Another year, another adventure....

Was in two minds as to whether to do a blog or not, but am missing a place to write down my thoughts. A travel journal is not quite my thing.. Maybe I need an audience... Just wish this blog could take photos, but hey, everybody has seen Italy and photos are available on my facebook.

We are in our third week of our 4 1/2 months round North Italy. Even the Italians are surprised at the length of our trip.

We were in Liguria for the first 2 weeks, near La Spezia and the beautiful Cinque Terre national park. Had a really good time and property was lovely, albeit still not given me the evening sitting on a square sipping wine vision...

We are now in Emilia Romagna after crossing the Apennines, more specifically in Reggio Emilia. Very flat round here and less places of interest to visit, although reason for choosing it it is because is on the main line to Parma, Milan, Bologna, which we will be visiting in the next 2 weeks. We are here for 3...

Views on the trip so far:
. accommodation ate a big chunk of our budget. Definitely more expensive than France.
. Eating out is cheaper than England, but there is less of the menu turistique that we enjoyed in France and, definitely more temptations too.
. this means more staying at home, (every other day), which does not please yours truly. I want it all... Thank goodness there is internet here.
. Town is nice and have a lovely laid back feel to it, but we are some 20 minutes, on foot, away from the centre. Not bad, but am still too lazy to go out every evening - or my husband is..... and the costs mount too.
. Have already had some memorable meals....
. Italian women are definitely very elegant and slim.... SODs, which just make me feel fatter and gorge even more on pasta with cream sauces.
. there are less places of interest to visit, so cheaper in a sense with no entry fees. More of a laze around small villages and soak the atmosphere.
. contrary to what I thought, eating out in towns on a Sunday is a no, no. Only a few places open and for the turists around (if a turisty sort of place). No shops open either, probably better heading for the mountains. Will try this weekend.
. ah, house here, great too. In general we could have stayed in more happening places, but cost made it prohibitive. It was more important for me to be in Italy...