Ciao!

Italy was exactly as I imagined it to be. The pasta and pizza tasted just as delicious as I thought it would. Same for the wine.

Old men would sit around town just chatting it up with each other. While every morning I was awoken by some Italian woman yelling something to someone.

The children were adorable and ran around the beaches in just about nothing having the time of their lives.

The views were unbelievable and the atmosphere was absolutely the warmest place I have been yet.

The Italians are one of a kind. I can’t wait to go back.

 

I spy…

We found a private beach in Corniglia. A 15 minute walk through this dark and dingy tunnel and 5 Euro later…

We came out on the other side to the beauty of this:

Oh, right. It was also a nude beach. Jen opted for the full suit, but you may see others who chose the al natural look if you look closely.

Another reason to love Europeans.

(Of course, snapping photos at a nude beach probably isn’t the most appropriate thing to do, but Anna took this picture with the intention of only getting Jen’s smiling face. Later inspection revealed the true XXX nature of this picture.)

 

Cinque Terre

I would be more than happy to grow old in the towns of Cinque Terre. They are five villages along the coast with populations of no more than 2,000 each (yet chock full of tourists) and right along the Mediterranean Sea. The draw here is the that you can hike from one village to another along the coast and get great views all around you. And, if you aren’t apt at hiking then you can take a train or ferry between them all as well to experience the uniqueness of each little town.

A hike of about 10km took us a little over 6 hours. We walked through each of the towns as we reached them and stopped for water or gelato or just to put our feet in the water.

You can see the path wrapping around the mountain. This is the first bit we took.

Suitable for all types…this part anyway.

This is where the path got a little more terrain-like.

From Riomaggiore to Manarola.

The path did get a little more difficult up and down the side of the hills. Yet, tons of people hiking it everywhere.

From Manarola to Corniglia. This is the only way into the town– almost 400 steps!

From Corniglia to Vernazza. My favorite of the towns. Why? They all the look the same and have similar stores, but this one felt different.

And, finally to Monterosso.

The day after the hike, Anna and I went kayaking in the Mediterranean. I was stoked to do this until I got out into the sea and the waves turned out to be a little bigger than expected making me quite nauseous. We were out for about an hour and a half and when my arms could row no more and my stomach was about to hurl we waded back in.

After all this activity all I could manage to do was lay out on the stone beach and work on my Italian tan.

Italian slabs of marble served as my lounge chair. I think it is Statuary Vein.

 

Andiamo

The first night we arrived in Italy we stayed in Milan. We stayed at a place called The Best Hotel, and while it wasn’t quite the same name I would give it, it sufficed. Plus, the rest of the night helped make up for whatever The Best lacked. Check out the bedspreads as my model Jen so gracefully highlights:

For example, we got in late yet wanted to experience our first real Italian meal. Our receptionist sent us down the street to a place that was local, cheap, and served dinner till 11pm. It was 10.30 so we scurried on down and they welcomed us with open arms, sat us down, brought us wine and bread (something we would have plenty of all week) and proceeded to chat us up with warmth and smiles. Something definitely missed here in the Czech Republic.

Since we were late we were left in the restaurant with a large table of Italians celebrating a birthday. Obviously, these folks were friends of the owners and were having quite the party–a party they so kindly invited us to join them in. They presented us with REAL tiramisu, a toast of champagne, and some good laughs.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see much of Milan as the next morning it was raining and we decided it would be a propos of us to head for the beach. So, we managed took the three hour train ride to the coast. (Milan train station—about all we saw of Milan—pictured above.)

We just picked a town randomly and lucked out. Levanto was amazing. Had a great beach and a relaxing atmosphere. If anyone goes to this area, I would certainly recommend staying in Levanto for a night or two!

Our one night consisted of going to this beach side bar for a party we saw advertised. Joke was on us at it was a bar full of 15-16 year olds. I later found a crowd more my speed. The geriatrics line dancing. All those years at the Sundance prepared me properly for joining in some authentic Italian dancing.

 

Viva Italia!

Well, if that just wasn’t the cherry on the top of a year’s worth of ice-cream sundae trips around Europe.

It was a lot of traveling as we flew into Milan, actually Bergamo about 80km outside of Milan, and then took a train to the coast. Definitely worth it. Cinque Terre was the most beautiful (and colorful) place I have ever seen.

We ate all the focaccia bread pizza, gelato, and pasta we could in between our visit to sandy beaches and nude beaches. We picked out ideal Italian husbands (which were not found at the nude beaches…) and we settled on ideal family businesses to run in the coastal towns of Cinque Terre. We did a six hour hike through the towns and a 1.5 hour kayak in the Mediterranean.

And, when it was all said and done, I wondered why I would leave a place as wonderful as this for South Korea…

I’ll be back with more…

 

My life is ridiculous

When the phrase, “Maybe we should pop into Rome on our way home,” comes out of your mouth, well…I think we can all agree that things have gotten out of control.

This past year of living in Europe has been insane. I have taken trips to England, Germany (x3), Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Holland, France, Ireland and today I leave for Italy. For a week. For relaxation.

I realized this was a bit ridiculous when I talked to my fam yesterday and told them that I am going on yet another ‘vacation’ while they work their asses off and also try to find time to help me get my documents ready for my next destination. It just doesn’t seem quite fair.

So, while I struggle with the decision to go to Pisa, Rome, or Florence know that I realize my life at this moment is absolutely ridiculous. I’ll be reminding myself of it as I step into the warm Mediterranean Sea after hours of lounging on the beaches at Cinque Terre.