After a long long walk, I slept in…I woke up at 8:30 and its weird but I was by myself in a nice room and that felt good…I didn’t worry about the noise (that I am not making), the tardy state of the room or the fact that I have all devices charging and photos downloading. It is a little lonely to be in a beautiful city and not share that with someone, but I am ok with that as well.
I was going to head-out and add to my photos from last night…Asking reception what was the light perched on the hills that lit up the city last night and she advised it was Michael Angelo’s palace…so I walked around town for an hour or so and saw all the crazy frenzied tourists shuffling to every site in town and I decided not for me and headed back to get the car and head to MA Palace high up on the city…Well, the 5 kms trek was well worth it…the views were even more spectacular Oh and I was also blessed with another car park. I think car parking is my thing, if there is ever a need for a career change I will park cars for a living…not much different from what I do now really ☺
Took many snaps and even tried my tripod and took some good shots (you have to take my word for it as I deleted the 100 or so pictures I took…don’t ask it was a moment of madness when I was after 3 weeks wanting to set the right time zone on my camera ☺…well, now you have to go and see it for yourself.
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2783552-piazzale_michelangelo_florence-i
I then headed out to Pisa and yes as per the last paragraph had lost about an hour’s shooting but luckily, I hadn’t climbed Pisa yet and hence it was a minor loss and snapped away up there and a couple when I got back down.
http://www.italyguides.it/us/pisa/pisa_italy.htm
I am still pondering the decision about Cinque terra but decided to wait for a sign… it didn’t take long and it came in the form of Stephanie posting on my FB wall to try a restaurant in Cinque Terre and decided, ok this is something I am destined to do.
Now for the believers out there and I don’t mean a sectarian belief but just general belief in something other than themselves, something weird really happened to me…I am going to refer to them as “my guides”. When I got back in the car a few events took place that were out of the ordinary…Not X-files material but extraordinary not to mention…
1. I typed Cinque Terre into the GPS (it displayed about 150 kms away about what I thought it would be)
2. My seat belt buckle just wouldn’t click in and I tried a few times (more than 3 times to the point I had to get out of the car to see what’s the matter
3. The car refused to start on the first two turns
Now I sensed that my guides did not want me to head that way at all…I know paranoid schizophrenia must seem a logical explanation, but seriously I felt all weird-ed out. Being a stubborn ass (I have been called that before) I insisted I am heading to Cinque Terre no matter what… and I drove off following the navigation.
http://www.google.com/search?q=cinque+terre&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=ivnsm&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JczSTdDvCYvEvQOkicW6DQ&ved=0CEMQsAQ&biw=1275&bih=621
The photos from Shireen showed a coast line and the GPS was leading me into up the mountain…so I decided to do the manly thing and stopped and asked for directions…the response was in Italian but understood enough that I am heading in the wrong direction and turned left and right without having any clear understanding to where and the damn GPS voice saying “recalculating” every minute or so as I am not following any of its instructions.
Luckily, I found an information tourist kiosk and pulled over for a second opinion (who says men don’t ask for directions…Urban myth I tell ya). Side point but did I mention how impressed I am by multi lingual people. The couple in front of me were French and the girl (ok she was about 25 but too young for me to call her a lady albeit she looked nice and proper) and she spoke to them in French and then started speaking to me in Italain and then assumed I am Spanish so started speaking in Spanish and when I closed my mouth to stop letting the flies in and asked her if she spoke English, she just replied “sure” and yes I was heading in the wrong direction (not for the first or last time this day) and she guided me towards La Spezia and to my delight that was only 110 kms away…so no real time lost…
I started driving there and when I got there, just not to be outdone, every major street leading to the main strip was blocked off…Another sign…ummm you decide but wait there is more…I have probably tried at least 4 B&Bs and none would take me and they kept pointing me to the Hostel which I never was able to find…and the snobby Garvin does not track Hostels…so my spirit was dampening and when I put Steph’s restaurant in the Garmin t was another 60 Kms nth west and Venice is East…so bugger it I just stopped, parked the car and went into the local for a cold one. Speaking to the publican he pointed me to two B&Bs and then said go to the next one because they are nicer…excellent, finally getting somewhere…finished my drink and drove to the place he indicated and viola accommodation sorted just like he said…freshened up and got dressed and off to Steph’s restaurant I was heading…the reviews on all websites was this restaurant is superb and a must…not that I didn’t trust Steph’s judgement ☺
It was 50 kms away and I really wanted to get a few more Tuscan sunset photos and I was on my way…
Now if ever you need to have a horror story about GPS going mad…bookmark this page.
Now by this stage in the trip I had managed to navigate over 2000 kms in foreign lands, find Hostels in alleys in Seville, Lisbon…Climb and find a hotel in a tight climb in Alhambra, navigated my way in and out of Valencia…but I really now know why I wasn’t meant to travel to Cinque Terre, its because I was going to be LOST…400 kms lost…with no credit card so better not run out of fuel and severe language impediment…about 10 kms out of the destination I was following ‘’GPS” instructs when all of a sudden I was climbing a one and a half lane wide road, leading to the most spectacular scenery ever…
Needless to say, I am a stubborn ass and insisted on getting to this restaurant which by now the GPS put at 80 kms away after 2hrs of driving and getting back to the hotel was only 50 kms away in the opposite direction… no matter, went for it anyway…when I got there I was exhausted to say the least but as soon as I walked into the door I figured I am not at the right place and the cuisine presented proved my worst fears…by this stage its 11:00 pm and I have been on the road since 10 am and maybe should have stayed where the hell I was…
This is where I was meant to be but nowhere near it
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187821-d1372485-Reviews-IL_Grottino-Riomaggiore_Cinque_Terre_Italian_Riviera.html
No, I decided to get back to my BnB and by this stage I am clearly instructed and my lesson taught to just stop and listen. The trip home consisted of a 3 * 40 km trek up and down the highway, I know that because I paid toll at three different gates and I was not going to stop and ask for directions because the only people on the street were Ho(s) and it was something I wasn’t willing to chalk up as an experience nor did I think my Italian or whatever language they were to dialect in was going to matter too much.
I did make it back but it was after trekking another 180 kms and was back by 1:00 am…in my cheer exhaustion, I slept.
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