Italy - Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre, Italy, Coast, Beauty, Nice Wine, Small Towns.  Combine Cliffs of Mohare from Ireland with towns along the cliffs, Add warmer weather and less rain and you've got Cinque Terre!

  We got to our town, by passing town 1, 2, and 3.  Cinque Terre consists of five towns built into cliffs on the water.  Originally people came here to flee hard times during the Dark Ages when Viking and Celtic raiding and domination was high after the fall of the Roman Empire.  Security rested in remoteness.  Of course, as the cities grew bigger, notice of the place was taken and raids from the sea took place.  It was a great little place to raid too as it had fertile farmland and perfect weather for oils, wines, pesto, etc.  Today, though there are no raids, they still have a thick culture of food that is very specialized - pasta, pizza, fish.  As we got off the train and walked through the quaint little village, we immediately saw the chill in this place, dropped our bags off, and walked 1 minute to the beach area for a swim.  After, we got ready and headed to the end of the pier for a dinner on the water. 



  The wine was excellent and local.  In fact in Vernazza, unlike some of the other 4 cities, it is still fully locally owned so pretty much anything you buy is from Cinque Terre's 5 cities.  We had an amazing Pesto Pasta called Trefole al Pesto, and Pesto Lasagna which was delicious as well.



  Where we were staying we could look out the roof and see the ocean and cliffs around.  The building we were in was right along the plaza.   We just enjoyed the evening, the sunset and walked around going up and down stairways and running into cats as light faded away.
You can barely make out the train entrance from the mountain on the lower left, and the castle on the upper right, next to the lights-



  The next day we found that there was a flood like 8 months ago (big destruction), and they were using it as an excuse for lots of stuff - like no bank - so no ATM.  Also our town was so small it didn't have a place to do laundry, which we needed done.  We had attempted to catch a train this day to go do laundry and grab some cash but the Trains were on strike… haha.  We walked through the town, got some Gelado, some more pasta, checked out a couple local shops where I bought a snorkel mask (the only one for sale in town).   I planned to swim from the town we were at to the next town ( looked like it would take about an hour), so first I checked out the water and the area around our town.  Starting with a cliff jump.



I moved into the water and dove down to grab some stuff I found around the cliff area, then swam around for about an hour finding a ton of fish and a few jellyfish.

  This one was about the size of my head, if not bigger, so it was fairly large.  I'd actually never swam around jellyfish like this and was damn glad I had a mask on because that thing was huge and would have probably done some damage if I accidentally swam into it.  The mask I had was super small and crappy.  It actually broke and I had to fix it, and it didn't fit well so I wasn't down to make the swim till I found a better mask.



  We had some swordfish for dinner and a fish for dinner - Hah, just cooked whole and all -



  It was delicious, and I loved the garlic and oil spinach with the swordfish.  We then headed down to the end of the pier and just chilled, reading our books and enjoying the weather, scenery, and the ocean crashing on the rocks.

  The next day was pretty chill.  Again, our vacation from vacations.  Plus I was feeling under the weather for some reason, so we did nothing. :) Except catch a 5 minute train to Monterosso, town #5, walk the beach and look for laundry and an ATM.  No laundry, but we DID find an ATM.  We also caught some great food for a good price with an ocean view before heading back to relax some more.  We did laundry in the sink with a lil backup camping soap for washing clothes and used my belt to dry - tip from Alex -



  Day #4 we caught the train to each town and walked around them exploring a bit.  We found that the 1st town, Riomaggiore was super small like our town and had similar food and setup as our town.

  Town #2, Manarola, had the coolest swimming hole area and we committed to coming back and checking that out the next day.



  It also had a bit more to the town than Riomaggiore, and the food was a bit different than just pasta and pizza and seafood, which is all we had been eating for 3 days.  We decided dinner was to be here today =).

  Town #3, Corniglia, was set up at the top of some 382 steps, so after we caught the train there up we went



  This place is high up and on cliffs even more secluded than the other towns.  Pic of Manarola from steps in Corniglia -

  In fact, to get to the water we had to hike down a different set of steps. 



  Beautiful place to swim so we couldn't resist, plus we were getting pretty hot.  The water looked gorgeous,


 
  After our swim and catching the train to pass Vernazza and on to Monterosso, we stopped off to grab me a different mask real quick so we could snorkel together tomorrow in Manarola and also so maybe I have a mask decent enough for the swim between cities ( I decided I wanted a mask I could rely on because of the jellyfish).

