at the line of scrimage i called an audible...

at the beginning of the trip it was easy to get reservations at hostels...now not so much. also some of my train journeys require a reservation which also is harder to get. if this is what it's like traveling when the economy isn't so good i can't imagine what it's like when it's really busy. after a lot of time at the computer trying to figure things out i changed my itinerary a bit...i was supposed to leave rome go to nice, provence, normandy and then paris. besides the booking issues i had heard so many good things from fellow travelers about an area of italy called cinque terre (pronounced chin-qwa tear-ah). nice and provence are out...cinque terre is the new stop. very, very glad i did this juggling! on the train from rome i woke from a nap to look out the window to the sun shining, low in the sky over the medditeranean some where close to pisa. very nice. now in germany all the trains run to the second and in italy most of the trains run on close to on time but the lesser, regional trains seem to run on a clock of their own. at the rome station i had two options - take the 4:30 train and stand up for about 4 hours or wait to 6ish and ride in first class...didn't take a fraction of a second to decide that one even though i was going to be cutting it close to catch the shuttle bus to the camp ground i was staying at. do you see where this is going...cutting it close, trains that run at their leisure...missed the shuttle. it's 10:15pm and i have a 3 mile walk, in the dark ahead of me. the good things, it was a cool night with a slight breeze, i only had one street to walk on to get there and there was a side walk. the bad things i had 35lbs of backpack on me, it was dark and i didn't really know where exactly it was. i made it with the help of a woman walking her dog...we communicated mostly with sign language but it worked.

one of the big attractions of cinque terre is that it's actually a national park and has miles of trails for walking, bike riding, and horseback riding. the most popular is a 6 mile coastal hike. i took the train south to the beginning of the trail and started walking. there are a number of towns along the trail that defy logic in their location...to me it is beyond comprehession that anyone looked at theses places and said..."yeah, this looks good...let's build here!" don't get me wrong...it's beautiful but i can't imagine what the first people to settle here had to go through.

the local info says that the 6 mile hike is challenging but managable so the first mile or so had me thinking that i was getting up early and running and out and back for a really nice 12 mile run. luckily i didn't turn around right then and go get my running clothes...if that was challenging but managable i'd hate to see something harder. about half way through instead of rolling along the coast you start climbing up 100 to 200 vertical (sometimes very vertical) meters and then snaking your way back down...and then back up. again, don't get me wrong i was having a blast but it was crazy at times. at times there was hand rail but others not and there were places that if you would fall off the narrow trail it would not be good...not at all. my original plan was to walk the 6 miles and at monteresso eat and then go for a swim. there's a reason the map list the first 4 miles at 3 hours and the last 2 miles at 2 hours. at one point i counted going down 700 rock "steps" no lie, no exageration. to make it worse my change of plans was to stop and eat some food and drink a beer after the first 4 miles...it seemed like a good idea at the time and it was good spaghetti and bruschetta and the oh boy ain't the beer cold! it was a tough last 2 miles and i think as time was getting along the humidity was starting to increase. again still worth every minute and bit of effort. i'm sure there are places like this but i'm not aware of them the combination of the hilly terrain, the small towns and the views of the medditerranean made for a great day. if you look close at this picture it's a part of the 700 steps that i counted snaking their way down to monteresso. once i did make it to the end of the trail i really only had time to catch the train and shuttle bus back to camp...and even if i had more time i'm not sure that i had the energy to go for a swim.

at this point i didn't have a set plan on when i would leave cinque terre but i still wanted to get in my swim and what could a little beach time hurt? a little internet planning and i decided to take the night train to paris. unfortunately all the coucettes (6 berth sleeping compartments) were taken so i had to go with the more expensive but nicer double sleeper car. a few trains to get me to milan and the 11:35pm night train to paris. it was actually pretty comfortable but still i woke a number of times during the night and the weird thing is with the blinds drawn, the lights out and the door closed and so no visual cue as to the direction of travel each time i woke i felt as if the train had changed direction. and no i hadn't been drinking!

so as of 8:30am today i'm in paris. if you're wondering no i didn't skip normandy and the d-day beaches, i realized it's going to be easier for me to base myself here in paris and do some a day trip or two to see normandy.

i'll try to post one more time before i come home and then i'll work on getting some pictures to you. thanks again for all the comments...it's been fun doing this and know that you all are back there reading about my trip.

see you all soon.

happy trails,
dan