Italy- Cinque Terre and Rome

We have been in Italy for 3 days now.. and they have been three strenuous long days for me..

I already explained a little bit about Cinque Terre but nothing to really tell you about it.. so ill start from the beginning.  On Tuesday the 29th Kristi, Julia and myself headed out to Cinque Terre.  Julia created a discussion board on the facebook group for sas for this trip months ago and Kristi and I were all for it when we read about it, so were a lot of other sasers but the three of us are the ones that could go at the same time so we did. We left as soon as the boat cleared and we got our passports, we needed them to be able to check into the hostel.  So we headed off to the train station to buy our tickets and head on out.  It was crazy trying to figure it out.. in spain at least we could communicate a little in both languages but I have no idea on any italian.. except that it sounds a little like spanish at times.. but really only when reading it haha.. it was a good thing Julia knew where we needed to go already so it made it really easy. Then after we got our tickets we had over an hour to kill so we went to the café in the station and had a bit to eat before our 3 hour train ride, we sat down next to my music teacher and enjoyed our food and drinks for awhile for him to teach us something very important for riding trains.. there are little yellow boxes all around the station and you have to verify your ticket by sticking it in the box to get stamped in order for it be right.. good thing he told us!

Then it was time to get on my first train ride ever!!! I was a bit nervous! The only other train ive ever been on is the polar express at xmas for Mykaela, so this is very different! They didn’t read me a story and feed me hot chocolate and a cookie this time! =) quite frankly this train was a bit less than desirable.. actually it was gross..it felt very small and we had like little cabins in each car that held 6 seats each.. in our cabin there was a really smelly old man.. and I kid you not he pulled out underwear at one point and laid them on the vent to dry.. it reeked soooooo bad!!!!! The worst B.O. EVER! Julia was next to him and I was next to her and we were dying! Kristi however was sitting directly across from him.. but didn’t know he smelled till we told her because of her cold.. at one point after like 2 hours into the ride this bitchy woman comes in and kicks a guy outta one of the other seats because apparently its hers.. is really rude.. and complains about how hot it is and that the air isn’t working.. all in Italian by the way.. its amazing what tone of voice and gestures give away.. then the smelly old guy not to much later pulls out his lunch… 3 or 4 disgusting sandwiches.. some weird meat that smelled even worse than his BO so bad that Julia and I each took turns getting up and walking out of the cabin and standing in the hall for awhile to breath.. Kristi had no idea that is why we left. So clueless haha.. luckily though after the sandwiches came two peaches so that helped give a better smell but still.. he smelled…  to add this lovely train ride I had to pee at one point.. worst thing ever. The bathroom was gross… just really really dirty and I felt dirty using it.. finally we make it to La Spezia where we got of and got park tickets to cinque terre which allow you to have unlimited use of the train system that runs constantly from all the 5 towns and use of trails to hike to them all.. then we had to hop on the train to the first town Riomaggiore. 

