2012
First day of hiking in the Cinque Terre! With walking sticks in hand, waiting for the train to La Spezia that would drop us off in Riomaggoire.
The top of the hill in the southern most town of in the Cinque Terre,
Riomaggiore!This is what passes for a beach in Riomaggiore!
On to
Manarola!From there, it's the third town,
Corniglia. This town is the furtherest away from the sea. It was afternoon by the time we got there, and it was sleepy and super quiet. This was the least touristy of the towns, and felt the most outside of time of the places we visited in Italy. We also had to hike part of the way to Corniglia, and then hike back to Manarola and take the train. There was a landslide that closed the path! For the record, there are 382 steps from the train station in Corniglia to the town. Straight up the hillside.
Olive groves were everywhere!
Corniglia getting further and futher away, as we made our way back to our home base of Vernazza.
At last, we saw Vernazza come into view. The end of our trek was in sight!
The sweet rewards that awaited us at the end of our trek.
The Cinque Terre is known for their great white wines and their AMAZING fresh anchovies.
2013
In 2013 we visited The American Cemetery at Margraten. There are over 8,000 American soldiers interred at this cemetery, most were victims involved in Operation MarketGarden, popularized by the film "A Bridge too Far", the Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Ruhr. We visited the day after the 75 Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands. There were lots of old soldiers there, visiting the graves of their fallen comrades. And lots of Dutch people who "adopt" the graves and dedicatedly tend them. One old man was there, in a wheelchair, wearing his uniform, placing a wreath on a grave. A young man walked up and thanked him for freeing his country, for giving so much. I turned away in tears. I had rolled my eyes when I was told we were visiting an American cemetery, so I could see something "American" and be on American soil for a little while. I felt ashamed I had ever thought it a waste of time. There was so much gratitude, so much generosity, so much loss, and hurt on display. When I walked on, among the rows of crosses, and saw the flag emerge from the morning fog, I can honestly say in that one moment, I understood what it stood for and I was proud.
The walls are marked with 1,700 names of missing soldiers. The remains that have since been found and identified are marked with rosettes.
After leaving Margarten, we headed to Maastrict for a quick walk around a bite of lunch before heading home. I would love to return to the province of Limburg someday and spend more time exploring! Maastricht is very old, dating back to the times of Caeser Augustus. And it doesn't really feel Dutch at all from what I remember.
Maastricht has lots of Roman ruins to explore. All I can offer you here is this photo of the remains of a Roman wall.
Street Performance Art is always fun. And almost always a little bizarre. Rollerskating pigs, and a grand dame pushing a baby carriage
2015
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming....
Tot Ziens!
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