We then headed to the factory and got to see how they made my favorite car handmade everything! I also got to see the new model the Aventador which has 700hp! What a great birthday!
Sicily (5 nights)
I took a flight to Palermo for 50 Euro and checked into my hostel. Palermo was not a pretty city. I was only there for one night and decided to leave and not come back until I had to fly out. The only thing that made it good was the 3 german guys I met in the hostel. We went to a sicilian bbq and then a outdoor rave in the streets of Palermo. What a crazy party! The next morning we walked around Palermo and its many markets but very dirty and didn't really want to buy anything. I said ciao to the germans and off I went to Catania. Where I spent 3 nights in a hostel and hiked up Mt. Etna, an active Volcano! It had errupted 13 times this year alone! I did not errupt while I was there but I it would have been amazing to see! There was still ash in the streets from the last erruption a week prior! Definately check it out. After talked to several people I think next time I will have to visit smaller towns and go for a couple weeks! I spent my last night a Palermo airport and took an early flight to Rimini on the east coast of Italy!
Riccione (4 nights)
I took the train from Rimini airport to Riccione which I found just by google. I wanted so beach and camping time for a few nights. Not much to say here. Next I head to Florence. But that is another post I will talk about later.
Last time I was there I was 12 and the town has had a huge facelift! I went to the church, my dad old house, the bear park (which was free but now is huge and cost 6 euro to get in and now has wolves), I then continued walking Belfort Castle which over looked Spor. That evening after dinner I decided that I would go to the cemetery and see my great grandparents! So glad I decided to go. The next day I woke up and headed down to have my included breakfast which was fruit, cake, strudel (like dad makes) and yogurt. As I was eating a lady came up to me and was speaking to me in english imagine my shock. She said that the lady at the hotel told here I was from Canada and went to the cemetry, and to find out who I was! We continued to talk and she told me she was from Toronto and knew my 2 zias (aunts) and her mother used to be in the same apartment complex as my Nonna (Grandma). We spent the morning together and walked around as she was explaining what the new things and changes about the town. I also had lunch with here sister, husband and nephew where she bought! I will have to go back to Spor in the future and do some of the hiking in this area as it is well known for it! Maybe in another 15 year but hopefully sooner!
I took the bus and train back to Trento and did the tourist thing there for a couple hours and then proceeded to look for a sports store to buy a tent and sleeping back for Chique Terre etc as well the safari in africa! Everything was 40% off and everything wieghed no more than 2 kg! Next stop Verona
Verona (3 nights)
Verona such a nice city! A must see in Italy! Is the city of Romeo and Juilet. Where they have their houses, the famous belcony and Juliets tomb. Which is funny for a couple that never was real! Tourist Trap! Still very nice city and the atmosphere was amazing! I must say the cherry was when 4 of us at the hostel decided to go see an Italian Opera in the ancient arena! We saw La Boheme for 20 euro! Wow I am not a big opera person but just to see an event in this arena and just amazing experiance! At some points there was 200 people on stage with fire breathers, guys on stilts, 50 kids running around ballet dancers and a bunch of guys acting drunk! I have no idea what they were saying as it was mostly in italian so I would just catch the odd word here and there but I did google it before I went!
Genoa (Genova) (3 nights)
I then headed to Genoa which is an ancient port city. There is a some ruins left over but most of it was built over and as I am starting to realize port cities are almost always industrial and dirty! I just relaxed here and well I am glad I went but nothing to exciting to say about it other than Piazza De Ferrari was very nice with its fountain oh yea yet another nice church .
