We had a great time even though alcohol was forbidden on the site (the ban started this year, go figure).

Jimmy was trying to get something from his tent during the big storm but couldn’t find the zipper… lol.

Before and after the storm.

Ocean City

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Getting There

The resort is really in the middle of nowhere. It took us 2½ – 3 hours to drive there. For about 45 minutes, it was just a two lane road. We stopped for lunch at a resort/restaurant called Duan-Lom (เดือนล้อม). I ordered a local steak entree and it came well done…

Around the Resort

There are a bunch of things you can do and see at the resort. We spent an entire afternoon just wondering around, being chased by sheep, etc. Warning: The Scenery sheep are always very hungry. They will jump on you, for reals. I tried running a few laps with them chasing and barking at me. In the end, I just gave up and threw the veggies at them. Personally, the best activity was to relax and do absolutely nothing.

On a related note, I think it is a great wedding location.

Accommodation

The accommodation is really well done…except the bathrooms. The ones in our two-bedroom cottage were damp and smelly.

At Night

Instead of going out or eating the restaurant at the resort, my dad and I thought it would be great to do some BBQ while we were there. So we ordered a bunch of BBQ via email prior our arrival. On the roof of the cottage there is a dining area with a grill. Since it was a New Zealand-themed resort, the only kind of BBQ they offered was the high-end one. And by high-end I mean this. The idea of BBQ in the US typically consists of burgers, hot dogs and maybe bacon-wrapped shrimps, which is quite different from what it is in Thailand. Anyway, everything was good. It was a little too hot even after sun down. The temp was around mid 80s with no wind. This place would be perfect for a December vacation.

In Suan Phung Area

On the way back to Bangkok, we visited an orchid farm and learn about how hard it was to grow and take care of them. Mom bought two. We also stopped for lunch at a candle shop called บ้านเทียนหอม.

Related posts:

1. Hua Hin/Plearnwan
2. Trip to Thailand
3. Amphawa (อัมพวา)

According to Wikipedia:

Before Ayutthaya fell to a Burmese invasion, its vassals included the Northern Shan states of present-day Myanmar, Lanna (Chiang Mai, Thailand), Yunnan & Shan Sri (China), Lan Xang (Laos), Champa (Vietnam), and some city-states in the Malay Peninsula.[1]
Ayutthaya (Thai: อาณาจักรอยุธยา, RTGS: Anachak Ayutthaya, also Ayudhya) was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese (Annamese), Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the city walls. In the sixteenth century, it was described by foreign traders as one of the biggest and wealthiest cities in the East. The court of King Narai (1656–1688) had strong links with that of King Louis XIV of France, whose ambassadors compared the city in size and wealth to Paris.Before Ayutthaya fell to a Burmese invasion, its vassals included the Northern Shan states of present-day Myanmar, Lanna (Chiang Mai, Thailand), Yunnan & Shan Sri (China), Lan Xang (Laos), Champa (Vietnam), and some city-states in the Malay Peninsula.[1]

Although it was stupid hot there, we had a great time. Visiting on a weekday is recommended to avoid crowd.

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1. Amphawa (อัมพวา)
2. Trip to Thailand
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I don’t really have much to say about Amphawa. It is certainly a great day trip away from the city and conveniently located on the way to Hua Hin. One thing though – be prepared to flight the crowd, especially on weekends. The food and shopping are great.

It was surprised how clean it was considering the amount of tourists they get every week and the age of the village itself. However, there was this one ignorant dude that dumped gallons of what looked like beef broth into the canal.

According to AmphawaFloatingMarket.com,

Amphawa Floating Market  is an afternoon floating market by the canal near Wat Amphawan Chetiyaram. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, during 12.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m., the Amphawa Canal is occupied by vendors who pack their boats with food and drinks, such as fried sea mussel, noodles, coffee, O-liang (iced black coffee), sweets, etc. Visitors can enjoy a cosy atmosphere and music broadcast by the community members, explore the market, have food, and hire a boat to see fireflies at night.

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The Rock Hua Hin and Resort

The Rock was a popular place to stay in Hua Hin a few years back. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely not as hip as it used to be because there has been a number of new boutique hotels popping up in the same area. I like the bathroom though. It has a big glass window allowing you to enjoy taking a bubble bath with a view. However, I guess the bad part for most people is that people can see you through that same window if you don’t close the curtain.

The hotel has has a beachfront like most hotels in Hua Hin. It has two small swimming pools and a pool side bar/restaurant.

Plearnwan (เพลินวาน)

Not really sure what Plearnwan is. It’s kinda like a man-made old school floating market village. According to the website,

From the starting point of love and yearing for Hua Hin the past, Plearn Wan is originated as a new travel destination for Hua Hin residents and visitors.
Plearn Wan is … “Center of joy and happiness … stop the past in order to tell the various tales of Hua Hin in the past … toward present”

I liked it. Good food even though I was still feeling nauseous from food poisoning. It’s definitely a good addition to Hua Hin’s attractions.

