I wish that it would. That's right folks, I'm less than 12 hours away from leaving my beautiful Ireland, and while half of me is rejoicing that I finally get to see friends and family, the other half is heartbroken. So as my last blog post from Ireland, I decided to give everyone a little reflection of what I've learned in Ireland.
I wasn't planning on spending my trip "finding myself". I know some of my friends who planned on cutting themselves off from family and friends back home, rarely talking so they could be truly independent and learn about themselves. But I feel comfortable with who I am, and I knew I wouldn't be able to spend too long before calling mom and dad. Regardless, I've learned more about myself on this trip than I expected, in addition to making several friends that I might not have otherwise.
Surprisingly, I found out that I don't really like to travel, unless its for a good length of time. I need to feel comfortable with my surroundings, and at the very least that requires knowing my way around a small square of whichever city I'm in. At the same time, I can't regret a minute I've spent in any of the countries I've seen.
I learned how to slow down. Rarely in Ireland do you see people on the go with lunch or a coffee. They sit down and have a meal, or chat over a cup of joe at the local coffee shop. They arrive 10 minutes late to class for no other reason than walking at a normal pace. Stores don't open until 9:00 am and everything closes down by 6:00 pm. They take time to just be with each other.
I learned how to relax. Classes start five minutes late and end five minutes early. The Irish students think you're crazy if you go to class during RAG week. I went out for pints in the middle of the week. I spent entire weekends in Galway, London, Edinburgh, etc. instead of studying. And when I needed to get something done, I did it.
I learned how to communicate. I went to four different countries, with languages ranging from French and German, to Italian and Catalan. Somehow, I managed to navigate through their various airports, train stations, streets and shops. I also learned when it was important for me to communicate with my travel buddies.
I learned how to plan. I spent my month of April in four different countries, and numerous different cities. I had to book flights, hostels, and activities to do in each of those places.
I learned how to let it go. While I think I did a pretty good job navigating myself around cities and doing different activities, it wasn't without difficulty. I missed trains, arrived late at night in foreign cities and lost confirmation numbers.
I could go on and on with all the lessons I've learned, but I'll be home tomorrow to tell them to you myself! Every minute of these last five months has been incredible. I was very skeptical of the hospitality of the Irish (after all, I come from the land of Minnesota-nice), but they are truly the friendliest people in Europe. Ireland's scenery and lifestyle make anyone feel welcome, relaxed, and like they are having a good time. In addition, I have five awesome flatmates without whom would've made this trip a complete bore. That's it for me--I'M COMING HOME!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
How to Make College Students Look Like Cattle
Warning: The following is a rant about my first day back to campus after an extended vacation across continental Europe. This scene was witnessed outside of the Boole Library and no actual cattle were harmed in the process.
Step 1: Make sure spring break is five months long, and extends from the day classes end to the first day of finals. This way students will feel especially anxious just before finals.
Step 2: Have the day before finals start be a public holiday--a bank holiday is especially helpful.
Step 3: Due to the bank holiday, make sure the campus library doesn't open until 10:00 am.
Step 4: DO NOT open the library doors, until precisely 10:00 am. I repeat, DO NOT open the library doors even if there are over 100 students waiting outside the doors.
Step 5: Make sure your library is equipped with the following: scanners that you must scan your id card across every time upon entering the library, only 3 scanners, and not enough seats for every student planning to study.
Step 6: Make sure that no other place on campus is open.
Step 1: Make sure spring break is five months long, and extends from the day classes end to the first day of finals. This way students will feel especially anxious just before finals.
Step 2: Have the day before finals start be a public holiday--a bank holiday is especially helpful.
Step 3: Due to the bank holiday, make sure the campus library doesn't open until 10:00 am.
Step 4: DO NOT open the library doors, until precisely 10:00 am. I repeat, DO NOT open the library doors even if there are over 100 students waiting outside the doors.
Step 5: Make sure your library is equipped with the following: scanners that you must scan your id card across every time upon entering the library, only 3 scanners, and not enough seats for every student planning to study.
Step 6: Make sure that no other place on campus is open.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Ode to Backpack...and Other People's Blogs
Study Day Number... well, I don't know how many days I've been studying, but it sure feels like a lot. Therefore I am taking a break to once again update you on something I think is very important: my backpack.
Backpack, you have served me well, not only carrying my books to and from class each day, but also being stuffed to the brim with large amounts of clothing, and carrying my groceries. I have not needed to buy but one reusable grocery bag at Dunnes or Tesco because you have served me in carrying my groceries. When I stuffed you full of clothing on my European excursions, you did not rip or tear like others' bags. I have carried you at St. Ben's, along the 20 minute walk to the UCC Campus, and across continental Europe. Thank you, backpack.
Now that that bit of ridiculousness is over with, I can bring up a second point. My friends are fantastic bloggers. I haven't been able to stay up on a lot of them more recently because I've been gone, but last night my study break consisted of catching up on most of them. My friend Kate in Guatemala wanted me to write her blog for her--ridiculous! She is a fabulous writer and I have loved hearing about all her adventures. My roommate for next year, Steph, also just wrote a beautiful reflection piece on her time in Guatemala as well. And another roommate for next year, Alyssa, her blog made me laugh out loud! I only hope that my blog has been half as entertaining as theirs.
Thank you for the distraction! Now back to work!
Backpack, you have served me well, not only carrying my books to and from class each day, but also being stuffed to the brim with large amounts of clothing, and carrying my groceries. I have not needed to buy but one reusable grocery bag at Dunnes or Tesco because you have served me in carrying my groceries. When I stuffed you full of clothing on my European excursions, you did not rip or tear like others' bags. I have carried you at St. Ben's, along the 20 minute walk to the UCC Campus, and across continental Europe. Thank you, backpack.
Now that that bit of ridiculousness is over with, I can bring up a second point. My friends are fantastic bloggers. I haven't been able to stay up on a lot of them more recently because I've been gone, but last night my study break consisted of catching up on most of them. My friend Kate in Guatemala wanted me to write her blog for her--ridiculous! She is a fabulous writer and I have loved hearing about all her adventures. My roommate for next year, Steph, also just wrote a beautiful reflection piece on her time in Guatemala as well. And another roommate for next year, Alyssa, her blog made me laugh out loud! I only hope that my blog has been half as entertaining as theirs.
