Little Legs, Big steps – Part 3

I really don’t even know where to start with Cinque Terre. It was full of so many moments of laughter and happiness that its kind of a blur of smiles and sunshine.

First off – People will say not to spend more than 2 days in Cinque Terre but I would argue you could comfortably spend a lifetime there.

Eryn and I landed in Cinque Terre that first night and went straight to sleep. The next morning we woke up bright and early to catch the shuttle into the first town (forgive me for not even attempting to recall the individual town names) and got started on our adventures!

The first thing we did was have a meltdown when we saw an omelette breakfast shop. We. Don’t. Eat. Protein. In. Italy. The sight of eggs was maybe the highlight of my week, so of course we spent a good portion of our morning feasting over these eggs.

Then we stopped at the train station to pick up our hiking pass and headed off to town 3 to start the “leisurely stroll” we were promised.

Do not go to Cinque Terre for a leisurely stroll. Go if you are training to climb Mount Everest or if you are seriously trying to get that beach body for that special somebody back home. I repeat, Cinque Terre is designed to make softer bodied people confuse tears for sweat and die in a puddle of heat.

Dramatic?

All I could think of during this 2 hour duration was how much I regretted not joining the Cross Fit cult when I had a chance.

It started with a whole lot of stairs. And it was all uphill from there.

We got going and about 35 seconds into the hike Eryn and I lost the shirts and had our skimpy little bikini tops struggling to stay upright with all the sweat on our bodies. We got a couple of looks in the beginning but about mid way we were greeted with the grunts of other women who lost the self esteem issues and were down to their bras and rolled up bermuda shorts.

  

At some point Eryn, bless her sweet 5 foot frame, panted that she was going to write a poem titled “Little legs, Big steps” to commemorate her time in Cinque Terre.

Don’t get me wrong – I would do it every day for that view. I mean my lord, someone upstairs put a lot of thought into this little piece of heaven on earth. It was absolutely stunning and it was worth every drop that slid down into questionable crevices.

  

Although we had a lot of ambition (I promise) and wanted to do the 2 hikes in the same afternoon, after we stopped for a short sitting break we decided we couldn’t get up. So we hobbled over to the 5th town where the tourists flocked because of the beautiful beach there. Eryn and I were pretty delirious at this point in our afternoon so we splurged and spent a pretty penny for chairs and an umbrella on a private beach. So worth it.

To summarize this picture perfect afternoon: 5 hours. Shade for my white, white skin. Sand in my toes. 1 vodka lemons. 1 new business venture with Eryn. Perfect water. 1 more vodka lemon for good measure.

I live in Florida, people. That was hands down the best day on a beach, period. I loved every moment of that lazy afternoon.

   

Afterward we headed back to town 1 where we grabbed some dinner and explored the area for a little while until we had to run back up to our meeting point for the shuttle to pick us up.

We went straight to bed and the next morning marked the beginning of the real adventures!

Sunrise in Como – Part 2

Ahem. After I actually made it to Como after my quick vacation in Switzerland, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

It’s funny because I was just talking to my friend about how nothing significant has really gotten in the way of our travels and we just seem to have the best luck when taking our weekend excursions.

Of course then my trip to Como was plagued by rainstorms the entire time we were there. I could be a super optimist and pretend like I really loved the view of the lake withstanding the downpour or discuss the beauty of the empty streets, watching people take cover.. but I won’t because it kinda sucked just a little.

Come on, this is Lake Como! We go for the sunny skies and hikes!

But in the end, Eryn and I still made the best out of the situation!

For the first few hours it was disgusting outside. It was pouring, gray, and cold. Kind of everyone’s ideal vacation. So we took refuge in a café and hung out for a while waiting for the storm to pass. Then we met up with my friend from high school, Alex, and we went out exploring the lake together! The weather had generously cleared up and we walked around half the circumference of the lake, taking in the gorgeous water and the view of the mountains hitting the lake from all sides.

I endured wet feet for some of these pictures, so please enjoy! I realized I’d never seen a swan in person (that I can recall).. so yay for the little “first times”!

 

After our journey around the cute town we headed back to our hostel. Our hostel is on a mountain so we had to shuttle in which was a little bit of a drawback. The upside? Our hostel was on a mountain. As soon as we got back we decided to take full advantage of the sunshine that had magically appeared out of nowhere and we went for a 30 minute hike up a path that had the most breathtaking panoramic view of Lake Como and the surrounding mountains.