Here we explored the town for like an hour and half.. going up many stairs and up through a vineyard and just all over the place. Kristi picked a grape and tried it, shhhh don’t tell! We went in a couple small creepy churches too.  We then had to go to the bathroom and found a WC sign (water closet) only to be really disappointed by what we saw.. our first hole…  we were warned that in some countries for some crazy bizarre reason they do not believe in toilets but rather a hole.. yes even for girls.. they expect you to somehow awkwardly squat or something, now I must say I do think this was considered to be a nice hole compared to the others we’ve been told about this one was porcelain covered but still not helpful.. needless to say we were not ready to face this yet so we held it a bit longer =)  Then we found a little place to eat and got lunch where the waiter flirted hardcore with Julia.  I got lasagna that I wasn’t totally crazy for and the others got pizza.. after we ate we walked down to the water and then to the path to hike to Manarola  which according the map I have is a 20 minute walk and 1 km long.. this path is some type of path of love.. it’s the only paved path  from town to town and was really flat and easy.. everywhere throughout the path were locks with peoples names on them.. there must be some story about it but you are supposed to take the walk with you significant other and put a lock there is what I gathered.. and there were a TON of locks throughout the way it was kinda cool.. then when we got to Manarola we checked into our hostel and then put on our bathing suits and headed to the water. On our way we passed the gelato store that Julia said was listed as the best gelato in cinque terre.. and boy was it right!!! I got pinolata which was kinda like a pina colata but a really light taste of it and it was SOO GOOD! I had only gotten one scoop but thought about going and getting another because it was that good!  We found a really cool little area to jump in and although the water was cold it was very well enjoyed! We swam for a little then sat out to dry and moved to another spot to lay down and just dry out and talk it was nice. On the way back to the hostel I couldn’t resist stopping and getting more of the gelato this time getting 2 scoops… don’t judge.. Julia and kristi didn’t! seriously it is that good! Then we went back to the hostel (which I should comment is at the top of the town.. meaning way up hill) we showered which was a 5 minute coin system which wasn’t too fun.. but refreshing none the less got ready and then we headed out to dinner.  We had the most amazing meal ever!!!! I mean seriously the best meal I have ever ever had!  I got a spaghetti with tomato sauce and vegetables it was sooooooo YUMMY!!! I cant even tell you how yummy!!! We had really amazing bread with olive oil for dipping and we bought a bottle of the house wine to split it was just sooooooo soooooooo soooooooo good!!!! Then we a little night time walk and then headed to the hostel for an early night (11) to get some sleep. There were 6 beds in each room, Kristi and I were in the same room and surprisingly it was not bad at all I slept real well and I really enjoyed my first hostel experience.. in the morning the owner even helped find us a train to get back to the ship!!! 

Im so glad so many people read through this thing because it is rough to write all this out it takes so much time… so I really like getting comments that  you’re all keeping up and enjoying it all and that its worth writing it out.. I mean ill be happy I wrote it all out at some point too.. but man it takes forever…

Okay day two in cinque terre..

We woke up at 8 so we got lots of sleep and that felt amazing! Got up and ready and were on our way at 9.  First thing we did was hike to Corniglia. This was about a one hour hike.. the map says 1 hr 10 min and 1km.. so lets just think about this a second it’s the same length as the day before yet takes 5 times as long.. do you know what that means? It means a crap ton of stairs and up and down hills.. actually to get into the town of Corniglia we had to climb up  BUNCH of stairs.. and when I say a bunch I mean it, at the top there was a sign that literally reads “CONGRADULATIONS you have just climbed 382 steps” ahhh!!!! I was feeling sooo out of it at this point.. it was a early morning to get up and do such a hike and not have eaten anything yet.. so we grabbed breakfast here.. I just had a croissant but it didn’t make me feel to good eating it either… then we hiked on what Julia said she saw to be the longest of all the hikes from Corniglia to Vernazza it took us about an hour and a half and the map says 1 hr 30 min 4 km… this one really started getting to me.. I mean come on guys we all know full well that I never work out and that I never do something as intense as this.. I was dying even more! I kept feeling like I was going to pass out seriously.. but I kept going and going.. but it was awful… finally we made it to Vernazza!!! I could not have been more relieved! Here we stopped and got lunch right away we had pizza from a little place and ate it on the steps outside.. I also got a pesto bread.. because guess what pesto originated in Cinque Terre!!!! Who knew that fun fact?!?!?  But I really didn’t enjoy this bread.. oh well.. then we went to the water and took a very refreshing and much needed swim.. then layed out on a big rock to dry off then on our way out to our final hike we grabbed more gelato because well this stuff is amazing! Who knew.. this time I had a peach kind which was really good too. But nothing can beat the one in manarola in my opinion.. anyways then we went on another god awful long hike.. I was ready to die 3 minutes into it.. and it wook us like an hour and 45 mins to get to the last town monterosso.. the hike according to the map is 2 hours and 3 km.. a long time means more hills and steps.. lots and lots and lots and lots of steps …. Like a lot of them.. this hike was really awful … luckily we were going the right way because had we been going from the other direction the stairs would have been a lot worse!!!  There were a bunch right at the end of our hike that were just straight going down and that hurt a lot too even though it was going down…

the whole hiking thing really wore me out.. but I am sooo incredibly proud of myself for doing it and basically all of it in one day besides for the really easy one we did on day one.. really though it was intense… im really sore.. my calves are sooo freaking tight and my ankles kill its crazy and as many times as I really thought I was about to pass out or just not be able to go another step I made it! Yay me!  I mean really I got the ultimate bun and thigh workout ever… haha

so in Monterosso we went to the train station to buy our ticket from la spezia to Civitavecchia.. which was kinda a bummer because it was slightly more expensive than the first one.. oh well..