Thank you for the distraction! Now back to work!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A Summary of Travels
I'm sure you all have a billion questions, so I hope that this will answer a few of them.
Best (to Worst) Metros:
1. London
2. Barcelona
3. Paris
4. Rome
Favorite City: Edinburgh
Place I Could Live In: Edinburgh or London
Favorite Tourist Attraction: The Louvre
Best Meal: The Cafe in Corniglia
That's all I've got for right now, but feel free to comment and I will answer those as well!
Best (to Worst) Metros:
1. London
2. Barcelona
3. Paris
4. Rome
Favorite City: Edinburgh
Place I Could Live In: Edinburgh or London
Favorite Tourist Attraction: The Louvre
Best Meal: The Cafe in Corniglia
That's all I've got for right now, but feel free to comment and I will answer those as well!
Harry Potter Heaven
What does Harry Potter have to do with this next post, might you ask? Well, a lot more than you think.
Day 0: Eh-din-bur-ah
As usual, Megan and I had to wake up fairly early, both because we had 2 flights in addition to the limited selection of buses that went from Biassa to La Spezia. In the morning we took the train from La Spezia to Pisa Airport. I'm sorry to say that I did not see the leaning tower. We realized we had gotten to the airport in plenty of time, so we waited around for our gate to open. The flight was slightly delayed, but everything else went smooth enough. Once we landed in Dublin, we went through security again to get to our second flight. The one to Edinburgh (pronounced like above). It was a long day of travelling to say the least, and it was quite difficult to board that second plane to Edinburgh--I really just wanted to be in Ireland. Once we arrived in Edinburgh we took a bus to the city centre and managed to find our way to our hostel in the dark and rain. I couldn't see very many sights, but I could already tell that Edinburgh was beautiful. We arrived at our hostel to catch up with some other girls from our program: Liz, Abby, Emily and Mayra. It was wonderful to see some familiar faces.
Day 1: Tom the Tour Guide (Why does this sound familiar?)
Since Megan and I were literally doing a crash course of Scotland (namely, we would only be there for 48 hours), we decided to take advantage of seeing the most we could in the shortest amount of time. So we booked a 12-hour Highlands tour for the next day with the other four girls. We headed out of Edinburgh at 8:30 to start our tour. Tom was the name of our tour guide. While he seemed to have some good information, we had a really awkward laugh that we couldn't help but be entertained by. First stop on our tour was seeing Hamish the hairy coo. He was so cute! Google a picture of Highland cattle and you have Hamish, or check out my facebook page. After that we went further up in the Highlands to take a couple of photo ops before stopping at Loch Ness. We took a one-hour boat tour around Loch Ness in hopes of seeing Nessy. I let you decide from my pictures if you think I saw it or not. Regardless, we had lots of fun taking silly pictures and getting out on the water. We ate lunch at what we thought was a fish and chips place, as well, and only ordered chips, to which our waiter promptly informed us (after we ordered I might add) that he was doing us a favor and normally they don't let people just order chips. Those were our major stops along the tour, but we stopped a few other places for photo opportunities. It was a great day catching up with the girls and seeing the Highlands of Scotland. We played cards that evening and prepared ourselves for the journey back to Ireland the next day.
Day 2: Snape, Snape, Severus Snape
Since the other four girls were leaving in the late morning, we decided to wake up early and climb up the highest location in Edinburgh--Arthur's seat. While it was quite the hike, the view was worth it (after the fog cleared). We finished off by treating ourselves to Starbucks for breakfast. After that, we returned to the hostel, where the other girls packed their bags and headed back to Scotland. Megan and I, on the other hand, took advantage of a three-hour long walking tour. We stopped everywhere and heard some great stories! Including the Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. She could see an old school with four towers (inspiration for the four houses), Greyfriar's Cemetary, and Edinburgh castle from the windows she sat at, which inspired the story. We also heard stories about Maggie Dickson, a woman who survived a hanging, and Brodie Deacon, a criminal mastermind. The buildings around Scotland are just beautiful, and it was fun to hear their history. After we got done with that, we went back to the Elephant House for a smoothie and to soak in some of the awesomeness of J.K. Rowling. We chilled at the hostel for a bit, before finally deciding to go and eat dinner at "The Last Drop," so named because it sits along the square where people used to be hanged. Megan was dying to try haggis, but I couldn't wrap my head around eating that right before I was to get on a plane to Ireland. So she ordered haggis and I ordered soup, and the two of us drank some Hot Toddy's. The pub was absolutely picturesque. There was an old man standing next to us, getting livid at the slot machine he seemed to be losing money on, and the bartenders seemed to be enjoying the whole scene. A Scottish man came up to Megan and complemented her on the wrap she had just bought too! It was a wonderful way to finish out our time in Scotland. We had to leave after that and board the plane for our 9:15 flight back to Ireland. We met a guy from Long Island while waiting in line to board the plane, who had been living in Dublin for a year. We compared stories and talked about returning back to the states. The ride went quick, and sure enough we arrived at our lodging for the night: the Dublin airport. I dislike sleeping in airports, but as we had no choice, I took a few Simply Sleep and conked out. Megan informed me that a police officer had come around to check our passports during the middle of the night, of which I was completely unaware. We bused back to Cork in the morning, and I've been studying ever since for finals!
Day 0: Eh-din-bur-ah
As usual, Megan and I had to wake up fairly early, both because we had 2 flights in addition to the limited selection of buses that went from Biassa to La Spezia. In the morning we took the train from La Spezia to Pisa Airport. I'm sorry to say that I did not see the leaning tower. We realized we had gotten to the airport in plenty of time, so we waited around for our gate to open. The flight was slightly delayed, but everything else went smooth enough. Once we landed in Dublin, we went through security again to get to our second flight. The one to Edinburgh (pronounced like above). It was a long day of travelling to say the least, and it was quite difficult to board that second plane to Edinburgh--I really just wanted to be in Ireland. Once we arrived in Edinburgh we took a bus to the city centre and managed to find our way to our hostel in the dark and rain. I couldn't see very many sights, but I could already tell that Edinburgh was beautiful. We arrived at our hostel to catch up with some other girls from our program: Liz, Abby, Emily and Mayra. It was wonderful to see some familiar faces.
Day 1: Tom the Tour Guide (Why does this sound familiar?)
