Arrived in Rome late in the evening on Monday. Our driver took us on a mini tour of the Coliseum area of the city, and dropped us at the hotel. The older hotels in Rome are an adventure, especially for green travelers like us (third floor, elevator can hold no more than 2 people and bags). Once on the third floor, we make our way to the room, and get in with the card key. After several adventures with the room lights going out after one minute, and falling over the bags, we called the desk to find out the secret to the lights. In order to keep the lights on, you have to leave the card key in a slot on the wall. Yipee! We are going to the Cinque Terre on day 2, so we spent time organizing a couple of days of clothes in smaller bags, and we left the larger suitcases in storage at the hotel. We are now on a 4 ½ hour train ride north, where we have met a nice Italian couple who are their way to the states. We understand about every 20th word they say. We have also met a young couple from Vancouver BC, who are also doing three weeks in Europe. On the trip north, we have traveled past the cruise port (about an hour north of Rome) where we will catch the cruise ship next Monday.

The Cinque Terre is beautiful. It is comprised of five seaside towns - postcard perfect! We spent the early afternoon walking around Monterroso. Tomorrow we will hike the trail between Monterroso and Vernazza, which takes about ninety minutes. You can either take the train or a boat between the cities. Today's hike was a warm up for tomorrow. We capped the afternoon off with a gelato, which cancelled anything that the hike burned up. Attached are a few of the pictures that we took today.