Are we there yet?

 We are going on a holiday; destination Moneglia, to explore the unique area of Cinque Terre coastline. This was the first resting place on our "10 day road trip", (to be said with teenage surfy undertones dude).  We pack up house, kitchen sink, and anything else that can be squeezed into our 2 car convey.  Of course, it goes without saying that our adventures are always planned and performed with meticulous execution....



Crowd blocking our escape route!

My husband and my father, (who is currently recovering from suspected food poisoning acquired from the UK 24 hours prior), head off in the car to collect a rental car not too far from home.  A few moments after they leave the apartment, I hear a murmur from outside, the windows start to vibrate slightly, and when I investigate, I see a large crowd heading down the street holding banners and chanting like a crowd of volunteers on Extreme Makeover Home Edition.  Alas, am I not a contender for a free apartment renovation? No I am not!  Instead my street is being closed and filled by hundreds of young students and families, (either protesting or marching, not quite sure of the event), chatting happily and totally oblivious to the fact that they are postponing my holiday and now my husband can not leave his car space.  Perhaps this is the perfect time for my father to recieve a driving lesson Italian style?  After all, driving the pedestrian only piazza last week was just an introduction... Our street is obviously out of bounds, (do not want to start our holiday with any juvenile mortality, actually any mortality would be a bit of a downer), next option, drive thru the local coffee shop, down the footpath to the end of our street, over a few kerbs, not a problem.  "There you go dad, driving lesson number 2!"

Finally ready to leave Milan, it takes us 20 minutes to subtract 5km off the GPS route; we stop for petrol, then stop 2 km later for lunch, (we ended up leaving later than anticipated and grumpy children to feed).  So 7 km from home, over an hour of travelling; I have a feeling this may be a long day... "Are we there yet! Are we there yet!"

Did I mention I got a new pair of sunglasses?  They are prescription and a birthday present from my soul mate.  In the real world they were due for collection on my birthday; Italian time; they were almost 2 weeks late.  Apparently the lenses broke 3 times in the assembling process, but they gave me free eye cream to ease my burden, (just in case I show my burden in the form of bags under my eyes)?  Anyway...if I do say so myself... in my new sunglasses... I look like a rock star!  Although, being prescription, and perhaps, a little varied to my 5 year old pair that I have been to sentimental to replace, I felt a little dizzy after wearing them for a while.  I mentioned to my husband early in the drive that they made me feel like I had 'had a few', but after one hour, I felt like I had 'had a lot'!  I am soon back in my nerdy glasses, hugging a tupperware container to my chest, (contents of travel snacks lying at my feet), breath in the nose, ahhhhhh, slowly out the mouth, not feeling so good.  Maybe I need to adjust slowly to my cool sunglasses, or just adjust slowly to being cool, (it is quite a reach after all).  Perfect timing for nausea to set in would be as we arrive at a tunnel entrace to be told it only opens 3 times each hour. Waiting for the light to turn green, I managed a quick photo of a cross on a random sea rock, my husband changes a nappy, I breath in and out slowly, hold my hand up to my parents in a "talk to the hand" type manner as I concentrate on not decorating the interior of our car unnecessarily with body fluids.

Enter the 'Bat Cave' Batman!

 Light turns green, we enter the bat cave, (a surreal underground tunnel to our holiday destination), and take a wrong turn thru a coastline caravan park, up an extremely steep hill, with numerous 6 point turns, to arrive at a dead end.  We contact the hotel manager, who laughs and tells us in very fast Italian, that we are obviously in the wrong place.  The perfect place for a scenic photo, my husband assures us once again that it is all part of the plan.  We head towards Mongelia, (after a few rotations of a round about and no doubt my parents fear of going into another pedestrian piazza), and arrive to a hill top haven, perfect for the start of our adventure.  Soul mate made me forget about feeling ill after all the navigation confusion, (he always knows how to divert my train of thought, a husband's role?), and we happily settle into our hill top 2 bedroom self-contained apartment, with roof top views of a spectacular sunset.  Perfect.  Accomodation was found last minute, and the value for money seemed too good to be true (I thought we would be showering in acid).  So we showered the children first, no scars or screams, so I figure we scored a bargain as far as accomodation is concerned.  I feel like we are truly holidaying in Italy.  And tomorrow, we shall conquer Cinque Terre.....



View from our apartment verandah...



Sunset from our kitchen window...