Since Megan and I were literally doing a crash course of Scotland (namely, we would only be there for 48 hours), we decided to take advantage of seeing the most we could in the shortest amount of time. So we booked a 12-hour Highlands tour for the next day with the other four girls. We headed out of Edinburgh at 8:30 to start our tour. Tom was the name of our tour guide. While he seemed to have some good information, we had a really awkward laugh that we couldn't help but be entertained by. First stop on our tour was seeing Hamish the hairy coo. He was so cute! Google a picture of Highland cattle and you have Hamish, or check out my facebook page. After that we went further up in the Highlands to take a couple of photo ops before stopping at Loch Ness. We took a one-hour boat tour around Loch Ness in hopes of seeing Nessy. I let you decide from my pictures if you think I saw it or not. Regardless, we had lots of fun taking silly pictures and getting out on the water. We ate lunch at what we thought was a fish and chips place, as well, and only ordered chips, to which our waiter promptly informed us (after we ordered I might add) that he was doing us a favor and normally they don't let people just order chips. Those were our major stops along the tour, but we stopped a few other places for photo opportunities. It was a great day catching up with the girls and seeing the Highlands of Scotland. We played cards that evening and prepared ourselves for the journey back to Ireland the next day.
Day 2: Snape, Snape, Severus Snape
Since the other four girls were leaving in the late morning, we decided to wake up early and climb up the highest location in Edinburgh--Arthur's seat. While it was quite the hike, the view was worth it (after the fog cleared). We finished off by treating ourselves to Starbucks for breakfast. After that, we returned to the hostel, where the other girls packed their bags and headed back to Scotland. Megan and I, on the other hand, took advantage of a three-hour long walking tour. We stopped everywhere and heard some great stories! Including the Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book. She could see an old school with four towers (inspiration for the four houses), Greyfriar's Cemetary, and Edinburgh castle from the windows she sat at, which inspired the story. We also heard stories about Maggie Dickson, a woman who survived a hanging, and Brodie Deacon, a criminal mastermind. The buildings around Scotland are just beautiful, and it was fun to hear their history. After we got done with that, we went back to the Elephant House for a smoothie and to soak in some of the awesomeness of J.K. Rowling. We chilled at the hostel for a bit, before finally deciding to go and eat dinner at "The Last Drop," so named because it sits along the square where people used to be hanged. Megan was dying to try haggis, but I couldn't wrap my head around eating that right before I was to get on a plane to Ireland. So she ordered haggis and I ordered soup, and the two of us drank some Hot Toddy's. The pub was absolutely picturesque. There was an old man standing next to us, getting livid at the slot machine he seemed to be losing money on, and the bartenders seemed to be enjoying the whole scene. A Scottish man came up to Megan and complemented her on the wrap she had just bought too! It was a wonderful way to finish out our time in Scotland. We had to leave after that and board the plane for our 9:15 flight back to Ireland. We met a guy from Long Island while waiting in line to board the plane, who had been living in Dublin for a year. We compared stories and talked about returning back to the states. The ride went quick, and sure enough we arrived at our lodging for the night: the Dublin airport. I dislike sleeping in airports, but as we had no choice, I took a few Simply Sleep and conked out. Megan informed me that a police officer had come around to check our passports during the middle of the night, of which I was completely unaware. We bused back to Cork in the morning, and I've been studying ever since for finals!
Monday, May 4, 2009
5 Villages, 4 Nights, 3 Days, 2 Friends, 1 Italy
After we said goodbye to the moms, Megan and I headed up the coast of Northern Italy to the Cinque Terre--five villages along the Italian coastline that are full of vineyards and the catch of the day. It was a wonderful escape after the hustle and bustle of the city.
Day 0: Tickets, Please.
I waited around for Megan to return from Rome in the morning, and after a bit of a late start, we commuted into Rome directly to the train station to board our train for La Spezia. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the station and found our seats with little trouble. While we had reserved seats ahead of time, we weren't surprised to find ourselves in a compartment, but unfortunately there were four other people in there as well. I immediately fell asleep, because the moms had woken me up early to say goodbye. Sure enough, about an hour later one of the staff came around to check tickets. Groggily I took mine out. I hate when they catch me during my sleep. The ride was a good four hours, but it went pretty quick as I slept most of the way through. We managed to get off at the right stop, and find our way around La Spezia to the bus stop. La Spezia had really fun street names named after famous people. It was actually a lot bigger than I was picturing! For some reason, when I hear small I immediately picture Blue Earth. Anywho, the bus ride was probably the best part of the day! We had to go up crazy switchbacks to get to Biassa, and every time we came near a corner the bus driver would honk the most ridiculous horn ever to warn other cars. In addition, we overheard a conversation between an Australian and two Canadians who were also staying at our hostel. Finally, every time any of the locals would get off the bus, every single person on the bus would say multiple times, "Ciao, ciao, ciao." It was hilarious and awesome. We arrived at the hostel in Biassa only to find our that the Australian girl was our roommate! So we invited her out to dinner with us--to the only restaurant in town, a little pizzeria/bar. When we got there, the prices were so cheap that we decided to each get our own pizzas. I mean, they couldn't be that big, right? For only 4 euro? They were huge! I ate about half of mine before I had to quit. When we got back to the hostel we invited three other Canadians (two of which were the ones on the bus) to watch "Gangs of New York." It was nice to just chill and not worry about starting to see sights right away.
Day 1: Intense...like camping.