Levanto and Chique Terre (5 nights)
There are pictures in Jane's post for this one. I opted to camp here. So nice close to the beach, have the price of Chique Terre for food and such and only a 5 min train the the first town of Monterosso! Which means yes Levanto is just north of Chique Terre. The first day I went for a dive because this area was a protected marine enviroment! I got to see everything from octpus to lobsters to millions of fish! All for the low cost of 48 Euro! That afternoon and night a huge storm rolled in rain, thunder and lightning the works what night in my 2 person tent. When I woke up it was nice but a lot cooler than the day before about 20 degrees. Which was perfect because I decided to take the train to Monterosso and hike the five lands! I was told that it takes 5 hours to do but as there was a land slide between Corniglia and Manarola it made it 6 hours with the detour! I took it as a challenge! With many views, walking through many hillside vineyards It was amazing! I complete the whole hike in 3 and half hours not including my time to walk around each town. Appearently the italians did make these tail time for Canadians from BC or the Rocky Mountain areas! When I finally got to Riomaggiore I was able to sit down and enjoy a gelato and watch the sunset before taking the train back to Levanto. With my legs burning the next morning I knew there was one more hike I wanted to do and that was from Levanto to Monterosso! I decided to walk around town first to warm up my legs! After an hour or so I started the hike! It was 2 hours with a very steep grade but the reward was to come! Is when I got the summit it had an amazing look out where you could see all 5 towns and the cliffs behind I enjoyed a nice lunch before heading down to Monterosso and lay on the beach! Next day stayed at the beach in Levanto and relaxed. Levanto is a surf town and is holding the world cup in November for surfing! But try and find a place to rent a board almost impossible! I asked several people but they just kept sending me to places to buy a board! Good buisness op here! So Sepnt they day at the beach jealous and watching the surfers with their own boards. After a nice dinner I walked back down to the beach to watch another sunset and one of the best I have every seen! Blues, pinks, reds, and oranges!
Belogna (2 nights)
Happy Bithday to Me! Ok some of you know this but I will say it again! I went to Belogna for one reason, Ferrari and Lambo tours! I booked a tour of first the Ferrari Museum. Which was really neat with some of the first and most rare cars including the winning champion F1 cars, that I could only see on tv and in video games. I hate video games. After a included lunch we continued to the Lamborghini factory! Anyone who knows me knows that Lamborghini is my dream car! We stopped at a place called the Bull bar on the way. Where I had the chance to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo SuperLeggera (superlight) LP570-4. They LP is the position of the motor which is mounted in the rear of the car. 570 is the horse power and 4 is all wheel drive! I was super excited as soon, I would be driving one of my dream cars. I drove it for 20 min. The first few min was just calming my nerves and getting a feel for the car. Then my co-driver looked at me and said there is no speed limit on this road! I was on the AutoStrada! Italy's answer to Germany's Autobahn! I put my foot to the floor and shift through all 6 gears via padal shifter on the steering wheel! After I hit the 6th gear I started to let off and look down at the speedo which was coming down and just over 200km/h! Shhh don't tell Mom! This happened several times before returning to the bull bar where I had a permentant smile! We then headed to the factory and got to see how they made my favorite car handmade everything! I also got to see the new model the Aventador which has 700hp! What a great birthday!
Sicily (5 nights)
I took a flight to Palermo for 50 Euro and checked into my hostel. Palermo was not a pretty city. I was only there for one night and decided to leave and not come back until I had to fly out. The only thing that made it good was the 3 german guys I met in the hostel. We went to a sicilian bbq and then a outdoor rave in the streets of Palermo. What a crazy party! The next morning we walked around Palermo and its many markets but very dirty and didn't really want to buy anything. I said ciao to the germans and off I went to Catania. Where I spent 3 nights in a hostel and hiked up Mt. Etna, an active Volcano! It had errupted 13 times this year alone! I did not errupt while I was there but I it would have been amazing to see! There was still ash in the streets from the last erruption a week prior! Definately check it out. After talked to several people I think next time I will have to visit smaller towns and go for a couple weeks! I spent my last night a Palermo airport and took an early flight to Rimini on the east coast of Italy!
Riccione (4 nights)
I took the train from Rimini airport to Riccione which I found just by google. I wanted so beach and camping time for a few nights. Not much to say here. Next I head to Florence. But that is another post I will talk about later.
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