Once upon a time I was young and on Elba. It was the summer of 1998; people were just starting toworry about Y2K and the supposedapocalypse, at least of their computers; I was about to graduate with a Master’s degree in English with which I had no idea what to do. My boyfriend and I lived as if we were in a Hemingway novel but without the war or any of the heartache. Without the general malaise, really. We were just young and drank a lot. We traveled Europe and wore plastic jellies on the beach. His were clear and mine were pink. The water was turquoise and of all theplaceswe wen...[more »]

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut My first glimpse of Vernazza was from high above the town. I had been hiking through through miles of terraced mountainside vineyards on a stone and dirt path that connects the five spectacular, remote villages known as Cinque Terre, Italy. Concentrating on my feet, I negotiated a particularly narrow section that swept around the mountain. I clutched the vertical wall on my left and tried not to look at the sheer drop-off to the deep blue Adriatic Sea on my right, praying that I would not meet another hiker coming from the opposite direction. When the...[more »]

by Barbara Ann Weibel of Hole In The Donut The beach in Monterosso al Mare's old town, as seen from the walking trail leading around the rocky outcropping that splits the town in two Like precious gems strung on a chain of rock, the five villages of Cinque Terre hang from high cliffs that tower over the Mediterranean in this northwestern corner of Italy’s boot. These crown jewels of the Italian Riviera sparkle with color – from the brightly painted buildings cascading down the mountainsides to the riotous beach umbrellas lining the shores of the Ligurian coast. Of the five town...[more »]