We headed back to the hostel and got there just in time for dinner. As you may have come to realize, my favorite part of my travels have been the people I’ve encountered.

 

This hostel was an incredibly unique experience because it was so homey and small, and was lodged on top of a mountain. It was a little chilly out, with the rain drizzling again, and it was just cold enough to wear my sweatshirt. I think I had one of the most perfect evenings in Europe just sitting at a big table with the 10 of us that was at the hostel (Again, that’s what made it so unique. There were only 10 of us sleeping in the whole joint). We had homemade Italian food and there were new friends from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, California, and Brazil. Conversation and food were flowing and it was just a moment of peacefulness during an otherwise insanely fast paced vacation.

The next morning Eryn and I woke up a quarter to 5 with our new friend Tess and hiked back up the mountain to watch the sun rise. Wow. On the list of things I never thought I’d see in my life? Watching the sunrise on the mountain range between Switzerland and Italy. It was a perfect start to a fun day.

  

After an hour of beautiful weather in the morning, the rain took its position and started ruining lives.

So the general consensus amongst 2 Australians, myself, Tess, Eryn, and Alex was that we should just head over to Milan for the afternoon and then that night we would set out for Cinque Terre.

We all set out on the train together and for an hour I tried to explain the greek system in the universities in America. Yeah, that one didn’t go over too well with them.

After we landed in Milan Tess, Eryn and I headed out to grab some lunch while the others checked into their hostel.

   

I am finally embracing my redundancy because obviously I’m onto something when it comes up so often.. but I think it bears repeating: I love these people.

Tess is in the medical field and she just finished a year long working visa in England and is off to find work elsewhere but in the meantime she’s traveling.

Over a glass of wine and a pizza per person we dove into conversation about her work in the medical field, her favorite places to travel, and everything in between.

I think my favorite point in this conversation is when we all were discussing how travel has given us a lot of hope for our generation. When you travel you meet people from all over the world and who represent a bulk of the population they are from. What you can see from meeting people from 50 countries is that we all want a peace and some kind of solution to the big issues. We might not agree on how to achieve that, or at what cost, but at the end of the day, the normal joe, the kid who goes home to a family, work in the morning, and has bills to pay, just wants a healthier world and a happier future.

 

From traveling you lose this feeling of “Oh, that’s Australia.. India.. Brazil.. *Insert any country here*” and instead you think “Oh, well Tess, Uri, Sam..” and you can finally humanize the other 7 billion people we share space with.

Maybe other people caught onto this lesson without having to travel across the world to learn it, but it was such an exciting realization to have that I am not alone in America and should I just reach out, there is an entire international community with similar objectives and aspirations.

  

After one of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve had in Europe, we headed back to the Duomo to meet our friends before Eryn and I headed off to Cinque Terre.

We said our goodbyes and Eryn and I hopped on a train headed straight for the most beautiful place in Italy!

The Luck of the Irish

My phone has this cute habit of dying when I’m having adventures and want to take pictures.. but I have gathered the few pictures I do have from my Irish adventures! (In hindsight though this is one of the most picture heavy posts I’ve written.. Sorry)

To preface this post about Ireland I should mention that my mom’s dad was from Ireland and his whole family is Irish. I know next to nothing about the Irish culture which is what made this trip all the more important to me — there will be a post coming soon just on my perception of the Irish and how I feel about my experiences with its culture. But for now I’ll just do my “week in pictures”!

 

To start with I fell in love with Dublin from the moment we left the airport to get to our hostel. It was big, rustic, and lively. I can’t ever recall a time that a city that I’ve envisioned in books coming to life in a way that Dublin did for me that first day! The streets are lined with pubs, shops, and there were so many people out and about despite the chilly weather and gray skies. Absolutely. Stunning.

 

I think we can all agree that traveling is the worst part of travel. The buses, the plane rides, the number of hours of just waiting is absolutely exhausting and I almost always count that day as a lost afternoon just because of how we tired we all are after transporting our bodies across borders. So the first day we just settled in and made some plans, went to dinner at the oldest pub in Ireland, and agreed to be up bright and early the next morning!

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On our second day in Dublin we found ourselves on a free 3 hour walking tour provided by our lovely hostel! Ohmygoodnessgracious. Day 2 and I was coming up with plans to obtain my Irish citizenship and figure out how I could move to this wonderful city.

