Excerpts from my journal on the way to Cinque Terre

The following excerpt was written in my journal on the train after I left Verona through the stretch of North Italy by train until i finally reached the Coast of Liguria where my destination was.

" Verona was as pretty as Venice, a sleepy sort of northern italian town with rolling green hills and cream coloured bridges that are overlooked by medieval monastries. The town boasts some fine roman architecture that few are aware of besides having the third biggest ancient colosseum in the world. Verona had taken me by surprise; it was much prettier than i had expected. the soothing atmosphere suited the place perfectly, the kind of place where you could hide under a tree and fall asleep, listening to leaves rustling and the whispers of time gone by. its too difficult to imagine the kind of turmoil described in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but certainly the love. I climbed to the top of one of the castellos and was offered one of the finest views of Verona - so typically italian with the orange roofs, green trees and clear blue sky.

I am currently on the Italian regional train and i have just passed Parma, which bequested to us ham of the same name. I avow to try some pesto in Cinque Terre, supposedly the regional specialty. So far on this train journey I have passed some of the oldest and most important cities ever to have existed. Though the Lombardy and Piedmontese regions, there was Padua the oldest of the Renaissance university towns, foothold of some of the greatest Humanists and supposedly the oldest city in Northern Italy. And then there was Mantua, surrounded by 3 placid lakes, founded as early as 2000BC and birth place of Virgil, then later seat of the powerful Gonzaga family. i pass the nothern highlands through the Emilio-Romagna region i pass Bologna and Ferrara rumoured to be very pretty also with the exception of Modena where the expensive automobiles are manufactured. Its amazing how these people actually live with the medieval churches and houses, some actually residing in them.

I love train travel. Right now I am going in and out of tunnels through the Ligurian region, presumably under mountains. Sure, I see the streams and tons of mountains wihch are either the Apennines or Italian Alps and i am waiting eagerly for the suddenness of the sea to hit me. I am sure my train goes along the coast. the sun is setting and this scene is too beautiful for words- its too haunting with just these mountains, streams, houses and fortified castles.