Related posts:

1. Amphawa (อัมพวา)
2. Beach Camping at Assateague State Park, MD
3. The Scenery Resort & Farm at Suan Phung (สวนผึ้ง)

20 Hours of Flying

What’s a better use of time than flying for almost a day half way around the world? Seriously, that much flying is brutal. Flying to Bangkok, Thailand from DC typically requires a layover in Tokyo, Japan. The first flight takes 14 hours and the second takes six hours. I probably enjoyed the first hour or two after the plane had taken off. As you can see, I took some photos from the plane. I also watched a movie before I started to feel tired. However, for some reasons I couldn’t fall asleep. So I watched another movie after another after another. After four movies and two not-so-good meals, I was dead tired. I finally fell asleep for an hour before the flight attendants turned on the lights to prepare for landing.

So the total flight time is about 20 hours when flying westbound, plus a two hour layover in Japan and at least fours spent at the DC and Bangkok airports. That’s more than a day of traveling. Moreover, you need to take into account that Thailand is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. So when you fly to thailand, you lose at least one and a half days.

I usually fly Air Nippon Airways (ANA) when going to Bangkok, but this time I had to fly United Airlines. For some reasons, ANA has gotten ridiculously expensive in the past 12 months. I’m talking $800 more expensive. Anyway, you get what you pay for. United meals are worse in terms of the taste as well as the amount they give you. Hot plates are always burnt at the bottom. The plane is older, much older. I couldn’t believe they didn’t have a personal TV screen for every seat on international flights. Even an hour long flight from Rome to Munich I took last year had a mini screen on every seat. Anyway, enough ranting about United. They were $800 cheaper. Move on.

I happened to have a massive headache on the way back from Bangkok to Japan and didn’t have any painkillers with me. I bought a box of Tylenol FD from an pharmacy at the Narita airport for about $10. It came with 12 doses of 600 mg Acetaminophen. In the US, you can get a 100 caplet bottle of Tylenol Extra Strength for about the same price. That’s to show how expensive things are in Japan.

The Grand Palace (พระบรมมหาราชวัง)

One of our day trips in Bangkok was to the Grand  Palace, not to confuse with the Chinese restaurant in San Francisco. According to Wikipedia,

The Grand Palace (Thai: พระบรมมหาราชวัง, Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang) is a complex of buildings in Bangkok, Thailand. It served as the official residence of the Kings of Thailand from the 18th century onwards. Construction of the Palace began in 1782, during the reign of King Rama I, when he moved the capital across the river from Thonburi to Bangkok. The Palace has been constantly expanded and many additional structures were added over time. The present King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, however, resides at the Chitralada Palace.

Even though it was in February, the temperature during the entire trip was in the high 80s – low 90s on average. The day we went to the Grand Palace it must have been in the high 90s with the heat index and everything. I was extremely hot. We tried to stay in shades at all time. Definitely wear a hat or carry an umbrella with you if you are going to go there. Actually do that any time you are walking outdoor.

You could easily spend two hours there (or four hours if you are into this stuff) just strolling around looking at the paintings on the walls and architecture. One of the main attractions there is Wat Phra Kaew, the temple containing the Emerald Buddha. Visitors are not allowed to take photos in that temple. Most people try to take photos from the outside through on of the front windows/doors. I didn’t because I wanted to give the place the respect it deserved.

There is subway or sky train stop near the Grand Palace. The easily way to get there is getting a taxi, which should cost no more than 100 Thai Baht or $3.00. If you want some adventure, you could take a water taxi or a public bus (without air conditioning if you are super hardcore).

Most of the guards that I saw had their eyes shut while on duty. I believe a few were actually sleeping on the job. They must be sweating rivers in those uniforms.

Dusit Zoo (สวนสัตว์ดุสิต)

Spending time at Dusit Zoo is a relaxing way to get away from the city without having to get out of the city. It is a 15 minute drive from the Grand Palace if you don’t get lost. From Wikipedia,

Dusit Zoo (Thai: สวนสัตว์ดุสิต) at Khao Din Park is a city zoo in Bangkok, Thailand. Located at Khao Din Park in Bangkok’s Dusit District next to the Parliament House and Dusit Palace, it is the oldest zoo of Thailand, built by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) as his private garden adjacent to the royal palace. After the King’s passing, the garden was left unattended for years. In 1938, the revolutionary government asked King Rama VIII’s regency to give this park to Bangkok City Municipality to be open as a public zoo. The King himself kindly bestowed deers and a number of other animals from the palace for public exhibition. The City of Bangkok operated the zoo until 1954. Since then it has been transferred to the state Zoological Park Organization, which also operates Khao Khiao Open Zoo, Chiang Mai Zoo, Songkhla Zoo, and Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo. Dusit Zoo or “Khao Din” is regarded as the most popular zoo in Thailand.

We went there in an afternoon of a week day. There were no crowds. Parking was easy. I think we parked right next to the monkey cages. I think on weekends they have a bunch of shows.

Out and About

We didn’t really go see many places because we wanted a relaxing time off. However, we did enjoy a lot of amazing food. Before we landed, I remember we were listing out places we had to eat. When we got back, we realized that we only did half of the list. I had one meal, though, that I didn’t like. It wasn’t Thai food. Seriously I didn’t know what I ordered, but it tasted like cold black bean Japanese noodle with mustard or wasabi source.

This is my favorite snack. I’m pretty sure it falls under the snack category. It’s called บ๊วยเค็ม​ in thai or salty Chinese plum in English, I think. There are several kinds of them depending where you get them from. Anyway, the one I like is very salty. It’s additive. It’s pure awesomeness.