We decided to allow ourselves a little time to sleep in on this first day since both of us had been waking up early every day in Rome. The hostel had shuttle buses leaving throughout the morning to the first village of the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore, but only at select times, so Megan and I decided to hike to the first village. It was only about a 2 hour hike, but before we even left Biassa, we got lost. We saw an Italian man watering his plants on his porch so we stopped for directions. He only spoke Italian, and since Megan and I know zero English, we had to use a lot of hand gestures to finally figure out where we were going. We got the gist of his speech: we were heading in the right direction. And sure enough, after a half-hour climbing up a treacherously steep hill with rocks sliding this way and that, Megan and I saw a sign for Riomaggiore. Only 1 hour and 15 minutes to go! This path was much easier however. In Riomaggiore, we stopped for lunch and at it down at the Marina, soaking in the sun's rays and watching the few boats out and about. I couldn't manage to pull myself off the wall we were sitting on, so we tanned for a little bit before finally deciding to head on our way. We hiked down to the next village, Manarola along the Via dell'Amore. It was the most beautiful walk. Almost no hiking, and beautiful ocean views the whole way along. After arriving in Manarola, we refreshed ourselves with gelato and tried to find the high path for hiking that Megan's friend had recommended. After pulling out our map, we discovered that it would take us four hours to hike to the third village, and I was definitley not up for that. I was hot and tired. So we meandered through the first two villages again, and ran into our Canadian friends once again in Riomaggiore. We decided since we only hiked the first two villages, we wanted a little bit more exercise, so we hiked back to Biassa. Clearly I was mistaken on thinking this path would be easy. It was mostly uphill, and climbing back down the treacherous mountain that we scaled that morning was just as difficult. We made it alive, and headed straight over to the pizzeria, once again to dine on some great Italian food. But not before running into the same Italian man! He wanted to know if we had made it and we assured him we had. It was wonderful to see him again, and I'm sure he was glad to see that we had made it back alive. We headed back to the hostel and called it an early night.
Day 2: Love is in the Air
Megan and I slept in a little bit once again and decided to take the second shuttle into Riomaggiore from our hostel. Since I hadn't checked my email in a few days, I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to catch up on some emails while we waited for the bus. Whenever I'm paying for internet, I always go to the important emails first--from people I know, special school emails, etc. and then leave the other emails for later, when I have more time. I noticed that I had gotten an email from my sister, so I opened it up, only to find the happy news that she is engaged! I was so excited! I think I sent her three emails in a row telling her to give me a call and all the details. It was a great way to start out the morning. This is my official congratulations to her on my post though!
After the exciting news, we headed out for the second day of travels. We shuttled to Riomaggiore and walked again to Manarola. This time we decided to keep on walking to Corniglia. It was very warm this day, so we were quite tired by the end, especially because to get up to the town by foot you have to climb 382 steps! We stopped for lunch at this little hole-in-the-wall cafe place tucked inside one of the little alleyways. I cannot believe how amazing the food was! They had sandwiches like every other cafe, but this place brushed butter and oregano on top that was just amazing! We also picked up some gelato before heading back down toward the beach to lay out in the sun for a bit. Finally we kicked it into gear ahead and hiked to the fourth village, Vernazza. We met two Americans on this pathway who were very friendly and we chit-chatted with them for most of the 2 hour hike. Once we got there, we perused the shops a little bit, bought some snacks and headed back on the train to Riomaggiore, where we waited for the bus to bring us back to the hostel.
Day 3: Rain, Rain, Go Away.
Our first two days had been absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately our luck ran out. It started raining nearly as soon as we got to Monterossa, the last of the five villages. We decided to start from there and work our way back to Riomaggiore, as far as we wanted. The hike to Vernazza was definitely the most difficult of the four hikes between the villages. It took us about two hours. Afterwards, we decided we wanted to eat at that same little cafe in Corniglia where they had all the great food before. We jumped on a few wrong trains before finally getting there. We hiked our way up to Corniglia (this time via road) and basically ran to the restaurant. Once inside we ordered our food and chatted with the employees, while raving about how good their food was. We took our time, playing cards and eating slowly, just to stay out of the rain. Two Australian couples also came in, and we found out that they loved it just as much as we did! They had also been at that restaurant the day before. We found out from them that there was a bus from the train station to Corniglia, so we didn't actually need to climb all those steps. Bummer. Regardless, we took the bus back down to the station and decided to take the train to La Spezia, because the pouring rain was no fun to hike in. We took a taxi from La Spezia back to Biassa, which was definitely worth it. After we changed into dry clothes, we borrow "The Bourne Identity" from the hostel and settled in for an afternoon inside. We went out for one last pizza at the pizzeria, and called it a night.
The villages were one of the best places I had been thus far. I don't know if it was the people that were there at the same time as us, or what, but we met more people here than in any other location. No time to stay in Italy, however. Next up, EDINBURGH!
Day 0: Tickets, Please.
I waited around for Megan to return from Rome in the morning, and after a bit of a late start, we commuted into Rome directly to the train station to board our train for La Spezia. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the station and found our seats with little trouble. While we had reserved seats ahead of time, we weren't surprised to find ourselves in a compartment, but unfortunately there were four other people in there as well. I immediately fell asleep, because the moms had woken me up early to say goodbye. Sure enough, about an hour later one of the staff came around to check tickets. Groggily I took mine out. I hate when they catch me during my sleep. The ride was a good four hours, but it went pretty quick as I slept most of the way through. We managed to get off at the right stop, and find our way around La Spezia to the bus stop. La Spezia had really fun street names named after famous people. It was actually a lot bigger than I was picturing! For some reason, when I hear small I immediately picture Blue Earth. Anywho, the bus ride was probably the best part of the day! We had to go up crazy switchbacks to get to Biassa, and every time we came near a corner the bus driver would honk the most ridiculous horn ever to warn other cars. In addition, we overheard a conversation between an Australian and two Canadians who were also staying at our hostel. Finally, every time any of the locals would get off the bus, every single person on the bus would say multiple times, "Ciao, ciao, ciao." It was hilarious and awesome. We arrived at the hostel in Biassa only to find our that the Australian girl was our roommate! So we invited her out to dinner with us--to the only restaurant in town, a little pizzeria/bar. When we got there, the prices were so cheap that we decided to each get our own pizzas. I mean, they couldn't be that big, right? For only 4 euro? They were huge! I ate about half of mine before I had to quit. When we got back to the hostel we invited three other Canadians (two of which were the ones on the bus) to watch "Gangs of New York." It was nice to just chill and not worry about starting to see sights right away.
Day 1: Intense...like camping.
