Last night a lass from Surrey gave me solid advice for next stops, so now it’s gonna be Genoa > Florence > Bologna > Venice.

Sara (Italy) lives in Bologna so we’re going to meet up when I get there and she’s gonna show me the best of it–you can’t beat a local guide.

We got up early today to head over to Cinque Terre, after two cancelled trains we were told there’s work on the lines and it’d be hard to get there argh! Hank (Colorado) and I were gutted.

The day was not lost! Forecast for storms but we still hit the bus down to Boccadasse Beach for the afternoon, chill & swim. Nice 6km walk back to the hostel in the thunderstorm and rain.

Back to the hostel, there’s an awesome kitchen here with free fresh vegetables and pasta so I cooked up some spaghetti and puttanesca; based on my vague recollections of how Pete used to whip some up back in the day.

Tonight, few beers and waiting out the rain. I shall see what the vibe is when the other guys n gals come back in a bit, Gilles (Switzerland) and Spencer (Canada) always seem up for a lark.