Related posts:

1. Ayutthaya (อยุธยา)
2. Amphawa (อัมพวา)
3. The Scenery Resort & Farm at Suan Phung (สวนผึ้ง)

The surface was primarily packed powder and loose/frozen granular. Although there were so some really icy spots on double-diamond and mogul trails, the snow condition was pretty good overall considering that it was still early in the season. Also we thought the slopes were going to crowded because of the Christmas holiday. We were wrong. There were practically no lines at all. We never spent more than a minute waiting at the lifts.

Food wise, almost every review on Yelp and Trip Advisor says that food at Stowe was expensive but very good. I completely agree with the first part but not so much with the latter. One night we had dinner at The Shed. The service was a little slow and the food was just alright. I found that the food at the Octagon Cafe at one of the peaks was much tastier even though a bowl of chili, chicken wrap and drinks cost almost $30. The restaurant offered a stunning view of sea of clouds. We could spot Killing and Pico from our spot.

Driving up there from Virginia during the Christmas week was complete madness. We took I-95 all the way to New Haven, CT so we got stuck in NYC traffic about three hours. Crossing the George Washington bridge alone took over 45 minutes. Instead of going through NYC, we should have gone upstate New York and cut across to I-91. Anyway lesson learned.

Honestly we didn’t shop around a lot before making a reservation at Stowe Motel because we started planning this trip in less than a week. Stowe Motel offered good rates, was close to the base, and got fairly good reviews on a few travel sites.

Even that 10PM when we arrived, the gentleman (named Kirkland, I think) was extremely friendly and welcoming. He even upgraded our room to the next level (whatever that was called). Anyway, although this motel is kind of old, the rooms are extremely well kept. Our room was clean including the bathroom. The mattress is, however, like one of those college dorm ones. Also, they have a game room with ping pong, pool, and foosball tables.

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Oklahoma City

San Antonio

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July 1 – Rome Cavalieri

As previously mentioned, my journey from Cinque Terre to Rome was quite hectic but we eventually arrived in Rome at around 15:00. Since we were going to spend the next two days checking out the city, we planned to turn the afternoon into a relaxing retreat at our hotel, Rome Cavalieri—The Waldorf=Astoria Collection. The first thing we did after getting off the train was heading to the tourist information counter located near platform 24 in Termini to buy Roma passes. Roma passes allow you to skip lines at tourist attractions, enter the first two attractions for free, and give you three days of unlimited metro and bus rides within Rome.

I vaguely remembered that the hotel provided a shuttle bus service to and from Piazza Barberini. So we took the metro from Termini to Barberini (only two stops). When we got there, we couldn’t find the shuttle bus sign so I gave the hotel a call. They said the next shuttle bus going back to the hotel was at 16:00 and would be leaving from the front of Hotel Bernini Bristol. At 16:00, the shuttle came. It was a grey van with the hotel logo on the sides; would be really hard to spot it from a distance. The ride took about 30 minutes and gave us a tour of Via Vittorio Veneto and the Villa Borghese park.

The hotel sits on a hill in the northwest part of Rome overlooking the city. We only stayed for one night using Hilton points just to check it out. As a Hilton Diamond member, we were given access to the Imperial Club lounge on the 7th floor. At the Imperial Club lounge, they had drinks and light buffet changing 5 times a day. The balcony had a breathtaking views of historic Rome. We practically sat there through the entire afternoon thunderstorm and evening enjoying the food and views and making plans for the next two days. The room was a regular deluxe room featuring a king bed, gigantic bathroom with a gold plated shower knob, and a balcony with the same views as the Imperial Club. Just kidding about the gold plated thing. It was simply an amazing experience. We wish we could have arrived earlier and/or stayed longer.

July 2 – Ancient Rome, Spanish Steps, Pantheon Neighborhood

The breakfast was unbelievable. It was way better than the buffet at Hilton Arc de Triomphe. They had a jam table with like 30 different kinds of jams, a milk table with 10 kinds of milk, 5 kinds of pies, 5 kinds of cakes, fish, Japanese food, etc. I had photos on my iPhone but accidentally deleted all of them while upgrading to the 3.0 software. (Note to self: always always always backup!) We only spent 20 minutes for breakfast because we wanted to catch the 9:30 shuttle to town. Instead we should have spent 2 hours enjoying it. That was one of the biggest mistakes we made. Oh well, maybe next time.

So we checked out from the hotel and left at around 9:30. This time the shuttle bus was like one of those tour buses. People on the bus were looking at us like aliens because we were carrying huge bags I guess. The bus dropped us off the the same spot as it picked us up the day before. We then headed to another hotel that we were going to be staying for the next two nights to check in and drop off our bags before exploring the city. The hotel was in the Pantheon neighborhood so we decided to walk there because it seemed to be the faster way. We walked about 1.5 miles in about 20 minutes with bags.

The hotel was right on Via del Pantheon which means it was literally right by the Pantheon. We could see the Pantheon big and clear from the front gate. When we got there, we rang the bell and a lady came down to greet us. That kind of told us that it wasn’t really a hotel but was more like a B&B. As we walked into the building, we found that it had been under construction for some time and there were ladders, construction equipment, etc. set up everywhere from the ground to top floor. We were okay with it until we saw the room she gave us. It was probably a high ceiling floor; they cut it in half and stacked two rooms together. Look at where the window was from the picture below. The A/C unit routinely made a cracking sound every 15 minutes and woke me up several times. The bed probably had bugs because we woke up in the morning with bite marks on our arms and legs.