We decided to allow ourselves a little time to sleep in on this first day since both of us had been waking up early every day in Rome. The hostel had shuttle buses leaving throughout the morning to the first village of the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore, but only at select times, so Megan and I decided to hike to the first village. It was only about a 2 hour hike, but before we even left Biassa, we got lost. We saw an Italian man watering his plants on his porch so we stopped for directions. He only spoke Italian, and since Megan and I know zero English, we had to use a lot of hand gestures to finally figure out where we were going. We got the gist of his speech: we were heading in the right direction. And sure enough, after a half-hour climbing up a treacherously steep hill with rocks sliding this way and that, Megan and I saw a sign for Riomaggiore. Only 1 hour and 15 minutes to go! This path was much easier however. In Riomaggiore, we stopped for lunch and at it down at the Marina, soaking in the sun's rays and watching the few boats out and about. I couldn't manage to pull myself off the wall we were sitting on, so we tanned for a little bit before finally deciding to head on our way. We hiked down to the next village, Manarola along the Via dell'Amore. It was the most beautiful walk. Almost no hiking, and beautiful ocean views the whole way along. After arriving in Manarola, we refreshed ourselves with gelato and tried to find the high path for hiking that Megan's friend had recommended. After pulling out our map, we discovered that it would take us four hours to hike to the third village, and I was definitley not up for that. I was hot and tired. So we meandered through the first two villages again, and ran into our Canadian friends once again in Riomaggiore. We decided since we only hiked the first two villages, we wanted a little bit more exercise, so we hiked back to Biassa. Clearly I was mistaken on thinking this path would be easy. It was mostly uphill, and climbing back down the treacherous mountain that we scaled that morning was just as difficult. We made it alive, and headed straight over to the pizzeria, once again to dine on some great Italian food. But not before running into the same Italian man! He wanted to know if we had made it and we assured him we had. It was wonderful to see him again, and I'm sure he was glad to see that we had made it back alive. We headed back to the hostel and called it an early night.
Day 2: Love is in the Air
Megan and I slept in a little bit once again and decided to take the second shuttle into Riomaggiore from our hostel. Since I hadn't checked my email in a few days, I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to catch up on some emails while we waited for the bus. Whenever I'm paying for internet, I always go to the important emails first--from people I know, special school emails, etc. and then leave the other emails for later, when I have more time. I noticed that I had gotten an email from my sister, so I opened it up, only to find the happy news that she is engaged! I was so excited! I think I sent her three emails in a row telling her to give me a call and all the details. It was a great way to start out the morning. This is my official congratulations to her on my post though!
After the exciting news, we headed out for the second day of travels. We shuttled to Riomaggiore and walked again to Manarola. This time we decided to keep on walking to Corniglia. It was very warm this day, so we were quite tired by the end, especially because to get up to the town by foot you have to climb 382 steps! We stopped for lunch at this little hole-in-the-wall cafe place tucked inside one of the little alleyways. I cannot believe how amazing the food was! They had sandwiches like every other cafe, but this place brushed butter and oregano on top that was just amazing! We also picked up some gelato before heading back down toward the beach to lay out in the sun for a bit. Finally we kicked it into gear ahead and hiked to the fourth village, Vernazza. We met two Americans on this pathway who were very friendly and we chit-chatted with them for most of the 2 hour hike. Once we got there, we perused the shops a little bit, bought some snacks and headed back on the train to Riomaggiore, where we waited for the bus to bring us back to the hostel.
Day 3: Rain, Rain, Go Away.
Our first two days had been absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately our luck ran out. It started raining nearly as soon as we got to Monterossa, the last of the five villages. We decided to start from there and work our way back to Riomaggiore, as far as we wanted. The hike to Vernazza was definitely the most difficult of the four hikes between the villages. It took us about two hours. Afterwards, we decided we wanted to eat at that same little cafe in Corniglia where they had all the great food before. We jumped on a few wrong trains before finally getting there. We hiked our way up to Corniglia (this time via road) and basically ran to the restaurant. Once inside we ordered our food and chatted with the employees, while raving about how good their food was. We took our time, playing cards and eating slowly, just to stay out of the rain. Two Australian couples also came in, and we found out that they loved it just as much as we did! They had also been at that restaurant the day before. We found out from them that there was a bus from the train station to Corniglia, so we didn't actually need to climb all those steps. Bummer. Regardless, we took the bus back down to the station and decided to take the train to La Spezia, because the pouring rain was no fun to hike in. We took a taxi from La Spezia back to Biassa, which was definitely worth it. After we changed into dry clothes, we borrow "The Bourne Identity" from the hostel and settled in for an afternoon inside. We went out for one last pizza at the pizzeria, and called it a night.
The villages were one of the best places I had been thus far. I don't know if it was the people that were there at the same time as us, or what, but we met more people here than in any other location. No time to stay in Italy, however. Next up, EDINBURGH!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Bella Roma
Day 0: Um...Sketch.
We started off the morning taking the train from Interlaken to our layover station at Milan. We woke up early to get to the train station, but apparently it was too early for some of us, because everyone besides Megan jumped on the wrong train. We realized our error on the train, and luckily were able to get off at the other Interlaken station and jump on the correct train there. It was not a pleasant start to my morning. We only stayed on that train for forty minutes, also, which made the mistake all the more unpleasant. Once we got on the correct train, we found out how crowded it was and realized we had no idea how to find our seats. Finally figuring it out, we had to kick out some of the people that were in our seats. Once all settled, we enjoyed a 2ish hour train ride to Milan. We chit-chatted a little bit and just enjoyed the general scenery and ride. Once we were at Milan, we took an opportunity to enjoy the station's architecture and take a quick break before jumping on another train for a 3-hour ride to Rome. This train was much nicer and more comfortable. Generally we found the trains in Rome to not be that great. Apparently the moms had heard that 2nd Class was kind of sketch, but in general I didn't mind it. Termini was crowded, but we found out how to get to the metro and jumped on to get to our hostel. Now, the metro on the other hand was definitely sketch. The cars were all graffitied, and surprisingly, NO ONE was on the metro. After two metro rides, we realized that our hostel was a good 45 minutes out of the city. Now, one might ask why I would go to through the trouble of booking a hostel so far outside of the city. Megan and I usually have a checklist of things that we look for in a hostel: security lockers, breakfast, etc., etc. and with the moms, we had to make sure it wasn't a youth hostel. Also, the description on the internet said that it was on a beach. And guess what?! It was! I was totally okay with the commute if I got to stare out at the ocean everyday. (Actually, I think it's a sea, but I can't remember which one.) Instead of heading all the way back into Rome to start seeing sights and finding some food, we decided to hit up the local grocery market for another wonderful dinner. We picked up the makings for some amazing chicken salads, in addition to stopping at the corner gelato place to pick up a delicious pre-dinner dessert. Now by that time I had stayed in a few hostels, including a few that had some pretty strict rules. I wasn't sure how the hostel was going to take our bringing food in. But the moms brought it in, and chit-chatted with one of the employees who was so nice! She brought out all the utensils we would need and forced us to have salt since we were having salads. We ate our food, some delicious bread for only 50 cents, and played cards before going to sleep early to prepare for the big day of sights the next morning.