  After changing up in Vernazza and heading out, we were back in Manarola in no time having a splendid dinner.  I caught a pic of Candace's cool hair when she wasn't looking! 



Grilled octopus, lobster and vegetables, and Candace had an amazing veggie pasta.  It was all so good that the people who sat next to us saw it and ordered the same thing.  The octopus was a real treat, and unlike any calamari I'd had or had ever seen.  Thick, not chewy, very tasty,





  The Aussies next to us at dinner were pretty cool people and we chit chatted about travel, Europe, America, and Australia for a good half hour after our dinner was done.  After exchanging info with them and teaching them about AirB&B, we headed home to get to be early for our big hike day.

  We took the train to Riomaggiore and started our trek.  It was nice to already be familiar with the towns and we knew right were to go to get to the hike to village #2, where our swim hole awaited us.
  The hike was really nice, short, and right along a cliff.




Looking back at Riomaggiore -



  In Manarola we plopped into the water and snorkeled a bit while cooling off.  I swam between these two cliffs to finish off our swim and off we were to the next town!



  Little did we know that the Costal route was closed for the next town so we had to backtrack

Pic of Manarola looking back from the trail -

 
And take a mountainous route which was 2.5 hours long.
Later looking back at Montarola -



  It took a little convincing to get Candace along for the trek, but once we got going she was into it and thanked me later.



  Great views, crazy pathway, changing climates, walking through vineyards, forests, down cobbled steps, through rooted trails, it was a thoroughly interesting hike.

View of Corniglia from the trail -



  Once to Corniglia, we had to decide to hit the next trail to home or to train it back.  We decided to tough it out and keep on.  With some quick adjustments to my shoes



(which in our rush in the morning to catch the train and with our lodging situation we forgot a couple things - for me socks, for candace socks AND shoes (she had flip flops lol)).  We caught a market along the road and bought some local apricots, some apples, bananas, crackers, refilled our water bottles, and off we went.  Between Corniglia and Vernazza was a easier hike than the 2.5 hour one.  Only about 1.5 hours and less vertical up and descent.  More along the ocean too we were rewarded with lots of cool, different views from the last hike.



  It was fun seeing restaurants that were literally along the hiking trail (towards the end near Vernazza), where you would have to be a hiker to even really go, or just a local out for a small hike from town.  It was also cool seeing our town we had been staying in from a couple different perspectives



  We enjoyed a jump into the ocean to clean off and a shower, then dinner right at the foot of the steps we were staying at.  We enjoyed an awesome bottle of wine, a fresh anchovy tomato potato meal,



salad, and meeting some cool people from America who were over in Europe 3 months!  The guy, Brennen was a translator, and Basha was in retail.  They kinda quit their jobs and are just traveling around.  Fun conversations!



  After some sleep we were off to Florence the next day!!

Italy - Rome

ROMA!!  Hello Italy!

    Our flight arrived in the afternoon and our host for the place insisted on picking us up.  When you don't speak his language and he doesn't really speak English it's quite funny trying to tell eachother where we are or how to meet.  Walking definitely would have been faster.  =) Finally we agreed upon meeting at the McDonalds and Candace and I waited another few minutes and Wala!, a Smart car - Haha.  OVER half the cars in Rome are smart cars, but at the time we didn't know that and It was kinda funny to throw our big packs into the trunk and take all of its room, then fit Candace on my lap in the front seat and head to our Roman Residence.





    Our host offered to drive Ferraris with us tomorrow and then bid us farewell upon which we decided to take a walk.  Soon we were upon the Coliseum which looked like it has been bombarded by cannon balls or possibly damaged in WW bombings.  I just figured they made great footholds and grips for rock climbing.  So up I went - not TOO far, but it was a fun little boulder.



    Of course I could have just gotten in for free that way, but I can't leave my lovely lady behind, nor could I justify cheating anyone, let alone the Romans of the day who I'm sure put at least some of the $ made in entry fees into paying for repairs on such wonders of the world as this, the largest Roman Amphitheater still standing.





