This year, Anna and me took two recreational weeks in Italy. After we headed down the pass through Switzerland we had a stop in Lugano and climbed Monte Generoso which generously offered us a marvelous panoramic view over the Alps, Lombardy region, and Northern Italian lakes. From there we made our way to Liguria where we had the chance to see some of the most magical places on earth. There are beautiful places such as Portofino or the national park of Cinque Terre (meaning five soils). It is impressive how in this region, and probably in many more places along the Mediterranean sea, people traded short distance to sea and thereby to fish grounds and sea routes for a gargantuan effort to build houses on edgy and skewed cliffs tenth of meters above the sea. And, not only did they build houses on cliffs in a inhospitable environment permanently under attack by the sea (namely, waves and salt water), but painted their homes in all sorts of colors creating a surreal scenery.
We weren’t able to keep our fingers from hitting our camera’s button and capture the beauty forever (on our harddrive). During our daily hikes along the coast line at Portofino and Cinque Terre we had the best opportunity discover the surroundings of the small fishing villages and, of course, the villages themselves. We also didn’t spare a swim or two in the Mediterranean sea whilst our hikes 🙂

Before we went to Lago di Como (=Lake Como) there was one more visit we had to tick off: Pisa. Holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa and continue to Larius Lacus (= Lake Como). Lake Como with its pearl Bellagio was another inexplicable experience. There a are wonderful old mansions by the lake, again in all colors, and palm trees in the middle of an Alps scenic view. Driving a boat (or pursuing any other occupation on or in the lake) is an impression impassable via a blog that must be experienced at first hand.

For me that trip had a perfect mixture of components I love in vacations: recreation, experiences, and adventure. My next trip will have a good portion of adventure and sure a lot of experiences. However, recreation might come short on our ascent to Uhuru Peak at Mount Kilimanjaro. Surely can cope with it 😉