Day 1: The Biggies
We decided to go big right away in Rome. Megan had many friends staying in Rome that she wanted to connect with, so most of this trip was just me and the moms. We started early heading over to the Palatino to pick up tickets for the Colosseum. Wouldn't you know that it's culture week in Rome (probably because Rome was also celebrating it's birthday that week) so all of the sights were free! We got tickets for the Colosseum, Palatino, and Roman Forum for absolutely nothing! Cheapest day so far. I suggested we head towards the Colosseum first, because I didn't know how busy it would be. After mom mistakenly got two tickets for a real tour instead of an audioguide (through no fault of her own--the guy spoke English, too), I let the moms take advantage of that while I wondered around the Colosseum by myself. I couldn't believe how huge the place is! The whole time I wanted to watch the movie Gladiator, even if it's not historically accurate. After taking in the general grandeur, we headed over to take in the Palatino and the Roman Forum. While walking amongst the ruins, it started to sprinkle. Then rain. Then REALLY rain. We decided we had had enough of the outdoorsy stuff, so we were planning on jumping on the hop-on, hop-off bus tour to catch some other sights. We were just in time for the next bus, so we snagged a little lunch and waited on the sidewalk. Slowly but surely, the cars stopped driving by and a group of reenacting gladiators started marching down the street--they were having a parade! Apparently this is NOT a common occurrence, but by this time it was still pouring rain. The procession looked just as miserable and sopping as I felt. An HOUR later, we finally boarded a crammed, steamy, smelly bus. I couldn't even see where we were going, or hear anything about what we were passing. Finally we decided to try to hop on a different bus at the Piazza del Popolo. No such luck there, so we hopped on the next bus on our original line, where we ran into a friend who had been waiting with us out in the rain by the Colosseum. I was soaking and uncomfortable at this point (wrong ensemble: skinny jeans and flats) so we headed to the Trevi Fountain to throw in a coin and make a wish, before finally just heading back to the hostel. Wouldn't you know that as soon as we got back to Ostia the weather started to clear. For dinner we went to "Non Solo Pizza..." or as mom likes to call it, "Con Solo Pizza". It was so good! We then stopped at our favorite little gelateria (the same one as the first night) on the way home for dessert. Another round of cards finished off the night.
Day 2: Tom the Tour Guide
The next day we decided to hit up the Vatican. We signed up for a 1:30 tour through our hostel, so we had the morning to kill. After making our long commute into the city, we wandered over to the Campo de Fiori, a wonderful fresh fruit and vegetable market that has a few souveneirs as well. We had fun sampling dried, candied fruit as well as some delicious strawberries. A man was selling vegetable "tools" (sorry, no better word) which promptly gave the moms and Megan something to purchase. It was like an informercial, and we all loved it! He was making curly fries and all sorts of vegetable delights. After walking away with our purchases (I also walked away with a beautiful yellow purse), we headed over to the Vatican. We were plenty early, so we imitated statues and did a little souveneir shopping before meeting up with Tom, our tour guide. Tom led us all around the Vatican, starting off in the square outside of St. Peter's Basilica, informing us all about the Sistine Chapel, through the Vatican museum, to the Sistine Chapel, and finally to St. Peter's Basilica. I loved the whole thing. Tom was very informative and told us lots of things I didn't know. Also, it was great for me to see some of the works of art that I've been learning about in my art history class, such as the Saint Longinus and the Baldacchino. The only other people who were on our tour with us was a couple from Colorado who had just been to the Cinque Terre (where Megan and I were heading next) so the tour was super small and fun. After the nearly four-hour tour, I was famished, so we headed over to Piazza Barberini to eat dinner. We found a cute little restaurant to eat pasta in. Mom also introduced us to proscuitto and melon. Delicious!
Day 3: Mom and Daughter Day
After having been in Rome for a few days, the others were nice enough to let my mom and I have a day together. First on my list was seeing the Spanish Steps. We climbed all of the steps and wandered into the chapel at the top. Hardly any people were there, which was a little disappointing--I thought the steps would be filled! I guess you have to wait for a sunny day to see that...Afterwards, we wandered toward the direction of the Pantheon, the next stop on our list. Wouldn't you know that we walked down the most expensive street in Rome--Prada, Dior, Gucci, Fendi, you name it, it was there. I always manage to find those streets! We eventually ran into the Pantheon (and I literally mean ran into the Pantheon--it was kind of abrupt). You would never guess how impressive/beautiful/astounding the inside of the building is until you enter. The outside looks big, but it's just grey and misleading. At this time, we were way ahead of schedule on our plans for the day, but there was one more thing that I really wanted to see-the Borghese Gallery. Home of many of the works of art that I've learned about, it was also located in one of the only green parts of Rome. Before we walked an eternity to get there, however, we had to stop for a gelato break. I was currently reading the book "Eat, Pray, Love" and in that book, the author recommends the gelato place "Il Gelato di San Crispino" as apparently having hte best gelato in Italy, which is saying quite a bit, if you ask me. So we wandered towards it, but couldn't find it! So we stopped in the next nearest place. After rounding the corner to head back out, we found the place! We ordered gelato at that place too. You can't pass up an opportunity to sample the best gelato in Rome, even if you've just had some! After having our fill, we headed to the Borghese Gallery. On our way, we had a minor crisis--my mom and I got separated on the subway! I was trying to mouth Termini to her, but she didn't get it. Thankfully, she's super smart and got off at the next stop, where I jumped off the metro and waved her to where I was. Whew. I think she was more freaked out than I was considering I had been navigating us the entire trip and she had no form of communication, including not having my cell-phone number. Once there, we found out it was sold out--until SATURDAY. I will remind you that this was a Tuesday. Slightly disappointed, we decided to check out something else instead. We decided to go to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. As we stepped out of the metro, I did what I always do, pull out my trusty map. Of course, a hop-on, hop-off bus tour guy was trying to sell us tickets, so I moved down a few steps. After a few moments he walked past us again and said "Information?" to which we replied, "No, thanks." He was like, "No, it's okay." So we asked how to get to the Basilica and he pointed us in the right direction. After we arrived to a beautiful looking facade, we were disappointed to find gates around the steps. Then we realized that this was the back of the Basilica! So we headed to the front and went inside. It was a beautiful church. After exploring it for a bit, we were tired enough to return to Ostia where we ate another dinner at "Non Solo Pizza" (not very good this time) and enjoyed the beach. As per usual, cards finished out the evening. We also met a friendly and chatty Londoner who had been living in Italy for the past seven years. She was very sharing, but she told us that we had done a good job at seeing all the sights so far.