However, I have to say that the worst was the bathroom. It was nasty; so nasty that I was afraid of taking showers during those 2-3 days (but I did shower anyway). The doors in the shower stall were broken. The panels in the doors were broken as well. To make the matter worse, the height from the stall floor to the rotten wooden ceiling was maybe 5’11″. So if you are taller than 5’8″, you wouldn’t be able to take a shower standing up straight. Also the stall was so small that I hit the surrounding panels almost every time when moving my arms around. So seriously, from a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a zero (0) … except for the location. I give it a 10 for the location. The Pantheon neighborhood is known as one of the best places to stay in Rome and this hotel is right by the square. It’s lively at night with hundreds of restaurants, bars, and minimarts. It’s 3 blocks from Largo Argentina, which is a big hub for buses including the 64 and 40 lines that run between Vatican City and Termini.

After we had dropped off our bags at the hotel, we decided to do the reverse of Rick Steve’s Caesar Shuffle, which is a self-guided walk from the Colosseum to the Monument of Victor Emmanuel II. So with the reverse, after exploring the Pantheon, we walked to the Victor Emmanuel II monument, which took about 10 minutes. We checked out the museum inside but didn’t go up to the roof. Next we walked around Capitoline Hill before heading over to the Colosseum. We did the Colosseum before the Roman Forum because it was around noon so it was extremely hot—in the low 90s actually. Because of the heat, we walked past the Forum to the Colosseum for some shades.

We did the Colosseum and grabbed a bite to eat from one of those mobile street vendors. They were close and convenient but, man, they ripped people off like anything. €4 for a soda and also €4 for a hotdog. Actually, one of the buyers started complaining and yelling. We just got our food and found a shade to sit down and eat. Didn’t want to walk 5-10 blocks to find a restaurant. What we should have done was that we should have eaten before coming or packed lunch.

After lunch, we walked around the Roman forum before taking the metro to Piazza del Popolo. At Piazza del Popolo, we met this guy (Indian?) who tried to sell us roses. Well actually, he was trying to put roses in my wife’s hands but she moved away. He freaked out or something and started making angry faces. We just walked away and began window shopping along Via del Corso, which supposedly has the best shopping (and some of the most expensive) in Rome. We walked until we reached the Spanish Steps. Sat on the steps for a while but had to give up because it was so hot as we were facing the sun directly. We left and headed to the Trevi Fountain and then went back to the hotel on foot—probably a 30 minute walk. As soon as we reached the Pantheon, the rain starting pouring hard. We spent a few hours in the room waiting for the rain to stop before heading back out again for dinner.

OK dinner was pretty bad. With tons of good looking restaurants around the Pantheon, I don’t know how we managed to eat where we ate. I don’t remember the name but it was was awful compared to everything we had eaten thus far in Italy. We ordered a pizza and some seafood pasta. They forgot to put salami on the pizza so they guy just cut up some cold salami and threw the pieces on the pizza. The seafood pasta smelt pretty bad and shrimps were tiny. It must have been one of those tourist traps.

After dinner, we got some gelato and walked to Piazza Navona for exercise. There were a lot of performances and artists showing their work. That night we went to sleep as soon as we got back to room and hoped to get up and out asap.

July 3 – Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, National Museum of Rome

I probably haven’t mentioned this, but the hotel provided simple breakfast like coffee, croissant, toast, etc. So we had breakfast there before heading over to the Vatican museum. From the Pantheon, it was very easy; we took a #40 bus from Largo Argentina, which was three blocks to the south of where the hotel was. Bus #40 is the express version of #64 so it stops less frequently. It is widely know that #64 buses can get very crowded. So watch out for pickpockets. The bus took us all the way to the Vatican City area. We still needed to walk another 10 minutes to get to the Vatican museum entrance.

We got to the museum around 10:30 and the line was just about to start getting long. We stood in line for about 30 minutes (luckily there were shades) before we got to go inside the building. It was muggy inside the museum. They probably just opened the windows instead of turning on AC units. There were very interesting paintings, sculptures, etc. However, after a while things started to look the same. To get to the Sistine Chapel, it was quite a long walk. We pretty much had to walk past every room.

The Sistine Chapel room was probably the biggest and most crowded room. They didn’t turn on artificial lights so the room was quite dark. It was hard to enjoy the paintings on the wall and ceiling because there were people everywhere pushing you left and right. We didn’t see a single available seat along the sides of the room. We stayed for a little bit before leaving because it was so muggy and we felt we needed some fresh air. I truly believe that the experience must be much better during non-summer months.

We had lunch at the Vatican museum cafeteria. The food was alright but the portions were a little small. After lunch, we took a walk to St. Peter’s Square. It was actually right next to the museum but on the opposite side of where we exited the building. The square was a huge open space in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. To get into the basilica, we had to go through metal detectors and people checking our clothes. There were quite a number of women who weren’t allowed to go inside because of their inappropriate clothing such as offensive t-shirts, tank tops, short skirts, etc.

