Memories (misadventures) continued...

We dried out on the train to La Spezia, then took another train to Monterosso in the Cinque Terra. We chose Monterosso for its famous beach, but still dodged a lot of rain. Our hotel was adorable, charming, but tiny! To move from one side to the other we had to climb across the bed! Bad hair in Cinque Terra was an understatement! My first hat didn't survive the rains of Pisa, so I bought another. Not wanting to wear a hat every minute, I passed a tiny local hair salon and had an idea. I stopped in and said, too much rain, braid? They laughed. They said, you wait. We heard that a lot in Italy! You wait. I waited and watched a local woman get a blow out. I changed my mind. I asked for a blow out and Luca made me feel like a new woman! Best part was it cost only $18 euro! Money well spent! We travelled to Riomaggiore for a day visit. The rains had been so bad the night before that our return train was delayed almost two hours due to storm damage on he track! Stay positive, have a cocktail! One misadventure in Cinque Terra involved the bathrooms, or lack there of. I'll spare the details, but I'll just say that some bathrooms are only holes in the floors.  I had to go, no choice, and had on jeans that day. Mike had gone in first and knew what I was up against. He was ready when I came out with hand sanitizer and a hug. I cried a little bit. Enough said. 

On to Bellagio! The renting of the huge van was a mistake! As Mike made his way down the tiny street with only inches to spare, we knew we had a big problem. We got to the hotel then Michael had to go off with the hotel owner Jackamo to park. Jackamo rode a scooter, Michael followed. Apparently parking in the "box" didn't go well at all! He had to reverse, too tall, then turn around, then find another spot. Remember, it was manual and hilly! Jackamo finally returned as Michael was walking back, well over a mile away. When we see Jackamo he is clearly worried about Mike. He says, "your friend Mike, he need 5 minutes, he be ok." We'll never know how bad it was for him.

The villa in Tremezzo was amazing. Very few bad moments, but I did go four days without a hair dryer. I called my hair Italian Hot Mess! Mike brought a speedo to wear in our villa pool for the true Italian experience.  It only lasted slightly over an hour, thank god! My suggestion was that he wear a bell so we would all know to look away when he stood up! He got to have his Italian moment though, so he was happy! 

On our last day there, the Seamans and Mclaughlins both got emails that their flights home were cancelled! Air France was on strike! It lead to a few tense moments, but flights were rearranged and they all made it home! 

In Venice we were on our own. There was a lot getting lost in the teeny tiny streets, but since it was just us, it was more like meandering than getting lost. We meandered a lot looking for cash machines! Very few people took credit cards, so the theme became, remind me to get more euros tomorrow!

In Positano our only mistakes were overpaying! Every time you sit in a beach chair it costs money! Who knew? Everyone seemed so friendly; I thought they were giving things away!  We got on a boat and a man was pouring shots. He was singing, Limoncello, would you like to try some Limoncello? Sure! I sip it, that will be $4! Same thing at a bakery. We had already purchased something and he says, would you like to try some cake? I'm thinking samples. "Sure!" He gets the cake, "that will be $4." What? Nothing is free! Italians are just super happy, and try means buy!

So as far as bad moments go, ours were few and far between. No matter where you go, things are going to go wrong. We just kept going and marveling at the beauty of Italy and its people!