We leave the Cap this morning and Terry has organised a driver to pick us up to take us to Monaco train station. We drive down 12 floors of this carpark but can't find the entrance, so we drive up 12 floors again. The attendant tells us that we have to go down again!! I'm feeling really great by now. We hop on the train while Mum is trying to an email to Dad from the platform as we make use of the wifi. They are getting ready for the Grand Prix and they are erecting signs on the platforms. Just a little info on Monaco - its population is 18,000 and 35,000 commute to work to service the 35,000 visitors each day. It's only 3/4 of a square mile in size; Central Park is bigger. Our train
takes us to the Italian border, where we head for another change over in Genoa. We have a quick stopover and we head for the cafe bar and I am reminded we are in Italia now, as I have to pay for a cornetto and coffee beforehand. We head from Genoa to Levanto which is one village prior to the Cinque Terre walk. We board the train and, surprise, a young Italian guy is sitting in our seat and we have the same seat number.
The conductor comes and I explain our situation. We find out later from a lady that the conductor told him off, said he wasn't very gallant to the tourists and was cross with him. But such are the Italians, he didn't chuck him off. The ticket he had was for yesterday and he had his finger over the date. We arrive in Levanto, grab our map for the
walk, and take the local taxi to our hotel Oasi. The hotel was lovely, but this time Mum and I are in the Queen bed.
They don't get our request; va bene! Tonight we head around the town where I come across the Red Cross in Levanto.
The town is right on the coast and there are two guys out surfing in wetsuits on some really small, desperate waves. We find a lovely little family trattoria where Mum tries the local fish, and I have a lovely cheese and pine nut pasta. We have a good night's sleep to prepare ourselves for the big walk.
Annuler, annulla, ακυρώνω, iptal etmek, yes, cancel, cancel, cancel the unnecessary complaints re your reader's starvation. The delightful blog updates came in boom, boom, one after the other almost immejiately after the starvation comment was posted. I am so glad the two hotels I recommended for you and your Mum (thanks to Trip Advisor and a bit of knowledge of the lay of the land) have worked out well, albeit the shared bed at the Oasi. It can be hard to pin down a twin share in the Mediterranean but hopefully you got your own pillows and not one long sausage pillow to wrestle over. The Red Cross All Staff meeting is looking forward to some Frau from the Field shots as it seems you have already managed a snap of La Croix-Rouge française and the Croce Rossa Italiana. Woo and I have pulled out our suitcases today and will be thinking of you trekking along the cliff-top walks on the Cinque Terre as we get ready for own departure next week.
ReplyDelete