 

Our guide had that dry sense of humor that initially took me by surprise but which I quickly came to enjoy. I learned more in that 3 hours than I ever have in a history class just because we were walking around and heard from someone directly impacted by Irish history. It was at this point that I started to get a taste of what a hard past Ireland has gone through. Our guide would have been scolded back in the States for his controversial commentary on the politics, religion, and culture of his country. I loved every bit of it. I appreciated the fact that he didn’t separate the reality of his country from the pretty scenery and the nice monuments. He made it clear why the monuments held significance, or didn’t.

   

We had delicious pot pie during our break halfway through the tour and it was such a nice afternoon just sitting outside and listening to that brogue accent and watching people going about their business!

 

One of the most captivating things I saw on the tour were these statues scattered across Dublin featured in the far right picture above. Everywhere we went we would see these depictions of too-skinny and meek citizens who represented those who were forced to emigrate during the Irish Famine. It’s really easy to dismiss that entire part of history as someone else’s generation and no longer relevant. (Guys, I promise I’m not vapid or careless, these are just things that don’t really plague my mind at nights!) But after hearing our guide’s first hand recount of his family’s history with the famine and the impact it had on the entire nation.. and effectively the rest of the world due to the massive emigration, I had a whole new respect for what the Irish people had to endure.

Following our amazing tour around Dublin we went to the Guinness store house! I was telling my dad that Guinness is probably my favorite beer out of all of them so it was appropriate to visit the place where it all started!

I’m not a fan of partying back in the States on account of the law, the gross environment surrounding alcohol in Gainesville, and because it’s never been on my list of priorities.. but going to this store house and hearing about the story of Guinness definitely made me appreciate all the time and effort that went into building the “perfect” beer. It was an unexpected education I gladly received!

  

The top floor of the shop featured a panoramic view of Dublin and I loved sitting down with my friends and taking all the views in! I had to finish about 3 other girl’s drinks because they apparently did not appreciate the dark beer. Dad would be so proud.

   

So.. that night I followed in my oldest brother’s footsteps and got my front helix pierced in a nice little tattoo shop about 5 blocks from our hostel. Because why not?

 

DAY 3 WAS A MAGICAL DAY. We went on an all day tour to Cliffs of Moher. Now you may be thinking, as I was, that I spent about 12 hours to go see a cliff. And honestly I had kind of expected that too. Because the tour was just called “Cliffs of Moher” tour and we just kind of went for it.. BUT NOPE. Our guide, Joe, to start off with, was the most outgoing and energetic adult I have ever met. He was singing the entire way, telling stories, and recounted the history of Ireland. He was an absolute joy to drive with and I appreciated all the commentary he provided!

We first stopped at St. John’s castle in Limerick. It was a quick stop but I liked the view and felt like I was experiencing more than just the Dublin scene in Ireland, which is great because I’ll be moving there soon and need every bit of exposure I can get.

Then we just went straight to the cliffs and whoa holy moly. When we first arrived the fog was so thick you really couldn’t see 10 feet in front of you. I was a little sad. I could even feel the bitter words coming out that “maybe we shouldn’t have come after all..” right before the fog lifted. People always write that in books, but I swear it was like the fog was on a string that someone just tugged up on. Within the span of 2 minutes we had a spectacularly clear view of the cliffs.

I could probably spend an entire day talking about the cliffs and just reflecting on its size and shape, but I won’t because I value your sanity. Suffice it to say, the entire experience was absolutely breath taking. Every time we walked a little further up a cliff we were exposed to a new view from our angle and I never got tired of looking down at the waves crashing against the shore. We threw a rock down and lost sight of it about 300 feet to go.

 

After we went to the cliffs we stopped by several places. First up, another set of cliffs. These were smaller but no less beautiful. Remember Joe? He’s a little nuts. He went bouncing from rock to rock and invited us to join him.. apparently only Michelle and I were interested in following in his footsteps because out of the 50 people nobody else was comfortable sitting on the side of the cliff with their feet dangling off and leaning over.

I could see how people become adrenaline junkies. We followed Joe from rock to rock and got down into crevices and nooks and sat looking down at the rocks and waves. Every time we got a little further out I could feel my heart beating a little faster and was reminded of my own mortality.

Next up, we visited a pub! On the way we met a rowdy group from a bachelor party! They were a fun time and when we stopped in the pub we all ordered a Guinness (because Ireland) and cheered to the Bachelor. It was a fun afternoon, followed by a quick stop at a chocolate factory.

