Going back – to Camogli, Italy

I have been looking back and reminiscing as my Facebook site keeps sending me “one year ago today” reminders. So, I thought it would be a good time to fill in some of my blanks before I dive into creating a scrapbook on my trip. I am almost done with my “Florida and Back” trip from earlier in 2022. I am definitely behind! So here it goes…

After leaving Como, Italy I sent my daughter home and jumped on a train south to Camogli through Genoa and Milan. All was going well, until……Milan. All of a sudden our non-stop train stopped just outside of Milan. It turns out there was an earthquake ahead and they needed to make sure the lines were safe for us to continue. So they passed out some snacks and water and left us to sit. About an hour later we parked at the station and an employee walked through and said “cancelled”. He did not speak English and I don’t speak Italian so it was very confusing. In fact many in my car were Americans and didn’t speak much Italian either! But we just got up and followed everyone out the door. I was pointed towards customer service (at this point I was in tears and trying to pull it together), where you take a number. This line moved SLOW and there were over 100 people in front of me (an hour later), so I kept walking back and forth to the taxi station but most were gone. About 90 minutes later I finally found a taxi driver willing to drive me to Camogli, which was about an hour south. I just barely made it to the hotel before they closed for the night. I was so grateful I definitely gave him a good tip!

Camogli was beautiful and a great place to stop and relax. I rented a small efficiency mid-way down the “cliff” that leads from the main part of town to the historic part of the city along the coast. I washed clothes (in the sink) and hung them out on a line to dry. They had a tiny “kitchen in a box) that had a small stove and microwave and I did find a small grocery store on top of the hill. I bought a giant box of Corn Flakes, which definitely brought home a taste of home! And there was a lovely garden in front that I spent some time relaxing in, when it wasn’t raining.

On Monday I met up with a friend of a friend (Alexandra) who took me on a tour of a part of the Cinque de Terre region via ferry. This was my favorite part of my trip, she was awesome. We stopped in Portofino, San Fruttuoso, and San Margherita. I am glad for her company, by this time I was a little nervous and I know I wouldn’t have had the courage to try the ferries without her! We also had an awesome lunch in San Margherita, I had the linguini with clams, and a great dessert. It was a beautiful day and she helped me understand how to figure out the trains a bit to help alleviate my fears over trying again.

As my stop in Camogli came to an end, I headed up to the train station for my journey to Nice, France. Sadly not non-stop, I did one changeover near the border between Italy and France. I also did a great job getting a few complaints about all the room I took up with my backpack and luggage as we got closer to Nice. The further along we went, the more people that boarded and I ended up crammed into a corner with all my stuff, trying to be smaller than I was. LOL I will write more later!