Hello everyone!
This is the first time I'm doing this from my tablet versus a dedicated PC, so forgive any errors. The last week or so has been a whirlwind and I haven't had much time to post with all the commotion, so I'll probably do the next two in one sitting, starting with Cinque Terre and Rome.
Cinque Terre is the name used for a collection of five towns - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore - spread out a few kilometers from one another just south of Genoa. Initially founded in the 11th century, these five towns were carved into the sides of the rocky cliffs and mountainsides that make up the western coast of Italy. We arrived in Cinque Terre not really knowing what to expect other than what fellow backpackers and the ever-popular Internet had told us. Neither did this place justice. If you could close your eyes and imagine it while reading this I would have you try, but my photos and explanation will have to suffice. We got off the train and were immediately funneled with over a hundred other tourists into a little subterranean tunnel. We came out into a narrow courtyard at the bottom of a winding staircase up into the hills with houses on either side. The pack of tourists, ourselves included, moved through another tunnel bordering the train tracks. After a good 300 meters we arrived into the southernmost town of Riomaggiore.
To our left was a wide and winding road surrounded by tall Italian style buildings. The road quickly curved out of sight, but on either side you could see the buildings raise higher and higher up the sides of the two bordering mountains that helped to make the valley Riomaggiore is in. To the right was an absolutely phenomenal view of the medditerranean. It was about two hundred feet below us, and from our vantage point Steve, our friend Sylvie, (who decided to tag along from Pisa) and I could see everything: the cobblestone path leading straight to the water, the locals preparing their dingys to go out fishing, the narrow hiking paths the flanked the cliffs to either side, the massive water taxis shuttling people between the towns, and the Mediterranean all the way to the horizon. I'm hard pressed to think of a more breathtakingly beautiful place that I have encountered.
Our hostel was quite a hike up some claustrophobia-inducing staircases, though we ended up with a villa complete with a kitchen, private bathroom, and a big bunk room at the top of the stairs that slept six. We were paired up with a young couple from Hong Kong and three dudes from Florida State who, much to everyone else's chagrin, insisted on talking college football with me into the early hours of the morning.
We made the most of our first day in Cinque Terre, visiting Manarola, Vernazza, and Monterosso. We got a little buzzed on the beach in Monterosso and proceeded to cliff jump for nearly two hours. Sylvie managed to slice her hand up pretty good, so we called it quits and started on what we thought would be a quick hike to Vernazza. Turns out the hike is 3.5 kilometers of vertical over three mountains. Naturally, Steve led the way, followed by me and Sylvie (who's cut was still bleeding pretty badly). We pushed ourselves hard through the whole thing, after two hours were rewarded with some truly spectacular views of Vernazza. We took the train back to Riomaggiore where we were able to clean up, get some medical help, and have a killer dinner. We crashed that night, hard.
The next day, after more exploration, Sylvie said her goodbyes and headed for Munich, while Steve and I border the train to Rome.
We didn't arrive in Rome until nearly midnight, and after hearing from plenty of people about the pickpockets and theives in the Station, Roma Termini, we were on high alert. Have g gotten better and navigating foreign cities, Steve and I quickly found our hostel - Alessandro Palace and Bar. The place was massive, and was full of English speaking people from the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. Our bunk mates were two girls - Shania and Rachel - who, as it turns out, were from Metro Detroit as well! We chatted for a while about detroitey things before turning in for the night.
The next day we did laundry for the first time on the trip, fun, and signed up for a tour of the Vatican. We arrived in the nick of time, and were able to skip the entire Vatican line with our group to get right in. The architecture of the different buildings was incredible. As we made our way through the museum, Steve mentioned that he doesn't think he's ever been around that much wealth in his entire life. I couldn't have put it any better myself, the place was insane! Priceless art littered literally every available surface in the place, and what wasn't a painting or a sculpture was gold. Everything was covered in solid freaking gold. I wish I could describe all of what we saw, but I truly couldn't do any of it justice. I will mention, however, that Michaelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel was beyond comprehension. It took him four years, working alone, to do the ceiling of the Chapel, and it was like every brush stroke held some hidden meaning or symbolism. The central piece of the entire ceiling, the creation of Adam, is even cooler in person. Armed guards prevented me from snapping photos, but I'm certain you've all seen exactly what I'm talking about. That evening we highlighted by a pub crawl in Rome that included two bars and a pretty awesome club. Steve and I met a ton of people from all over the world and had an absolute blast letting loose. I ended up losing Steve for like three hours, though we both managed to stumble our way back home intact.
Day 2 in Rome featured sleeping in until nearly 1PM, or 1300 if you're cool, and me getting a haircut from an old Italian man (turned out great!). We went to the Colosseum and Roman Forum that afternoon. I had heard that the Colosseum in particular was smaller than people than people expected, I thought it was massive. It was really something to walk around in a space where, thousands of years earlier, people fought and died for the entertainment of others. I'll be honest I regards to the Roman forum, I didn't even know it was there prior to taking this trip. For those who might be in the same boat as me, it is essentially a collection of ruined villas, fountains, meeting areas, lookouts, basilica, and temples directly next to the Colosseum. Steve and I agreed that the forum actually outshone the Colosseum for us. Mainly because it was a glimpse into what ancient Rome might have looked like. We turned in early that night in preparation for our 5:45AM flight to Athens.
More to come, love you all!
P. S. Thank you all for the wonderful emails! It's great to hear from everyone back home and keep up with what you're all up to. :)
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