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Destination: Italy

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Cinque Terre Lemon Festival–Anything But Sour

The Cinque Terre towns love their festivals, and we hit Monterosso during its lemon festival. The town was decked out in lemons and rather than sour, the mood was happy as can be.

Monterosso’s little main piazza was a multi-generational dance floor and, for me, this was a particularly happy moment as I thought about how the town has now fully recovered from the horrible flood of 2011.
Monterosso’s little main piazza was a multi-generational dance floor and, for me, this was a particularly happy moment as I thought about how the town has now fully recovered from the horrible flood of 2011.
Our group is really fond of our bus driver, Joe (center), who quietly and professionally gets us everywhere smoothly and safely. It was fun tonight (as he was completely off tomorrow) because everyone let their hair down together. Our groups always consider our driver as a friend and part of our traveling family.
Our group is really fond of our bus driver, Joe (center), who quietly and professionally gets us everywhere smoothly and safely. It was fun tonight (as he was completely off tomorrow) because everyone let their hair down together. Our groups always consider our driver as a friend and part of our traveling family.
A group of Norwegian girls (and one guy) had some fun with our Belgian driver.
A group of Norwegian girls (and one guy) had some fun with our Belgian driver.
For me, doing this tour was full of rich memories of the formative years of our tour company. Both tour guide Reid and bus driver Joe (seen with me above) have been around since the early '90s--and as we followed our route, we enjoyed sharing lots of memories. Many of our drivers, such as Joe, essentially learned their English (which is quite good now) from years of talking with our tour groups.
For me, doing this tour was full of rich memories of the formative years of our tour company. Both tour guide Reid and bus driver Joe (seen with me above) have been around since the early ’90s–and as we followed our route, we enjoyed sharing lots of memories. Many of our drivers, such as Joe, essentially learned their English (which is quite good now) from years of talking with our tour groups.
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Amphora

After a day of hiking the Cinque Terre, enjoying endless Mediterranean vistas, we work up an appetite for the fruits of the sea. At Monterosso’s Ristorante Belevedere they cook up five or six ancient-style jugs (amphora) filled with today’s catch. It really is a grab bag of whatever the fisherman brought into port. But it’s always delicious.

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

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Cinque Terre Tune-up

On our Rick Steves Best of Europe in 21 Days tour, the meat of the itinerary is the middle week when we visit Venice, Florence, and Rome in rapid succession. After that, we are ready for our treasured “vacation from our vacation” on the Italian Riviera. We are careful to thoroughly orient our groups upon arrival–because the next day is entirely free.

Walking our group to their “Welcome to the Riviera” dinner, we take time to be sure each tour member is comfortable with the local trains. To connect the five villages of the Cinque Terre you can hike, catch the boat, or hop on the train--which runs about hourly. Here I’m reminding people that, while the printed schedules are posted and helpful, only the monitors are up-to-the-minute on what’s running late. These can be your best friend in using your time smartly. The next day, each person in our group was well prepared to hang out on the beach, browse through the towns, or hike the dramatic trails--or all three.
Walking our group to their “Welcome to the Riviera” dinner, we take time to be sure each tour member is comfortable with the local trains. To connect the five villages of the Cinque Terre you can hike, catch the boat, or hop on the train–which runs about hourly. Here I’m reminding people that, while the printed schedules are posted and helpful, only the monitors are up-to-the-minute on what’s running late. These can be your best friend in using your time smartly. The next day, each person in our group was well prepared to hang out on the beach, browse through the towns, or hike the dramatic trails–or all three.

 

Walking our group to their “Welcome to the Riviera” dinner, we take time to be sure each tour member is comfortable with the local trains. To connect the five villages of the Cinque Terre you can hike, catch the boat, or hop on the train--which runs about hourly. Here I’m reminding people that, while the printed schedules are posted and helpful, only the monitors are up-to-the-minute on what’s running late. These can be your best friend in using your time smartly. The next day, each person in our group was well prepared to hang out on the beach, browse through the towns, or hike the dramatic trails--or all three.

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Burst of Riviera Magic

To take a Rick Steves tour you need to be mobile and pack light. That’s because many of our hotels are so remotely and beautifully situated that our buses can’t get to them. The classic example is our visit to the five dramatic villages of Italy’s Cinque Terre. We need to park our bus in the nearest big town and ride the train in. One of my favorite guiding moments is to be with our groups as we tunnel into the Riviera darkness–eyes periodically blasted by splashes of Cinque Terre brightness like this view of my favorite town in the region, Vernazza.

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

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Rome’s Hottest Neighborhood: Monti

monti-piazza-romeOn this trip, I’m grabbing extra time in Venice, Florence, and Rome to beef up our restaurant listings for our guidebooks. As things are in constant motion in Europe, it’s important to keep our recommendations both up-to-date and fresh. The big news in Rome is the emergence of the Monti neighborhood as a vibrant place for any visitor to consider. This shot is the central piazza of the zone which stretches (conveniently for travelers) between the Termini train station and the Colosseum. We found several good hotels and a slew of fun eateries of all kinds for the next edition of the guidebook. For 20 years I’ve been enthusiastic about the characteristic Trastevere neighborhood as a great place for a colorful dinner. Now, for the energy of a lively neighborhood, I prefer Monti. To be the first traveler on your block to have all my new Monti finds (which will be in the 2015 edition of our Rome guidebook), click here.