throughout the day hiking we came across two other groups of SASers which was kinda cool and we were all going to be on the same train that night so that was nice too.. in Monterosso though we killed some time by walking around and doing some shopping although I wasn’t too pleased with much.. I only got postcards for myself.. oh well.. we also got some food that was mediocre.. and then another round of gelato this time I got crema which is like French vanilla.. then Kristi and I parted ways with Julia who was staying another night in cinque terre and then traveling to Florence and Sienna.. we were a bit nervous about figuring out the trains on our own but were confident we could do it.. so we found our train got on it and off we went.. the first stop however was not one we knew of… so for some odd reason I asked people sitting next to us if we were going to la spezia and they said no that’s in the other direction!!!!! Crap! So we asked other people who said the same thing! So we run of f the train and just in time… we go to the station teller guy who hardly speaks English but somehow manages to tell us what train to get on and we were able to make It on another one to la spezia.. lucky for us they come every like 20 mins.. well this one was like 10 mins late so that was making us nervous because the real worry is catching the one from la spezia to Civitavecchia because it’s the last one that goes there that night… yikes.. thank god we gave ourselves an hour and 20 mins buffer time though to be at the la spezia station.. so we got there and had like 50 or so minutes to kill we tried to figure out the tv screen system again to make sure we got on our right train, asked someone to double check us, and then also found all the SAS people we met earlier that day to ensure we got on the right train!!

We made it! Thank goodness because we had both been really really freaking out when we were on the wrong one and thinking we were going to be cutting real close to our real one.. this train was SO much nicer than the first one out.. like seats and space and everything much much much nicer, cleaner, overall I think newer.. and there was like no one on it.. so we were able to sit close to all the sas people.. we kicked our feet up and got comfy for the ride home.. every time the food cart guy came by he tickled my feet… haha he was a cute old man really nice we talked to him a bit..

I forgot to mention how on the very first train before we got on Kristi asked if there was going to be a food cart like in Harry Potter, but I had no idea either. Well sure enough there was.. when I saw one on the first train I turned to her and said it is just like Harry Potter! And shes like yeah I know I said that to Julia when it came by the first time.. I took a really good nap apparently..

Anyways this train ride was much better and what I had expected the first time.. so we got back to the port walked to the ship.. came in showered like crazy.. I used sooooo much soap to clean my sweaty salty body and washed my hair twice it felt soooo nice! I mean really we were gross.. ha wrote some emails my quick blog and slleeeepppp!!!!

Only to wake up six hours later to get ready for today!

We went on an SAS trip called Highlights of Rome.  Today made this whole voyage sink in and feel real.. like I totally feel like im in Italy now after seeing all these sites for real and not just pictures! It is an hour-ish long bus ride to get to Rome.  Our first stop was the Arch and the Coliseum! Our guide however totally ruined this trip for me because I could not understand him like at all.. what was really cool though was that we used this cool headset system… he had a set and a microphone and we all had these radios and headphones so that we could hear what he was saying even when we weren’t next to him.. but really a lot of the time no one could understand him and it sounded like he was speaking Italian for all I knew.. It was really cool to see everything but the guide talked a lot and I am sure some of it was pretty cool information that I missed out on but what am I going to do.. a lot of him talking though was also just babbling and repeating himself over and over and over again.. and I only know this because he seemed to always repeat everything I actually heard the first time… oh and he liked to jump from one place to the next to the next than back and forward and back.. for example we started at the arch he talked about it then started talking about the coliseum which is right there too.. then the arch than something else then the coliseum and oh yeah this about the arch too.. so that made it hard to follow him too…

Again.. oh well… we got to go into the Coliseum I mean come on how freaking cool! I took lots of pictures and videos it was soooo cool! Haha I need a better word than cool.. I don’t have one though.