    By the time we got done gawking and were ready to go into the thing, it had closed (just missed it!).  So we wandered along and strolled by some other ruins,



found a couple cool arches and found ourselves wandering down a cute street.  The street was lined on either side by a huge wall I definitely couldn't get over even if I had had a boost.  Along either side the wall would open up to views and became gated so that one could catch a glimpse of wide open spaces with some ruins here and there, and huge buildings in the distance, all enhanced with a kind of aura about them that somehow spoke of ancient power.  We passed a woodcarver practicing his trade, a man entertaining a Guitar, and a kitten eating off a plate someone was kind enough to leave out with some treats (most likely guitar dude).



    The street dead-ended so we headed back and then cut around to a new area, almost sneaking into a "book reading" concert that was taking up a huge area that we could not get into.

    We instead headed further into city randomly, seeing more ruins here and there



   and a nice fruitstand.  We came upon a huge ridiculous building - Victor Emmanuel Monument, with over a dozen statues, two immobile guards (yes live humans) standing on guard  in the middle and two never ending flames.




    We wandered further to try to get to Pantheon but got caught up at a classy and cool-looking restaurant that had a deal where you get a buffet and a drink for only 7 euros.  We checked out the buffet and went to town.  The waiter there was a cool Italian that was younger and we talked about the States and how he would love to move there, Nantaz, and so on.  He ended up telling us that if we wanted more for dinner later and real Roma food, to eat like the Romans do, that we shouldn't eat here, but at this other place.  He even called ahead and told them we were coming.  Unfortunately later we found out that the metro closed at 11:30pm and by then it was too late to eat there anyways.



    Walking back we took a different route with beautiful cobblestone pathways and even more Ruins.



    Wandering around historic/downtown Rome is pretty safe, and it was fun just to walk around looking at the city and exploring it.



    Rome is a city built on cities.  It is such a historic site that half the city is practically "Ruins".  Built upon a city filled with more glory than the country Italy today can put forth, stories of the empire that this city was a center of still entice our imaginations today thousands of years later.



     An epic part of history, preservation of ruins is part of life in Rome.  Reconstruction of recently excavated sites is a norm as well.

EPIC DAY

    When in Rome… do as the Romans do.  So for Candace breakfast was Gelado. 



The subway sped us over to the Vatican and in about 5 minutes we were walking alongside the Country/City walls of the Vatican.  It's own independent nation, the Country Vatican City actually lies entirely within the city boundries of Rome.  Its population, less than 1,000 people, all live in these bounds including the Pope of course.  Walls -



    Although not granted entry into the City itself, Europe's largest  museum Vatican Museum is what people come here for.  Although perhaps not the most number of exhibits visible, and not the entire building is actually in use for viewing, it's the building itself that is the largest, including the Sistine Chapel.

    Having been desensitized after visiting the Louvre and seeing several beautiful Cathedrals, the amazing Statues, tapestries, architecture did not have as MUCH impact at it perhaps should have.  It was definitely cool.  I liked most seeing the statues of the Emperors, and to know what they looked like.

    The Sistine Chapel was interesting.  Architecturally bland, the entire wall and ceiling is painted and thats exactly what makes it interesting.  The "drapes" on the wall look real



    And the ceiling was famously painted by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1512 and is interesting how off of the center of the ceiling, on either side are paintings of various people standing and sitting almost as though they were along the wall itself or in a room inside somewhere.  In the very center along the ceiling, gravity defies and it appears in many of the "centers" that you can see interesting sites.  For example, viewing into an endless field, or a scene with a sea in the background, or looking out a castle window and so on.  Its almost as though through the center of the ceiling, there really is no ceiling at all, but rather you can journey or view on and on and on.  In the very center is no exception to this either with the super famous painting - The Creation of Adam.  With a mountain backdrop, this painting appears to show Gods perfect creation, Adam, with his hand extended out casually, while God reaches towards him and their fingers are Almost touching.  The could even touch is Adam just fully extended his finger.



