Avalanche warning at Mont Blanc/Monte Bianco.

It's hard for me to believe that this was just this past Saturday morning! We left about 6:30 am from our little part of France to head to Italy via the Mont Blanc/Monte Bianco tunnel. I was really excited about this part because it's such a beautiful ride and I know that there's an amazing espresso place  just waiting on the other side of the tunnel...

Those of you who follow the blog's Facebook page may already know how this story goes, but for those of you who don't, we were met with a little bit of a surprise at about 1500 m...

...in the form of an avalanche warning.

Which was really good since we were locked in traffic with nowhere to go forwards or backwards...So what did we do?

We had an avalanche picnic!

Complete with coffee, a baguette, some onion and chive spread, clementines, and chocolate. Not like this part was a major surprise, because I always bring snacks. (I'm an angry hungry person.)

About 45 minutes or so later the warning was lifted and we started moving up the mountain again...

...and through the tunnel...

...to where there was a delicious cup of espresso waiting for us in Courmayeur, Italy.

En fin.

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Lunch in Pisa.

A quick post before we head out to dinner. And is there anything better to talk about when in Italy than what you ate for lunch? (Only if the answer is: "what you ate for dinner", am I right?) So here it is, my gratuitous pizza post for the day at our favorite pizza place in Pisa.

So, not only is this what we had for lunch today, but it's also what we had for dinner last night. From what we can tell about this place is that it is pretty much all locals, because everytime we've eaten there we've been the only ones speaking english in the whole place, and everyone seems to know each other. The staff is really nice too, and they haven't seemed to mind us bastardizing the Italian language either.

(I think the effort we're putting in is palpable.)

The other cool thing about this place?

They serve Coca-Cola on tap. Right with the beer. Two beer taps, one Coke tap.

This fact was awesome enough for me to order a soda, which is big for me because I don't drink soda. It still tasted like every other Coke I've had in my past-soda drinking life, however, this one was much more fun.

And with that, we're off to dinner.

(No pizza tonight, I swear.)

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Sunset in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre.

I literally have no idea where to begin. None. I can't believe that it's been just 2 days since we left France for our road trip to Italy, and already we've been caught in an avalanche warning, gotten stuck in the snow and ice on a little alpine road twice, watched the sunset over the Mediterranean and gotten soaked by the Mediterranean (oh my poor Frye boots) - all in just the first day of our trip. So in order to keep the pictures and adventures coming your way at a quicker pace (and to still give me time to go out and explore!), I'm going to be posting short and often, at least until we get back to France. And at some point there is most deifnitely going to be a multi-post update on the state of Monterosso and Vernazza (the towns of the Cinque Terre that were hit the hardest by the flash floods on October 25, 2011), as we spent several hours in both yesterday. For now I think I'll just start with telling you that we witnessed the most beautiful sunset of our lives over the sea in Riomaggiore that first night...

I think I need more Mediterranean sunsets in my life.

More on our trip to Cinque Terre and Pisa as soon as I get a little exploring in, as well as some pizza in my belly.

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Ode to: Cinque Terre (Part Deux)

And we continue on with Wanderlust Week with the continuation of my Ode to: Cinque Terre!

My friend Ang and I went on a girls trip there this past summer (along with stops in Pisa and Florence), and we couldn't have been luckier with the weather...

I had the best frutti del mare risotto I've ever had in my life at Gambero Rosso in Vernazza...

Via Roma, (otherwise known as the main street), in Vernazza by sunset. This was late June, and though it was very crowded during the day, once the sun started to go down the day trippers hopped back on their trains and the city became beautifully quiet...

Sunset over the Mediterranean in Vernazza...

The highlight of this trip for me was our final night in Vernazza. Unbeknownest to us the city was having a soccer tournament on the beach for the guys in the town, though it didn't start until almost 10 PM so that everyone who worked in the restaurants could either play or watch. What happens if the ball goes out into the water you ask? Well there was a guy in a row boat (who we later found out was playing in the next game) who would row out to where the ball ended up in the water and throw it back. His services were used quite a bit during the first game. 

It was a Tuesday night, and despite the fact that neither of us spoke Italian, or knew anyone, we totally felt like a bunch of locals...

...these are more happy place moments for me. (Can you tell?) Having a Birra Moretti, on the beach in Vernazza, with one of my best friends,  on a comfortably warm Italian summer night.

Thank you people of Vernazza and all of the Cinque Terre for making our girls trip such a blast and making us feel so at home.  

And again, if you want to help out in rebuilding this beautiful place after the horrendous flash flooding and landslides that happened this October, here's a site specific to helping save vernazza. And here's a site you can go to as well that is specific to Monterosso. If I find out more donation sites for the Cinque Terre I will be sure to post for any of you interested in that sort of thing.

Stay tuned for current pictures of the rebuliding of the Cinque Terre, 3 months post flash flooding and landslides...

A la prochaine friends... 

 

Honey

Ode to: Cinque Terre

Hopefully by now Doc and I are in the car heading towards the Mont Blanc/Monte Bianco tunnel, and subsequently, the Italian border. Since I know the chances of us having internet today and tomorrow in Cinque Terre are slim to none, I figured I'd continue on with this Wanderlust theme a little more with a round up of pictures from my last trip to Cinque Terre this past June. You may remember that I posted a video of the church bells in Vernazza ringing, but I'm pretty sure that was it.

I already know however, that the Cinque Terre is not going to look like the photos from this trip, as they are still coming back from the horrendous flooding and landslides that devasted the UNESCO protected site, especially the towns of Monterosso and my beloved Vernazza. The destruction was so bad that it left many to say that the cities of Monterosso and Vernazza no longer existed.

Well, from the pictures I've seen online, they do in fact exist, and are coming back. It's just going to be a bit of a long road for them.

I already know that it is going to be hard to see the Cinque Terre in such a struggling state, though I think it's important too. It really puts into perspective the power of mother nature, and in return, the power of the human spirit to persevere and survive.

So with that being said, I'm excited to be able to document the current state of the Cinque Terre, as well to bring some tourism back there. Look for an onslaught of pictures of the current state of the Cinque Terre throughout this trip, as we'll be spending tonight in Riomaggiore (apparently somewhat untouched by the flooding), and I'm hoping for an additional day trip to Vernazza and Monterosso while we're in Pisa.

But for now, I just want to revel in what was and will be again. (I'm sure of it.)

{Obviously in my Happy Place.}

I've had so many amazing memories during my two past trips to the Cinque Terre, and I can't wait to make more of them.

Sidenote: For those of you into charitable deeds, here's a link to donate to help rebuild Monterosso! And here's a link to save Vernazza!

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey