The Weekend in Black and White

I took this picture of my brother David in 2008,
when we were hiking in Italy's Cinque Terre; we took
the trip two years after he'd been diagnosed
with Stage 4 cancer.  He managed to hang with us until
April 2011 and stayed in character—energetic, positive, and
gregarious—until the end.  Missing you, David. 

[To see more b/w photos, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"trail"

Hiking in Italy's Cinque Terre:
The trail from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza
is not the easiest one I've ever hiked and I 

was usually bringing up the rear, as you can see.

(I'm more of a NYC-concrete walker than an 

"uphill rugged terrain" kind of girl).
If you want to see the reward at the top of

this trail, look at yesterday's post.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—W is for "Waterlogue"

My pal Virginia at Paris Through My Lens introduced
me to this app called Waterlogue that can
make your photo look like a watercolor painting.
It's tons of fun, but (in this case anyway) . . .

to be completely honest, I
think I prefer my original photo
of the beautiful village of Vernazza,
in Italy's Cinque Terre.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"outdoors"

To be perfectly honest, I'm mostly an indoors
kind of girl.  However, I am more than willing and able
to pull on a pair of sturdy shoes and make the uphill
effort for a payoff like this.  I took this shot from a
hiking trail in Italy's Cinque Terre and our destination—the
beautiful village of Vernazza—had just come into view.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—K is for "kitties"

These are some of the well-fed kitties that roam
all over the lovely village of Vernazza, in Italy's
Cinque Terre. In fact, I don't know if these cats are
still there.  Eleven months ago, Vernazza was all
but destroyed by a massive landslide.  Fortunately,
the town is now almost completely restored
(see longtime Vernazza-lover Rick Steve's report)
and I hope the kitty population is once again thriving too.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Thursday Challenge — "thankful"

Impossible to choose one photo to show all the things I'm thankful for.
But I should be thankful for every new day that dawns—and
especially when I get to greet the dawn in a place like this.
It was the view from my window when I got up to record
the 7 a.m. church bells in Vernazza, in the Cinque Terre.


To see more thankfulness, visit the Thursday Photo Challenge:
http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

Traveling Tuesdays—the Cinque Terre

In honor of our host Sandi's upcoming trip, here's
the picture everyone takes when they hike from
Monterosso al Mare and get this view of Vernazza.
With an incredible vista at every turn, I
"OMG"ed my way along the entire length of this trail!


To see more Tuesday Travels, visit Sandi's blog:
http://whistlestopcooking.blogspot.com/

abc wednesday - O is for "open"

Yes, the gate is open, but the good

people of Vernazza in Italy's Cinque Terre 

are probably in no hurry to get

in . . . even though their little cemetery

at the tippy-top of the town truly has

a view to die for!

[See how others interpreted "O" here.]

abc wednesday - H is for "horizon"

Admittedly, the horizon is probably not the first

thing you notice in this shot of the beautiful

village of Vernazza, in Italy's Cinque Terre.

But there it is out there (and even without a

ship disappearing over it I can see how

Columbus came to his correct conclusion).

[See more ABC posts here.]

Photo Hunter — "fast"

The express train came tearing through

Vernazza in the Cinque Terre—going so fast 

it seemed as though we could see

through it! (Though, apparently, we

actually could see through it—how is that

possible?) Anyway, this is exactly 

how I feel about the approaching holidays, 

and I'm so NOT ready.

[Check out more "fast" photos at PhotoHunt, /here.]

boats

At the get-together with Eric tonight, I met a NYC

blogger named Mame, who told me about a blog

she loves: by a guy in Scotland who puts up

pictures of boats, just boats.   I'll have to find

it and check it out; meanwhile, I'm inspired.

that room (with a view)

I showed you this room (on 10/7), from an

old issue of Conde Nast Traveler.  But I did

manage to book this very room (no mean

feat), and here it is—more or less as captured

by the CNT photog (who was, I now 

know, standing on the bed)

 . . . and seen from the trail (after a

1- to 2-hour hike from Monterosso

al Mare, the next village up the coast).

hiking in Paradise

Here's our base camp for hiking the

Cinque Terre. (Sorry for the soft photo, but

I had to take this off the computer screen.)

Am seriously hoping for decent weather

for today!

and what a view!

Saw this picture in a magazine a long

time ago, and swore that if I ever made

it to the Cinque Terre, this is where I'd stay.

And I am.  Hope the weather cooperates,

because as cool as this room is, I don't

want to spend that much time in it.