St. Peter’s Basilica has to be the biggest church in the world. That’s probably a fact but we didn’t know it until we saw with our own eyes. It was so huge that it took us over 30 minutes to walk around the whole thing. There were also several little chambers to explore. You could climb up to the top of the basilica dome for a fee but we didn’t do it.

After we had finished with St. Peter’s Basilica, we took a #40 bus all the way across town to Termini. At Termini, we bought Leonardo Express tickets (train to the Rome Fiumicino airport) for our departure the following day. Next we walked over to the National Museum of Rome, which was just across the street from Termini. It was practically a ghost town around 14:00. I don’t know how much they usually charge for admission because we used had Roma passes, but I wouldn’t pay more than €7 to get in. Seriously, in my opinion, the National Museum of Rome doesn’t match up to the other big museums in Europe. If you have been to the British Museum, the Louvre, or the Vatican Museum on your tip, I would recommend skipping this one unless you are really into museums, ancient Rome, or just want to spend some time in a cool and quiet place. (Yes, this museum has air conditioning!)

We really wanted to sit down at a restaurant after we were done with the museum. So I looked up some Irish pubs in the area on my iPhone. Why Irish pub? So that we could sit, have a beer and catch up with some Wimbledon actions. Anyway, the closest one that came up was Mulligans Irish Pub on Via Del Boschetto. So we walked 10-20 blocks from Termini. When we got there, we found that it was closed! There were big padlock, chains and everything on the front door. What a bummer after such a long walk! I did a google search after we got back to the US and found that they had moved to a new location, in Trastevere to be more specific.

Luckily, we didn’t have to walk back because we were able to catch a #40 bus back to Termini. We then went to the Colosseum to take some photos at dusk before heading back to the hotel and calling it a day.

July 4 – Plane to DC

Last day of our trip—we were sad that it had finally come to an end. We had so much fun traveling and experiencing difference cultures during the trip. We will definitely be coming back to explore other places that we didn’t get a chance to visit this time. Most likely we will try to visit during the spring or fall to avoid the crowds and heat, especially in Italy.

Anyway, our itinerary was a short flight to Munich and then a transatlantic flight back to DC. The flight to Munich was scheduled for a 13:00 departure. We had breakfast at the hotel and checked out at around 10:00. We then took a #40 bus (yeah, again!) from Largo Argentina to Termini. From Termini, we hopped on a Leonardo Express train that took us directly to the FCO airport in 30 minutes. One thing about the train—according to Rick Steves, Leonardo Express trains leave from platform 24. Maybe it was true in the past, but when we were there it was leaving from platform 25. OK you might say what’s the big deal? Well, it was a big deal because platform 25 was probably a quarter of a mile down the train station. And when we were running with bags because the train was about to leave in two minutes, it was pretty rough.

Anyway, we made it. Got to the airport in 30 minutes. Checked it, went through security, had lunch, etc. It was pretty smooth after that until we got on the plane. The takeoff was first delayed by 10 minutes. So I pulled out my iPhone and started watching Zack and Miri Make a Porno. (Pretty funny movie actually) The captain then made a second announcement saying that they had to delay the takeoff for another 40 minutes. I was like okay we might still make it in time for the next flight. But then when I almost reached the end of the movie, I started to think that we might not make it in time and have to spend a night Munich. The plane finally took off shortly after that thought. The captain probably flew the fastest he could. When we landed in Munich, we ran through the airport, got our passports checked for the second time, and finally got to the gate. The gate agents told us to chill because the plane had been waiting for a lot of people on the Rome-Munich flight. They then checked our passports for the third time. Seriously, they could have communicated that to the other flight so that we didn’t have to run around like crazy people.

Anyway, we got on our flight. We found that our seat assignments were messed up. Fortunately, a lady was nice enough to swap her seat with me so that my wife and I could sit together. On the flight, they served two meals (or one? I forgot). I watched four movies and was interrupted many times but the public announcements. For some reasons, the first officer loved to update us in terms of the current location. For instance, we were flying above Amsterdam. He would activate the PA system, which paused the movie, and put on his tour guide hat for 5 minutes in 3-4 different languages. Overall the flight was really smooth. We flew Lufthansa and the plane (Airbus?) was almost brand new.

[View with PicLens]

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June 28 – Train Journey to Vernazza, Monterosso, Fried Calamari

After very little sleep on an overnight train from Switzerland, we arrived at Firenze Campo di Marte station in Firenze or Florence at around 6:30–7:00. The train we wanted to take to Vernazza was scheduled for a 7:27 departure but we didn’t have tickets yet. Having not money at all, I was a quest to find an ATM. Normally every train station has at least one ATM machine. However, based on my observations, small stations in Italy don’t have one. I first tried to ask a lady in cafe for directions but she gave me this WTF look and said something in Italian that my brain couldn’t process. Luckily, the owner of the newsstand spoke English and told me I could find an ATM on the next block.