Day 4: Churches, churches, churches galore
The next day I decided to let the moms fend for themselves and head off with Megan to see some of the works of art we hadn't seen yet. We stopped at the Piazza del Popolo to see some Caravaggio and a concert set up for Earth Day, then headed over to see the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa (Bernini is a genius) and wandering down the Quirinale to find the Sant'Andrea al Quirinale. In all that time, the moms still hadn't found their final destination, so we met up with them and wandered about for a bit. We saw a few places worth going into, but none of us could decide what to do. Finally, we headed over to San Giovanni to see the Basilica. Another massive, beautiful church. I was churched/museumed out at this point. We headed back to Ostia early to do a little market shopping and hang out at the hostel. We stopped at our favorite gelateria, where the workers seemed to recognize our faces, since we had stopped in their everyday. The afternoon just flew by, and before we knew it, we found ourselves in a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Now this is hilarious for 2 big reasons: 1) Mom hates Chinese food. 2) We are in Italy. Eating a Chinese Restaurant. Hm. Surprisingly, it turned out to be amazing! The best Chinese food I've ever had! Even Louise loved it! She called it a "gastronomical delight". So great. After many fits and giggles, we did our normal routine of playing cards at the hostel, and called it an early night as the moms had to leave in the morning.
Day 5: Ciao Roma.
It was time for the moms to leave me on my european excursion and to go back to the states to share all of their amazing adventures. I hope they have shared some good stories with all of you. As for me, it was tough to say good-bye, but I was on my way to the Cinque Terre, to spend three days on the Italian coastline. What a pick-me-up!
We started off the morning taking the train from Interlaken to our layover station at Milan. We woke up early to get to the train station, but apparently it was too early for some of us, because everyone besides Megan jumped on the wrong train. We realized our error on the train, and luckily were able to get off at the other Interlaken station and jump on the correct train there. It was not a pleasant start to my morning. We only stayed on that train for forty minutes, also, which made the mistake all the more unpleasant. Once we got on the correct train, we found out how crowded it was and realized we had no idea how to find our seats. Finally figuring it out, we had to kick out some of the people that were in our seats. Once all settled, we enjoyed a 2ish hour train ride to Milan. We chit-chatted a little bit and just enjoyed the general scenery and ride. Once we were at Milan, we took an opportunity to enjoy the station's architecture and take a quick break before jumping on another train for a 3-hour ride to Rome. This train was much nicer and more comfortable. Generally we found the trains in Rome to not be that great. Apparently the moms had heard that 2nd Class was kind of sketch, but in general I didn't mind it. Termini was crowded, but we found out how to get to the metro and jumped on to get to our hostel. Now, the metro on the other hand was definitely sketch. The cars were all graffitied, and surprisingly, NO ONE was on the metro. After two metro rides, we realized that our hostel was a good 45 minutes out of the city. Now, one might ask why I would go to through the trouble of booking a hostel so far outside of the city. Megan and I usually have a checklist of things that we look for in a hostel: security lockers, breakfast, etc., etc. and with the moms, we had to make sure it wasn't a youth hostel. Also, the description on the internet said that it was on a beach. And guess what?! It was! I was totally okay with the commute if I got to stare out at the ocean everyday. (Actually, I think it's a sea, but I can't remember which one.) Instead of heading all the way back into Rome to start seeing sights and finding some food, we decided to hit up the local grocery market for another wonderful dinner. We picked up the makings for some amazing chicken salads, in addition to stopping at the corner gelato place to pick up a delicious pre-dinner dessert. Now by that time I had stayed in a few hostels, including a few that had some pretty strict rules. I wasn't sure how the hostel was going to take our bringing food in. But the moms brought it in, and chit-chatted with one of the employees who was so nice! She brought out all the utensils we would need and forced us to have salt since we were having salads. We ate our food, some delicious bread for only 50 cents, and played cards before going to sleep early to prepare for the big day of sights the next morning.
Day 1: The Biggies
We decided to go big right away in Rome. Megan had many friends staying in Rome that she wanted to connect with, so most of this trip was just me and the moms. We started early heading over to the Palatino to pick up tickets for the Colosseum. Wouldn't you know that it's culture week in Rome (probably because Rome was also celebrating it's birthday that week) so all of the sights were free! We got tickets for the Colosseum, Palatino, and Roman Forum for absolutely nothing! Cheapest day so far. I suggested we head towards the Colosseum first, because I didn't know how busy it would be. After mom mistakenly got two tickets for a real tour instead of an audioguide (through no fault of her own--the guy spoke English, too), I let the moms take advantage of that while I wondered around the Colosseum by myself. I couldn't believe how huge the place is! The whole time I wanted to watch the movie Gladiator, even if it's not historically accurate. After taking in the general grandeur, we headed over to take in the Palatino and the Roman Forum. While walking amongst the ruins, it started to sprinkle. Then rain. Then REALLY rain. We decided we had had enough of the outdoorsy stuff, so we were planning on jumping on the hop-on, hop-off bus tour to catch some other sights. We were just in time for the next bus, so we snagged a little lunch and waited on the sidewalk. Slowly but surely, the cars stopped driving by and a group of reenacting gladiators started marching down the street--they were having a parade! Apparently this is NOT a common occurrence, but by this time it was still pouring rain. The procession looked just as miserable and sopping as I felt. An HOUR later, we finally boarded a crammed, steamy, smelly bus. I couldn't even see where we were going, or hear anything about what we were passing. Finally we decided to try to hop on a different bus at the Piazza del Popolo. No such luck there, so we hopped on the next bus on our original line, where we ran into a friend who had been waiting with us out in the rain by the Colosseum. I was soaking and uncomfortable at this point (wrong ensemble: skinny jeans and flats) so we headed to the Trevi Fountain to throw in a coin and make a wish, before finally just heading back to the hostel. Wouldn't you know that as soon as we got back to Ostia the weather started to clear. For dinner we went to "Non Solo Pizza..." or as mom likes to call it, "Con Solo Pizza". It was so good! We then stopped at our favorite little gelateria (the same one as the first night) on the way home for dessert. Another round of cards finished off the night.
