Things that are cool and things that are not cool in Italy

things that are NOT cool:
-not being able to read bus/train schedules. when i finally think we've got it, we're riding in a bus and end up in the same place we started, or we end up in La Spezia train station from 11:30 p.m. until 1 in the morning instead of in the beautiful village of Vernazza. NOT cool!!!

-La Spezia (see above)

-we call it military time at home. here they just call it time, but after 12:59 p.m., i'm always confused about what time it is.

-all the cats in Cinque Terre. and the couple at the table next to us during dinner in Monterosso who kept feeding them . . . yeah, thanks for that . . .

-public and restaurant bathrooms. . . usually no toilet paper and sometimes even no toilet, just a hole in the ground. interesting trying to use those.

-walking or standing next to Italian women in very fashionable high heeled shoes, nice outfits, perfect hair and make-up. Yes, it makes me feel a little inferior in my now beat up tennis shoes, no make-up, and wearing the same thing I wore yesterday. (Their feet must be genetically made for these shoes and these cobblestone roads . . . i couldn't do it!)

things that are very cool about Italy:

-Picorino cheese from Pienza . . . a taste of heaven

-coffee . . . yes, its even better than Biggby!

-okay, so even though the bathrooms are not the greatest (see above), there most of the time seems to be plenty of soap and water, which is very very very appreciated.

-the Cinque Terre trail . . . my shoes and maybe even my feet will never be the same, but it was worth every second!

-Riding the bus in Tuscany successful. only happened once out of several tries, but it was a good feeling.

-SHOPPING! i successfully bargained down the price for a suitcase today in Florence at the market (15 euros!) by myself. Ed would have settled for 20. (we bought too much stuff here and need a place to put it all!)

-Lemon trees, olive groves, rows of grape vines, tiny villages on the edge of cliffs, clear blue water that you can see through all the way to the bottom, and the view of a pink sky over the water while eating seafood and pesto for dinner.