After the coliseum we got back on the bus and it took us to a restaurant for lunch, which was included in our trip cost.. we had lasagna which wasn’t really all that great either… I think it was the cheese I ate most of it but couldn’t do it all it was just not very good… and I chowed down   on a lot of bread just to fill my stomach.. we got coke and water unlimited which was wonderful!!!!!!! Paying for water really stinks… I mean I might spend a good 100 dollars at least this trip on water alone! It’s awful but you need it! It was nice getting coke too because as I’ve said before it is so stinking expensive everywhere! We have been drinking our stash in the room really slowly so make it last before we have to buy it on the ship too.. that is going to stink..then after lasagna we sat there for like 20 minutes thinking we were waiting on deserts.. but no they end up bringing out another plate of food!.. this one had salad, potatoes, and pork.. the meat was really good.. I think it’s the first time I have really eaten meat in 3 weeks.. it’s crazy…   but the ship meat is really sketchy..  the salad had a weird taste someone said it had olive oil as the dressing which could have really been my issue.. then after this second plate we got a chocolate pudding for desert.. we really spent more time at the restaurant than any of us wanted to… but again what are we going to do it is out of our hands…

So after lunch we walked over to the Vatican. Which I learned something… it is completely surrounded by a wall as protection and to show that it is its own independent country. Interesting.  48 acres and it’s a country.. hm.

First stop inside is standing in a courtyard for like a half hour “listening” to the guide talk.. then we walked through a hall of statues and and more halls of different statues and paintings basically it was all incredibly beautiful and intricate but really just jaw dropping.. you could spend sooo much time standing there really looking at everything which I would like to do some day so that I really get to see it all.. eventually we ended up at the Sistine chapel.. it was really pretty.. but not what I expected.. I mean it was actually smaller than I had originally thought it was and it didn’t really feel like a chapel because there were no pews it was just an open room full of people.. really pretty and insane to think of how it was all painted..

From there we went to st. peters basilica but wouldn’t have known that without asking the girl next to me because I really could not understand the guide at all.. this was by far the prettiest of  all the churches I have now been in, in my opinion.. there were sooo many details and colors so cool I took lots of pictures and videos again.

Next we went out in to st peters square. Saw where the pope’s window is.. did you know he leaves rome in two days for a holiday because it is so hot there.. crazy.. saw the general area where the smoke to signal a new pope comes from and then the tour was over… we had about 30 mins of free time so a bunch of us walked over to a gelato store 10 mins away that is supposed to be the best in rome I got crema again..  it was good but the first one in cinque terre still has my vote.. I don’t think it can be beat…

Then we hoped on the bus and back to the ship where I have been ever since.. and typing for a very very very long time I cant believe I am finally finished 5 pages single spaced in word later.. im proud of you.. whoever you are reading this you earn a big pat on the back for making it all the way through this one! Wooohooo YAY you! It’s almost as intense as my hiking.. only not really..

Oh and every step today killed by the way.. and I cringed at ever stair I had to do today and there were a fair amount.. my muscles hurt. Even getting on and off the bus was painful.. how sad.... the ship is no help either.. 2 floors down from my cabin to get to the gangway and 2 floors up to get to food… I mean really I have done 1000’s of steps in the last 3 days its impressive im still going..

Okay this is THE END for real!  Thank you for reading!

p.s. eva I’m so glad youre reading this and enjoying it! It makes me really happy to know that! And we are not only going to be on the same side of the world again but the same continent!! Woohoo! 

p.p.s.  I really REALLY enjoy getting comments on my blogs! I like knowing who is reading! And if youre like eva and cant figure out how to comment other than anonymously that’s ok just tell me who you are in the comment! =) miss you all!

p.p.p.s. im upset I accidently popped the cover of my camera off that covers where the battery and memory card are.. I used some real force to try and get it back in but it didn’t work hopefully I can figure out a cure for it.. im really upset.

p.p.p.p.s. goodnight THE END REALLY REALLY