By that time, my next train to Vernazza was scheduled to arrive in 20 minutes so I ran to the ATM machine. That one block turned out to be a huge block. Got there, tried to withdraw €500 but the machine declined saying it exceeded the bank’s limit. I was like Whao? because we were able to withdraw €500 twice in Paris without any issues. I then tried 400, 350, 300 and it still wouldn’t let me withdraw. As time was pressing, right at that moment I was pretty pissed off at Italy for not giving me a warm welcome. Then for one last time I tried withdrawing €250 and it worked. Got the money, ran back to the station, bought tickets. The staff at the counter gave me another WTF look when I asked for tickets to Vernazza. He was like what Vernazza? A few seconds after he had collected his thoughts, he typed Vernazza into his tiny low-tech computer, pressed a few keys and boom! it dispensed two tickets. I should have clapped when that happened but didn’t. Cost me €8 per ticket.

The train arrived a few minutes after we got the tickets. It was a regional/local train so no reservation was needed. The train was so packed when we got on but luckily we found a seat for two. The ride took over 3 melting hot hours. Driving would take about 2:15 minutes according to Google Maps. Again the train was so crowded, and as it went on its route more and more people got on. Eventually there were no seats left on the train and people started standing in the aisle, in front of restrooms, etc. Some people kept walking up and down the train to find seats. The train didn’t have air conditioning, the windows were somehow locked, and people were sweating like they were water hoses. What wasn’t pleasant about it was when somebody with an odor problem walked past—man… let me tell you—I just wanted to pass out because of the after smell and how long it lasted. Anyway, I’m not saying that’s bad. It’s just how the locals roll. Nevertheless, I loved the experience.

As I remember, Rick Steves says in his books that you know when you get to Vernazza when you can feel the cold wind blowing as the train exits the Cinque Terre train tunnel. Well, in my case there was no wind. I knew the train arrived in Vernazza when I saw a station sign through a small gap between standing people. Actually I kind of knew it was the station after Corniglia. Anyway, we got off the train and called our contact, Daria Bianchi, to have her lead us to the room we had already reserved. So we talked on the phone. I couldn’t understand a word she said (not sure if she understood me) because the cell quality was so bad. I called her one more time and just said Bridge, Bridge, Bridge! and hung up. Basically I was trying to let her know that I was standing under the bridge (only one bridge in town). Five minutes later somebody showed up calling my name. It was David. No I didn’t know him before but he said his name was David and Daria sent him to show us to our room.

We started walking up the steps near the bridge (train station). After—I don’t know—6–7 minutes, we finally got to our room. It must have been over 200 steps. David told me that the room wasn’t ready yet because I was too early but it would only take about 20 minutes before the maid finished the cleaning. We gladly said ok and waited on the balcony enjoying the morning of Vernazza. Before David left, he asked me if I wanted to pay for the room now or later. I politely told him tomorrow since I didn’t have enough money because the ATM only gave me €250. I also asked what the total was. He said €95 per night for two nights. At the point, I was a bit shocked not because it was €95 per night but because it was 2 instead of 3 nights that I originally indicated when making the reservation. I quickly pulled up an email on my phone and showed him a confirmation from Daria stating 3 nights for €90 per night. He then made a quick call to Daria and she honored my reservation without any issues. I’ve heard from TripAdvisor and other travel sites that this kind of situation happens a lot. So make sure you have a copy of your reservation at the time of arrival and, if possible, call a day or two ahead of time to verbally confirm. In our case, we simply forgot to call because we were having so much fun strolling around Berner Oberland.

After the maid and David had left, we quickly showered and headed down to the main street for lunch. The main street at lunch time was like a zoo. There were tourists like us who stayed in Vernazza, those who stayed in the other towns, those who stopped by for a day on their cruise trips as well as locals from nearby cities. The Cinque Terre is like what Ocean City to the DC people I suppose. Anyway, we stopped by a take-out restaurant and got some pesto and salami focaccias before heading down the harbor where we sat down and enjoyed our lunch and cool sea breeze.

After enough food and sunburns, we headed back to the room for power naps. As it turned out, we passed out for almost 5 hours because he were so tired from the night before. What was funny was that while I was sleeping I kept hearing loud noises. Since we were right by the sea, I thought to myself that they were big waves crashing into the town. In my dream, the town was flooded and everything. I finally woke up at around 18:00 and found that those noises were trains passing by the station. Luckily, our room wasn’t near the tracks. I couldn’t imaging how loud the noises would be like if we stayed even closer than that.

Since it was almost dinner time, I woke my wife up and told her that we were going to walk to the next town for some seafood. She immediately got up and was so excited to go. However, I didn’t tell her that we were going to hike to Monterosso, which was the longest trail of all. For an average hiker, it would probably take about 90 minutes. For us, since we stopped a lot take photos and hiked slowly, it took over two hours. The first 30 minutes or so were rough because it was all uphill. My wife had already run out of breath several times by the time we reached the end of the trail. Needless to say, the views from the trail were spectacular. Like the views along California Highway One but more uninhibited.

Monterosso is the last town heading north into the Cinque Terre. It is resort-town like, the most touristy and usually overrun by visitors in the summer. We walked around town for a bit before sitting down for dinner at one of the busiest restaurants in the newer part of the town. Took 10 minutes to get a table, sat down and ordered fried calamari and shrimp mousse lasagna or something. It was probably the freshest calamari I ever had. The shrimp mousse thingy was great too but the portion was a little small. Got the check and found that they charged us €2.50 for tap water and €3 for bread. I kinda of knew that beforehand but wanted to see how much they could nickel and dime tourists. Let’s look on the bright side—after dinner we got some gelato from a nearby shop. A cone with two scoops cost about €1.50-2.

