Spring Break part 4


We found some really neat places to stop for our picnic lunches. Here was a little town that we saw from the autobahn and found our way into it. We were trying to find a way down to the river and it took forever but evenutally we got there. This was on our way to the Cinque Terra. Skipping rocks...

We stayed at a very quaint villa in the tiny hamlet of Caste. We had 2 top floor apartments to fit our family as almost everyplace in Italy is designed for 2 people. The place had a little courtyard which our deck looked over. The view from the bathroom overlooked the valley. The place was very old and built of stone and wood beams..but very cosy and comfy inside with many "new" touches. We loved it and felt like we had stepped back into what life in Italy may have been like a century ago.
Every morning we enjoyed our breakfast on the little deck outside our kitchen. We were surrounded by mountains in this beautiful little spot. There was an old couple who lived next door and she loved to chat away in Italian to us even though we could hardly understand a word she said. She loved our children and thought they were so beautiful. Of course we couldn't agree more. :)

A room with a view...even if it was from the bathroom.

The road up to this little place was rather interesting. Our van BARELY fit between the stone wall and the fence. Not for the faint of heart. This shows the width...
We were closest to a city called La Spezia which was not really designed for tourism. There is almost NO parking in the whole entire city. Every nook and cranny is taken over by cars and yet there weren't very many people. It was so frusturating trying to find a place. The one day we took a train to one of the towns and it took us over 1/2 hour to try and find a place and when we finally did it took another 1/2 hour to walk to the train station as there is no parking available there except for scooters. Very strange.

Once there we headed towards a small town called Porto Venere. This was one of our favorites. The first day we went there we noticed that cars were parked all the way up the mountain for miles. We discovered that they were all there to visit this town. The 2 busiest days of the year must be on the weekend of Easter and we were there for it. Crazy is the only way to describe it. We drove right into the little town praying for a parking spot and just as we rounded the corner a car pulled out and we got front and center parking. God is good...even when we ask for little things. :)

We loved this little port town...the old church, the castle, the views, etc..

The best kids in the world! We love traveling and spending time together...special family moments.

The one church we went into had this set up in it. The basket is full of notes and letters. We were guessing they were requests to Mother Mary but we're not sure.