Best Week Ever: Part Due

Cinque Terre and the Big 2-1!

As a fair warning, please excuse the multitude of photos and absolute gushing that will occur in this post.  

On Sunday and Monday of last week, Tyler, Sam, and I took the train to Cinque Terre ("Five Lands") - five towns on the northwest coast of Italy with houses built into cliffs on the Meditteranean.  It was absolutely the most beautiful place I've ever seen!  We had been anticipating cold, rainy weather, and almost contemplated not going, since nothing had been paid for in advance, but am I ever glad we decided to be adventurous.  Both days were sunny and absolutely beautiful, which made the visit even more spectacular.  The train ride was a little over 4 hours, and on the way up we had gotten assigned seats that were separated in different 6-person compartments.  After an argument with an Italian woman over seats (I'm pretty sure I lost but emerged with dignity intact and impressed my visitors with my Italian arguing skills) and some compartment-maneuvering, we arrived in Manarola, the second of the five towns, where we would be staying.  I had booked a room for the three of us in what is essentially a house with rooms rented out.  I called the manager, who in very broken English said he was at his store and would return soon; we then noticed that the keys were in the front door and in all the subsequent individual room doors - a very trusting little town - , so after determining which room was ours (the one with the terrace and the three beds), we decided to drop out bags, leave a note for Maurizio, take the keys, and get started on our exploring.  We walked back to the first town, Riomaggiore, along the easiest of the trails, called "Via dell'Amore" or "lovers' walk", which included an open tunnel with love poems, pictures, and mosaics painted throughout.  The supposedly 20-minute hike took us a little over an hour, as we decided to explore some of the connecting trails up the hills, and down to the rocky shoreline.  Although some of the stairs on those descents were a bit questionable and I freaked out multiple times, I'm so glad we did - we have some incredible photos.  Riomaggiore itself looks very similar to Manarola - rainbow-colored houses stacked haphazardly on cliffs, with boats poking out of coves, and tourist stands and restaurants dotting quiet streets.  On our way back, we stopped for a panino at a bar that overlooked the ocean, and watched as the sun started to set.  We had finally gotten another call from the apartment owner, who had told us that we would meet us back in the room...in 2-3 hours.  The timing ended up being perfect, however, and we hung out in the room for about an hour, met the owner, paid for our room, and headed out to dinner at a place called Il Porticciolo, where Sam got pesto gnocchi (the region of Liguria is the birthplace of pesto) and Tyler and I got shrimp pasta.  The food was delicious, as was the house wine, and as we wandered the mostly deserted streets of town back to our room, I was so happy.

Oh, and did I mention that my 21st birthday was the next day? (It was a Monday - I gave myself the day off from school.) Granted, this doesn't have much significance in Italy, nor did we even make it to midnight on Sunday night (absolutely exhausted from a full day of hiking), but waking up on Monday morning to brilliant sun sparkling off the waters of the Mediterranean was just about the best present I could have asked for.  Monday, we walked the opposite direction, to the third town of Corniglia.  This hike was much more challenging, but also incredibly beautiful.  It culminated in 382 stairs which were necessary in order to reach the actual town, as it sits on top of a hill.  We poked around the town for a bit, and then made our way back to Manarola, where we grabbed lunch to go and sat overlooking the sea.  We were all incredibly sad to leave and catch the train back to Rome.

If you ever have a chance to get to Cinque Terre, I cannot recommend it highly enough.  We didn't even make it to all five towns as one of the trails between the third and fourth town was closed, and those hikes were much longer - we had our hands full just getting between the first three towns! We went at a perfect time of year, since we very infrequently encountered other hikers, and apparently in the peak of tourist season, the trails move at a snails pace.  So, although the towns may have been a bit sleepier than in the height of summer, we got to experience everyday life there as it actually is.  Our weather was absolutely perfect, and I came back with amazing memories from my 21st birthday.  I'm so lucky to have been able to share that experience with Tyler and Sam!  

And now for the photos!

arriving in Manarola

oh, just the view from our terrace

Tyler being adventurous

Sam and I, with a bit of Manarola in the background

Via dell'Amore

Riomaggiore

beautiful sunset over Manarola

Corniglia

Manarola - I'm biased, but it was definitely the most beautiful! (and that's certainly saying something!)

Best Week Ever: Part Uno

Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and Colosseum

Why was this week so amazing, you ask? My boyfriend Tyler and good friend Sam came to visit me on their spring break from Notre Dame! I got to show them around Rome and visit all the touristy (but very necessary) things I had been holding off on seeing.  The very first day that they arrived, they decided that they wanted to hit the ground running to hold off the jet lag for as long as possible.  Since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to visit the Forum, Palatine, and the Colosseum.  Upon arriving, we discovered that in honor of International Women's Day (best holiday ever?) the entrance to all museums in Rome, including the Ancient City, were free for women!  Me and Tyler split his ticket, and were able to see all three sights for only 6 euro!  

Since Tyler has a Classical Civ. supplementary major, he was thrilled to explore the ancient city! We wandered through 3000-year-old monuments and ruins, and literally walked in the footsteps of Caesar, Nero, and countless other important names of the Roman Empire.  

The Forum

Arco di Settimio Severo

Temple of Saturn

From the Forum, we climbed the Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome.  It contains ruins of palaces and beautiful gardens, as well as incredible views of the Forum and the center of Rome.

Finally, we made our way to the Colosseum, the epitome of any visit to Rome.  We had a great time exploring the exhibits, comparing the Colosseum to Notre Dame stadium (FYI, estimates of its capacity range from 50,000 to 73,000), and making many "Gladiator" references.  

After a long day of exploring, I took Tyler and Sam to Millennium for gelato and then Mickey's, one of my favorite restaurants in Rome.  Since it's right near the Pantheon, we were able to check that out at night.  Since we were planning on traveling for the next two days, we went to bed early to get ready for an awesome adventure.

To be continued... 

The Guy In The Big Hat

First of all, I apologize for the huge delay in updates - I have a plethora of things to post about from the past week or so, so this blog should be pretty lively in the coming days.

Firstly, after two months in Rome, we finally saw the Big Guy himself.  Yes, the Pope.  About two weeks ago, Natalie and I went to mass in St. Peter's, which, with the exception of one prayer of the faithful in English, completely in Italian and Latin, as is usual here.  The Basilica was completely awe-inspiring as usual, and to hear it filled with music was even more impressive.  I feel like I have to mention my favorite habit of the Italians here - generally, the people in this country are slow-moving and laid-back, with the exception of two situations: boarding any form of transportation, and receiving communion.  I've found that communion in any church in Italy becomes an example of "survival of the fittest", where you have to push your way into the aisle and to the front of the line.  No orderly filing by rows here.  Instead, the people from the back of the church run as soon as the all-clear is given, and everyone is off.  It's really pretty amusing, and I wasn't sure if I would see it in a place as holy and respected and internationally-attended as St. Peter's, but sure enough I was not disappointed.

After mass, the Pope gave his weekly blessing to a packed St. Peter's Square, addressing the crowd in a multitude of languages.  I could tell when he was speaking English, but other than that it was a little difficult to hear and understand what he was saying.  I almost understood the Italian better.  However, it was awesome to see how many people had traveled to see one of the most powerful and influential people in the world speak for ten minutes.  I'll be attending Easter Mass at St. Peter's with a ton of other Notre Dame students studying around Europe, and I can only imagine how crazy that will be!

Sorry that this post isn't very detailed, but I promise the ones to come will be very long and exciting, so get ready!