By the time we finished our gelato, it was almost 22:00 already. Before catching a train back to Vernazza, I had to get money again to pay for the room. I tried two ATM machines and both of them freaked out when I requested more than €250. So I took out €250 and rode a train back to Vernazza in rage.

Going to bed that night was easy as we were to tired. The noises from passing trains didn’t bother us anymore because it was easy to get used to. Think of it as the sound of big waves crashing into the coast. By the way, the room didn’t have an air conditioning unit, which could a problem to some people. For us, we opened the balcony door all night because the temperature was in the 60s.

June 29 – All Day Hiking: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza

We slept in and woke up at 10:00. It was probably the best sleep we ever had on the trip because we didn’t set the alarm clock. While my wife was still sleeping, I headed down to the main street. The weather was so nice; temperature was in the 70s. I bought some croissants, water and juice, went back up to the room, and had breakfast on the balcony overlooking the town. Then after cold showers, we headed to the station and took a train to Riomaggiore.

Riomaggiore is the first town if you enter the Cinque Terre from the south. We got off the train and walked through the tunnel along the train tracks to the other side of town where the marina was located. Every town in the Cinque Terre has a marina for people to keep theirs boats. It’s also where most people sunbathe and jump into the sea. After he had checked out Riomaggiore’s marina, we walked back to the main street for lunch. We got some spaghetti carbonara and focaccia takeouts and sat down on a bench next to a few local grannies who were just having a chitchat.

We went back to the train station part of the town to hike to Manarola after finishing lunch and having our daily dose of gelato. The Via dell’Amore hike from Riomaggiore to Manarola is the easiest hike in the Cinque Terre. It’s more like a walk in my opinion. The path is wide and nicely paved. For an average person, it should take no longer than 25 minutes to reach Manarola unless you stop in the tunnel in the middle of the path and show your artistic skills. There is also a restaurant/cafe towards the end of the trail. We wished we had stopped there for some gelato instead of getting it before entering the trail.

We got to Manarola in no time. Manarola is a cute little town; probably half the size of Riomaggiore. We walked around a little and spotted a restaurant that we thought we would come on the next day. To get to the trail to the next town, Corniglia, we had to walk through the town passing the marina. The Manarola-Corniglia path was more hiking trail-like as it wasn’t paved and had a lot of ups and downs. It took us about 45 minutes to get the train station which was about 300 ft below the town. We decided to take a transit bus by the train station into town rather than climbing about 300+ steps from the hiking trail. Corniglia was really quiet when we got there, which told me if we wanted to stay in a more peaceful and less touristy town we would have to stay in Corniglia. We spent some time having coffee and snacks in the town’s little square. While my wife was waiting near the square, I attempted to walk down the marina (has to be 400+ ft below the town) but gave up half way because I couldn’t imagine myself walking back up.

We took a little green bus back to the train station and headed back to Vernazza. As it was around dinner time, we thought we should get a takeout and sit by the marina. Our dinner was pesto pasta with pesto sauce and spaghetti pomodoro. Enjoying our dinner while watching people pulling their boats in and local fishermen getting ready to go out was probably my most favorite part of the day. I loved the feeling of being out all day and coming back to the home base for a relaxing dinner.

After dinner, we went back to our room. While my wife was getting stuff done in the room, just before sunset, I headed up the Vernazza-Monterosso trail to a spot where I took a photo of Vernazza at dusk.

June 30 – More Hiking, Lobster and Mussel Pasta, Monterosso Beach

We slept in again. It was great not having to set an alarm. We pretty much rolled out of bed when we felt it was a good time to get up. Showered, and headed down to the train station. We took a train to Manarola and had lunch at a restaurant in the area that we had picked on the previous day. My wife ordered lobster pasta and I ordered mussel pasta. The food came and we found that the portion as a lot bigger than we thought. The mussels on my pasta were probably 2-3 times bigger than what I’d had in the US. My wife’s plate came with a whole lobster sitting on top of her pasta with some kind of garlic creme source. It was a really good meal. However, when we got the check there was €4 item again even he had asked them not to bring out the bread. We were quite surprised when the waitress told us that the charge was for the utensils and everything else on the table. Not sure that was normal or they tried to nickel and dime tourists for everything they could. Share your experience.

After lunch, we hiked to Riomaggiore for exercise and some gelato. While we were walking on the path, we saw a guy jumped over the handrail/fence to the rocky edge of the trail and cliff-dived 150-200 ft into the water. That was pretty awesome but unfortunately I wasn’t fast enough to capture the action on the camera. In Riomaggiore, we took a different route to the marina. Instead of walking through the tunnel, taking the trail along the coast gave us more exercise as the path was longer and made us go up and down a lot of steps.

We chilled at Riomaggiore’s marina for a bit before taking a ferry straight to Monterosso. The hourly ferry ride costs €8 per person. That’s a bit expensive considering a train ride, which comes more frequently, is faster,  and only costs €1 something. Anyway, we thought of it as a sightseeing tour ferry. The ride allowed us to see how big each town was from a distance. From a quick visual comparison, Monterosso seems to be the largest; then Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Manarola, and Corniglia. In certain angles, Corniglia may appear larger because the whole town is sitting on a huge rock. The ferry ride stopped at every town except Corniglia. I wondered why but didn’t care enough to ask the boat crews.