    I also liked the paintings of the county of Italy (as in viewed from above).  Noting that these painting were made before airplanes, GPS, Satellite, helicopters, trains, and while the earth was still believed to be Square, it's amazing their accuracy and its really one of the things that makes them cool in the 1st place -





    After the Museum, we decided to walk around the Vatican walls and head towards St Peters Basilica.  We got Fliered for the nights festivities on a pubcrawl.  John from California gave us the lowdown about meeting at the Piazza Del Campo at the bottom of the fountain, then heading to 3 different places, the last being a boat on the water.  Anyhow, we'll check back in with that in a bit.  St Peters Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world.  Although there has been a church on this site since the 4th century, construction on the current basilica over the old Constantinian basilica began in 1506 and was completed in 1626 over 100 years later.  Despite it's size it's not considered a cathedral because it is not the seat of the bishop in Rome, but regardless, it is pretty sweet.  I liked walking into the huge square in front of it from between the massive pillars while hearing the bells chiming from the Basilica and then taking in the massive view of the square and the church itself.



    Candace had a hard time getting in… we forgot that we might be heading to this church and so we didn't grab the "knee" coverage necessary.  You see, women cannot enter unless you have clothes covering your shoulders and knees as it's deemed not appropriate.  So we just had Candace unbutton her shorts and pull them down, while I tried to use her shirt as a way to cover more as well. lol.



    Anyways, I'm not sure how we got in because the dude was stopping everyone who's dresses didn't go down to literally cover their knees, but we pushed through or something.



Cool tile along the upper level(higher than the ceiling in the above picture), where you could look down and see into the Basilica-


Vatican guards, proper height, weight, and age and all - Guarding the entrance to the Vatican -

    After going inside, and checking out the top of it (lots of steps) and recalling how much higher we were when on the Eiffel Tower, we headed out to take a Taxi to the Pantheon.


   
Rather than describing the Pantheon, I'll just play a video I took -



   Also in the Pantheon is the tomb of Raphael, which we happily listened to a tour guide describe to their group.



  We headed back to where we lived and got a bite to eat where our host recommended, to eat like Romans.  We split 3 dishes, two pasta dishes which were simple but definitely different, and a salad.  The wine was excellent, and the setting was outside, relaxed, and very nice.

    We headed home, changed up and headed out to meet John.



    Once at the bottom of the fountain, we met up and got guided over to Highlander Pub.  On way saw $4000 dresses and a bunch of super high-end stores and met some cool people we walked with.  Once in the Pub, it was all you could drink beer for the 1st hour plus 3 jager bombs.  Candace wasn't drinking and ate a Rice Krispie Treat, compliments of Katen from home.  A futbol game was on and I sat back and relaxed on the couch with beer pong games going on in front of me with Soccer/Futbol in the background. 

    The guy girl ratio was hilarious at this place.  The hosts said sometimes there are all guys, sometimes all girls, mostly a decent mix.  Tonight it was all guys.  It was funny as I went to get another beer I'd always come back and some guy was talking to Candace.  She and I had fun watching the couple girls that were in the place, analyzing how girls got the guys they wanted, and the dynamics of the guys coming up to hit on them and the whole process.  We met a bunch of cool people from Australia and America.  Team USA dominated in beer pong, and I met some cool kids.  A lot of our group headed up to take off for the next bar and to help out all the dudes by moving to a place with ladies.  On the walk I talked with a guy who had a MSU jersey on, met a few other guys that were cool and we continued to pass ruins from thousands years ago.



    The new place has Music and ladies for the guys.  They also didn't have the first two things I pointed at and ordered, both bottles being empty, I had him make me something special that we ended up getting another one of.  After hanging out a bit it was time to move on to the next place.  By now in this group we were being called the Power Couple, and we had people writing random comments in Candace's artist sketchbook that she always has on her, which was definitely fun to look at the next day.



    From there walked over to another place, which we ended up doing instead of the boat because of the guy/girl ratio.  It had a bit better atmosphere and we chilled with some of our new friends more & got some fries before we left =).  After exchanging numbers and emails with some ppl we Taxied it home and passed out.

    Today we head over to Cinque Terre, but we had to hit up the Coliseum before we left!  Up we go, and lets make it a Run to the Coliseum so we have time to see it!



    We made it inside and pretended to be Gladiators as we said "We who are about to die salute you!" and entered into the side of the arena where we could see the whole of the inside.



  We walked around the inside, learning a bit about the history as we went along.  After visualizing a few more ancient battles and animals fighting and public executions, we ran back to grab our bags and get a ride to the station from our host who randomly showed up as we were walking out



  Heading out to the Italian Riveria - Cinque Terre!  A Vacation from our Vacation.  A place to chill.  Do nothing. (well I don't know about that ;)

JJ&CJ