 

The next day Renoli, Michelle and I went on a Game of Thrones tour in Northern Ireland! I am a big GoT fan so I was fangirl-ing a little bit whenever our guide pointed out scenes that were filmed where we were standing. It was such a cool experience!

 

More than anything I was appreciative of Northern Ireland’s stunning landscapes. It was absolutely beautiful and even writing about it makes me miss it, despite the fact that I was only there for a few short days. Sigh.

   

On our last day in Ireland we just tried to use all the time we had left in this wonderful country. So of course we went to a place called “Queen of Tarts” and had the most delicious lemon tart and chocolate chip cheese cake I have ever had in my entire life.

There were more of the incredible statues, a park on a sunny day, and St. Patrick’s cathedral.

I almost didn’t go in, but I’m so glad I did. I know Catholicism and Protestantism is one of the biggest sources of tension between the Irish people and I regret that any institution is capable of bringing so much pain and suffering to its followers, religion especially.. but for all the negative religion has provided the people of Ireland, it’s also offered something of a haven to some.

St. Patricks was a beautiful cathedral that honored the fallen Irish people throughout various wars and hardships. The art and architecture inside was absolutely beautiful. While I was there the choir was running through rehearsal so as I was sitting in a quiet chapel tucked in the back of the church I was listening to the sounds of gospel music and it echoed throughout the entire cathedral.

It was a perfect way to end my trip to Dublin. I absolutely fell in love with Ireland and I am dead set on making a return trip in the near future! Sorry for the ridiculously long post.. believe it or not this is the condensed version.

It was bittersweet leaving Dublin but I am happy to be back in Rome, where I’m having a much slower love affair, and to throw myself back into the Italian culture!

Day 2 – Sharks in Monte Carlo

On day 2 we decided it would be easy and fun to take a day trip to Monte Carlo!

 

After sleeping in our classy and super luxurious private room in our hostel we all woke up at 8 a.m and set out to the train station.. only to find that the French train workers were on strike! We learned it wouldn’t be until about 3 that the local trains were set to start running again. This, of course, was after we already purchased our tickets. So we sat around and figured we might as well try and catch a bus headed that way. Ha. Joke’s on us because we sat by that port up on the top right and waited at a bus stop for a solid hour before we finally gave up waiting for a bus that wasn’t completely full.

   

At that point it was around 11 a.m so we figured we’d just wait it out until 3 and if we just loved it we could go back another day for the full day experience. While we were wandering around the city waiting for our train to save the day I bought a French macaroon and it was so so so yummy. I think the entire time I was in France I just tacked on “.. in France” to everything and it made things infinitely cooler.

Sleeping.. in France.
Eating.. in France.
Walking.. in France.

See? So much cooler.

  

Our train finally pulled up and whisked us away to Monte Carlo and we were all so excited! The minute we started walking, however, we quickly realized who should be travel buddies. Two girls were thrilled with the idea of just wandering around but my friend Michelle and I were the lazy ones in the group and we figured the sun and walking were not a good mix for us. I’d heard about an aquarium a gentleman who we had met at the bus stop had mentioned. So Michelle and I headed that way and we agreed to meet the other girls back at the hostel.

What Michelle and I had not anticipated on was a full fledged town type environment on the top of the mountain thing the aquarium was situated on. We got instructions from google maps and we were told to hike up a ton of stairs to reach the place. The bottom left picture was our view from our walk — it was one of the most incredible views I’ve ever seen and it would have made the trip to Monte Carlo worth it just with that one experience. However it just kept getting better!

Once we reached the top of the mountain (it could honestly be called a hill but I was sweating by the time I reached the top.. so we’ll call it a mountain)  we saw so many cute buildings! The first place we stopped was at a beautiful cathedral. I took several pictures but the Crucifix pictured on the top right was by far the most interesting thing I saw. I have never seen a Crucifix depicted with Jesus leaning away from the cross and I thought it was beautifully made.

Michelle is by far my new favorite travel buddy. We were walking at a snail’s pace and every time we saw something even remotely interesting we would just agree to check it out.. Which led us to a crepe shop! Holy cow that was an amazing crepe.

 

Finally we made it to the aquarium and since it was 2 hours until closing time it was pretty empty. Michelle and I raced around the aquarium and since I haven’t been to an aquarium in approximately a decade I forgot how much fun it was to look at all the different aquatic wildlife.

