Mi chiamo Yisha...and my Italian impersonation is better than my actual Italian

So...I've decided to revive this blog because now that I'm on my own I have way more free time without Tian Shen's accompaniment and entertainment. Free time also mainly due to the fact that I dislike eating in restaurants alone and that took up quite a bit of our time when we were together...

Just finished 3 days in the Cinque Terre. Absolutely gorgeous area, UNESCO really got it right when they listed it as a World Heritage sight. For a picture of the town I stayed in: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Riviera5terre.JPG

Since I'm on a shared computer with limited time, I'll just share one story. My second day there I decided to go to the beach, and relax for the whole day...but not before picking up some Cinque Terre wine to enjoy while basking in the sun. So I bought a little 350mL bottle of Cinque Terre white wine for 6Euros. Then realized as I was walking out of the store (very pleased with myself) that I didn't have a corkscrew/bottle opener. So...I walked back into the store and spent a very amusing 10 minutes trying to explain my dilemma to the Italian store owners (who I think thought I wanted to return it...in fact they tried to take it and give me back my money). Finally they got the message, opened the bottle for me and then I emptied my water bottle and poured the wine in. Resourceful? I think so. But I may have given the impression that Asian tourists are alcoholics as this all occurred before noon...

The benefits of my Canada flag patch have also seemed to kick in. There was a family at my hostel in Cinque Terre who introduced themselves, and let me share their limoncino because of it. Also got a free metro pass from a fellow Canadian today in Milan because they bought an extra. Yay for distinguishing myself as not just another Asian tourist!!

More to come later...