The whole reason we came to Monterosso was swim in the sea and enjoy the beach. However, by the time we got to Monterosso it was almost 17:30. The ferry dropped us off at the old part of the town. It took us another 10-15 minutes to walk to the new part where the beach was bigger. The beach that you see is sectioned into smaller private beaches. The first “beach vendor” that we asked “How much?” gave us a furious look and said PRIVATE BEACH! I wasn’t sure if he didn’t understand what we asked or he was just pissed at the world. We moved on, asked another vendor adjacent to the first one and were given an “I don’t care” look. The next vendor gave us the answer we had been searching for. They said their beach would be closed by 19:00 and wanted to charge €10 per person! We walked away without any hesitation. Then we came across a public beach. What told us it was a public beach was 1) it was the tiniest section on the stretch. 2) it was packed! 3) the sand quality was noticeably different because the private beaches probably dumped all the rocks and stones there. Anyway, luckily, a vendor next to the public beach gave a special price since they would be closing in about an hour; €6 for two beach chairs, an umbrella, and two fresh water shower coupons. We took the offer and jumped into the water.

It was freezing cold! Well, at first anyway. I didn’t expect it to be that cold since it had been sunny all day and at that time the temperature was still in the high 70s or low 80s. It took a few minutes before the body got used the water temperature. Also, the private beaches had probably been dumping rocks in the sea as well because my feet couldn’t feel anything but rocks when I tried to touch the ground.

We started packing up as they closed the beach. The train station was full of people leaving Monterosso. We wanted to take showers and get changed back in our room before having dinner. We got on a wrong train heading to the south without a stop in Vernazza. Luckily, it stopped in Riomaggiore where we got off and caught another local train back to Vernazza. After taking care of our business, we headed down to the main street in our home base and got a pizza takeout. We went to sit by the marina to eat. It was by far our favorite spot to hang out and enjoy everything Cinque Terre.

July 1 – Hectic Day

We knew it was going to be a rough day because when we tried to buy tickets to Rome (via Pisa) on the previous day but the staff at the train station told us there was a train-related accident around the Pisa area and all trains were cancelled. We were simply told to come back in the morning and check. According to many experienced visitors, check back tomorrow’s and maybes mean negative. So we showed up at 7:30, tried to get our tickets but the staff said he could only get us to La Spezia. We went ahead and buy the tickets because there was nothing better we could do than trying to wing it. We waited for almost an hour for the train to La Spezia. The ride took about 40 minutes, and when we got to La Spezia we found that there were long lines at the ticketing counters as well as the information booth. Luckily, somebody told us that there was a special bus leaving every hour to Pisa from a street near the station. So we just followed a few people on the same boat to the bus. We were lucky enough to be the last two people to get on that bus.

Honestly I was kind of glad that there were quite a number of people in the same situation. The bus ride to Pisa was supposed to take about an hour. However, the bus driver got lost a few times in Pisa while trying to find Pisa Centrale train station. An american tourist had to pull out a GPS navigator and helped the driver with directions. Finally we arrived at Pisa Centrale and it was totally insane. The lines were huge. People were walking and running around in confusion. While I was standing in line to get tickets from an automated machine, I found out that the trains to Rome up on the giant billboard were all cancelled. At that point, I started to feel that there might be a possibly that it might not be able to get to Rome that night (by train at least). We walked over to the information counter and asked for advice. A member of the staff told us that there was a train leaving in two minutes to a small town and from there we could take another train to another town and one more to Rome. Although he was really nice but his advice was simply useless for us because we didn’t have tickets yet and the ticket lines were really long.

Fortunately, we met an American couple who told us that they were going to Rome as well and just exchanged their old tickets for new ones that would take them to Rome via Firenze instead of the cancelled direct route. We went ahead and lined up at one of the automated machines (in line for 30 minutes) and bought the same exact tickets. At the point, our original plan of spending a few hours checking out the leaning tower of Pisa and the area just disappeared in the air. In any case, we were glad we had valid tickets to our final destination.

The train from Pisa to Firenze was again super packed. My wife and I had to split up and sit separately. A few things happened on the train—train conductors and controller were seriously checking tickets and fining people who didn’t validate their tickets in one of those yellow machines at the originating stations. The guy next to me was fined €20 (for two tickets) for not validating them. A man in the back of our train we handcuffed and removed from the car by the train controller. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t have a valid ticket or because of something else. I tried to asked the Italian lady across from me but she kept speaking back in Italian. The guy next to me tried to translate it in spanish as well I guess? Anyway, the ride took two hours but felt like eight.

At the Firenze main station, we found that our train to Rome was delayed for 15-20 minutes. Very normal in Italy. It finally arrived and we quickly walked to the assigned car, which was the farthest one on the platform. We got on and found ourselves sitting next to an old couple who kept looking at us every 5 minutes. It was freaky but couldn’t care less because our train was a EuroStar Italia train meaning it was the best train you could possibly ride in Italy. The ride took two hours and we were glad to finally arrive in Rome.

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Related posts:

1. Rome, Italy
2. Berner Oberland, Switzerland
3. London