This aquarium was massive. They had tons of exhibits and it was virtually empty so we had a blast just running around and reading the signs for all the different displays. Did you know there are less than 10 fatal accidents with humans and sharks per year?

One exhibit used google maps to show the sea life in a couple areas but Michelle and I decided to check out our home away from home – Gainesville, Florida. We searched for our University and we found our bell tower and it was fun to look around our campus on the huge display. On the right we could write a message to the sharks and not to brag but I think I’m a pretty great artist!

AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY TRIP? Petting. A. SHARK. Guys, I pet a shark. It was the probably the most exciting moment of my life and I absolutely wish I was joking about that. We must have played with the sharks for a solid 15 minutes before we had to leave because the Aquarium was closing and at that point I was really wishing sharks were common household pets. My little shark girl’s name is Nemo and I’m pretty sure we connected on an emotional level.

That was by far one of the most fun afternoons I’ve had in recent memory. We explored whatever looked even remotely interesting and I enjoyed the slow pace and all the memories!

Day 1 – Baguettes and Brie

An advance warning of the next 4 posts .. There will be a lot of pictures.

  

I think I’m always a little nervous that something is bound to go wrong in any given airport, bus, or any type of public transportation.. But we made it! It was so fun to sit around with 3 girls I met just 2 weeks ago and realize we had effectively made our way to Nice, France. It was a #proud moment. I think the saddest part of getting there was watching Easy Jet ruin the lives of people who didn’t realize that “one bag” meant. one. bag. All the poor women with purses and men with briefcases never stood a chance. Anyways we arrived and since our hostel had messed up our room arrangement we immediately set out exploring our home for the next few days.

These are my gal pals above who made this trip as wonderful as it could possibly be! The top left is a picture of a beautiful park smack dab in the middle of Nice and every single time we walked past the park throughout the week we would see a million children playing and adults picnicking on the grass.

  

The streets were something straight out of a movie set. There were tons of little shops and the buildings were squeezed so tightly together you could barely fit three people in side by side. You’ll notice the BATHTUB on the top left. The hostel that had previously screwed up our room situation generously upgraded us to two private rooms and we got our own bathtub.. it was basically like a Four Seasons at that point.

 

We made our way to the beach and OH MY GOSH the French Riviera! It was stunning. I have more pictures from the beach in the posts to come but this was our first glimpse of the colorful coastline and we spent most of our evenings out there just sitting on the rocks and admiring the view.

    

This was a pretty central plaza to everything. In it you could find street performers, children, dancers, and more backpackers than I have seen in my entire life.

  

To wind down our day the girls and I grabbed a bottle of wine, 4 baguettes, and a slab of brie. It was perfect. We started off in the giant park we had visited earlier and then made our way over to the beach where we watched to moon come up and tried to wrap our minds around the fact that we were in one of the most stunning places in the world.

Day 1 was a complete success! It was a ton of exploring, a lot of negotiating with the hostel, and I spent the entire day admiring the charm of this beach town. I would need all the rest I could get because day 2 was filled with sharks and hikes!

 

Pompeii

In my defense I am in Rome, Italy so at least I have a valid reason for not updating the blog! However at the request of my mother I am uploading my travel pictures on here because I absolutely hate Facebook albums. There is a big pressure to have great lighting and pretty hair. And let’s be honest.. I just got bangs so the pretty hair thing is out the window. So here are some pictures from my weekend trip! Our group from St. Johns and the University of Florida went on a 3 day excursion to Pompeii, Paestum, and Naples.   I think the easiest way to separate these pictures are just by places visited – So up first, Pompeii!

Please excuse the formatting on this. I’m not a professional blogger or even remotely competent when it comes to WordPress.. so please bear with me. LOOK HOW COOL THIS IS. We started off our weekend trip with Pompeii and it. was. amazing. I’d never heard the story of how Pompeii was preserved over thousands of years and it was simultaneously heartbreaking to hear of the horrific death of thousands of residents and amazing that nature could preserve the color and structure of tons of art despite the age.

We were fortunate enough to have a tour guide and as we were walking through this entire village that used to house 20,000 people I found it was relatively easy to envision the lives these people lived. It was crazy to be reminded that people still had relationships, “fast food” vendors, art, and an idea of what happiness was. It really made history “come alive” in a way I’ve never experienced and I absolutely loved it!

 

I mean look at this scenery! Absolutely breathtaking. I’ll be posting pictures sometime today or tomorrow from Paestum and Naples so stay tuned!