Tutti frutti, misc, etc.: Oh Italy! (part1)

6/12/2009

Oh Italy! (part1)

Manarola, Cinque Terre

It was a few years ago.
We were receiving my my cousin and best friend Marc and Hélène, his girfriend for supper, we were having Indian food, and wine was joyfully flowing...
Marc happened to mention how he had lent his mountain cottage to a violinist friend and her italian lover, and how this lover's family had an apartment in Marina de Massa, near Carrara, Italy, that she would be willing to share as a trade if he so desired... He also mentioned that this was very close to the Cinque Terre, a string of picturesque villages, hooked on the cliffs of the Riviera di Levante, and also near the northern border of Tuscany...
Needless to say that it didn't fall into a deaf man's ears (this is a translation of a french expression, I don't know if it exists in english). I then suggested that were the apartment spacious enough, it would be really great if we could all profit from this offer.

Time went by...

One day, whilst on the web, I stumbled upon a photo of Manarola, one of Cinque Terre's villages, I copied it, and pasted it in an email with the mention: Here is a photo of Cinque Terre. Is my memory at fault or is this the place where you were offered a condo?
And at the end of the mail: You cousin who thinks of you...

Well, believe it or not, a year later, Marc announced me that if I were still interested, we could join them in an Italian vacation in the coming months, provided our schedules could match!

These are just a few of the hundreds of photos that I took during this marvelous trip...