Day 2: Tom the Tour Guide
The next day we decided to hit up the Vatican. We signed up for a 1:30 tour through our hostel, so we had the morning to kill. After making our long commute into the city, we wandered over to the Campo de Fiori, a wonderful fresh fruit and vegetable market that has a few souveneirs as well. We had fun sampling dried, candied fruit as well as some delicious strawberries. A man was selling vegetable "tools" (sorry, no better word) which promptly gave the moms and Megan something to purchase. It was like an informercial, and we all loved it! He was making curly fries and all sorts of vegetable delights. After walking away with our purchases (I also walked away with a beautiful yellow purse), we headed over to the Vatican. We were plenty early, so we imitated statues and did a little souveneir shopping before meeting up with Tom, our tour guide. Tom led us all around the Vatican, starting off in the square outside of St. Peter's Basilica, informing us all about the Sistine Chapel, through the Vatican museum, to the Sistine Chapel, and finally to St. Peter's Basilica. I loved the whole thing. Tom was very informative and told us lots of things I didn't know. Also, it was great for me to see some of the works of art that I've been learning about in my art history class, such as the Saint Longinus and the Baldacchino. The only other people who were on our tour with us was a couple from Colorado who had just been to the Cinque Terre (where Megan and I were heading next) so the tour was super small and fun. After the nearly four-hour tour, I was famished, so we headed over to Piazza Barberini to eat dinner. We found a cute little restaurant to eat pasta in. Mom also introduced us to proscuitto and melon. Delicious!
Day 3: Mom and Daughter Day
After having been in Rome for a few days, the others were nice enough to let my mom and I have a day together. First on my list was seeing the Spanish Steps. We climbed all of the steps and wandered into the chapel at the top. Hardly any people were there, which was a little disappointing--I thought the steps would be filled! I guess you have to wait for a sunny day to see that...Afterwards, we wandered toward the direction of the Pantheon, the next stop on our list. Wouldn't you know that we walked down the most expensive street in Rome--Prada, Dior, Gucci, Fendi, you name it, it was there. I always manage to find those streets! We eventually ran into the Pantheon (and I literally mean ran into the Pantheon--it was kind of abrupt). You would never guess how impressive/beautiful/astounding the inside of the building is until you enter. The outside looks big, but it's just grey and misleading. At this time, we were way ahead of schedule on our plans for the day, but there was one more thing that I really wanted to see-the Borghese Gallery. Home of many of the works of art that I've learned about, it was also located in one of the only green parts of Rome. Before we walked an eternity to get there, however, we had to stop for a gelato break. I was currently reading the book "Eat, Pray, Love" and in that book, the author recommends the gelato place "Il Gelato di San Crispino" as apparently having hte best gelato in Italy, which is saying quite a bit, if you ask me. So we wandered towards it, but couldn't find it! So we stopped in the next nearest place. After rounding the corner to head back out, we found the place! We ordered gelato at that place too. You can't pass up an opportunity to sample the best gelato in Rome, even if you've just had some! After having our fill, we headed to the Borghese Gallery. On our way, we had a minor crisis--my mom and I got separated on the subway! I was trying to mouth Termini to her, but she didn't get it. Thankfully, she's super smart and got off at the next stop, where I jumped off the metro and waved her to where I was. Whew. I think she was more freaked out than I was considering I had been navigating us the entire trip and she had no form of communication, including not having my cell-phone number. Once there, we found out it was sold out--until SATURDAY. I will remind you that this was a Tuesday. Slightly disappointed, we decided to check out something else instead. We decided to go to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. As we stepped out of the metro, I did what I always do, pull out my trusty map. Of course, a hop-on, hop-off bus tour guy was trying to sell us tickets, so I moved down a few steps. After a few moments he walked past us again and said "Information?" to which we replied, "No, thanks." He was like, "No, it's okay." So we asked how to get to the Basilica and he pointed us in the right direction. After we arrived to a beautiful looking facade, we were disappointed to find gates around the steps. Then we realized that this was the back of the Basilica! So we headed to the front and went inside. It was a beautiful church. After exploring it for a bit, we were tired enough to return to Ostia where we ate another dinner at "Non Solo Pizza" (not very good this time) and enjoyed the beach. As per usual, cards finished out the evening. We also met a friendly and chatty Londoner who had been living in Italy for the past seven years. She was very sharing, but she told us that we had done a good job at seeing all the sights so far.
Day 4: Churches, churches, churches galore
The next day I decided to let the moms fend for themselves and head off with Megan to see some of the works of art we hadn't seen yet. We stopped at the Piazza del Popolo to see some Caravaggio and a concert set up for Earth Day, then headed over to see the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa (Bernini is a genius) and wandering down the Quirinale to find the Sant'Andrea al Quirinale. In all that time, the moms still hadn't found their final destination, so we met up with them and wandered about for a bit. We saw a few places worth going into, but none of us could decide what to do. Finally, we headed over to San Giovanni to see the Basilica. Another massive, beautiful church. I was churched/museumed out at this point. We headed back to Ostia early to do a little market shopping and hang out at the hostel. We stopped at our favorite gelateria, where the workers seemed to recognize our faces, since we had stopped in their everyday. The afternoon just flew by, and before we knew it, we found ourselves in a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Now this is hilarious for 2 big reasons: 1) Mom hates Chinese food. 2) We are in Italy. Eating a Chinese Restaurant. Hm. Surprisingly, it turned out to be amazing! The best Chinese food I've ever had! Even Louise loved it! She called it a "gastronomical delight". So great. After many fits and giggles, we did our normal routine of playing cards at the hostel, and called it an early night as the moms had to leave in the morning.
Day 5: Ciao Roma.
It was time for the moms to leave me on my european excursion and to go back to the states to share all of their amazing adventures. I hope they have shared some good stories with all of you. As for me, it was tough to say good-bye, but I was on my way to the Cinque Terre, to spend three days on the Italian coastline. What a pick-me-up!
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