Cinque Terre and Rrrrrooommmaaa!!!

Sun, sea, pebbles, wine, and pure, unadulterated Italy:The Cinque Terre. This was the next stop on Zach and I’s European adventure. The Cinque Terre is a small chunk of the Italian Riviera consisting of five villages: Manarola, Vernazza, Corniglia, Monterosso and Riomaggiore. I went backpacking through Italy when I was 16, and we stayed in Vernazza. To this day, it has always been on my top favourite places to travel. I was so excited to stay in the area again, but this time we were going to be staying Riomaggiore-a few minutes train ride from each of the other villages. I was also excited because this was Zach’s first time to Italy and I knew he would have a wonderful impression of the country because the Cinque Terre is the most picturesque area I’ve been to, and we all know Zach loves his pictures…
We had a bit of a difficult time finding our hostel, but once we figured everything out we found ourselves in a great little hostel in a perfect location just 30 seconds from the waterfront and right in the heart of the village. We didn’t waste much time getting settled in, and went to the top of the clock tower-a place we had heard would have a great view. We were not disappointed!!





After the walk down, we stopped for our first taste of Gelato. I cannot express to you how much I love gelato. I literally want it all the time. Morning, afternoon, evening…They are all appropriate times for gelato. I have tried so many flavours and it is always a very difficult process each time I have to decide on two (or three!) flavours.


Anyway, we had to rest up because we were doing the big hike the next day that goes all the way from Riomaggiore through all the towns to eventually end up in Manarola. Unfortunately, the trail was closed in some parts so we had to take a detour (which ended up taking twice as long, but had great views!) which was great because we met some awesome people from the States. Zoe, Lauren (from Colorado), Missy and Joe (from Michigan) were great hiking partners and we were able to get to know some new people which was awesome.






Zach and I finished the hike on our own and eventually made it to Manarola. It was such a fantastic day because we had beautiful weather, met awesome people, all the while hiking and trying to absorb breathtaking views! After making it to Manarola, we took the train back to Riomaggiore, bought a pizza to share and went up to the clock tower to take in the beautiful view while eating some authentic Italian food!

That night, we went down to the waterfront with wine and bread to join our friends. Zach got some great pictures and we met even more backpackers! Minneapolis, Winnipeg, Chicago, Toronto were just a few of the cities represented that night. It was really fun to meet people in the middle/beginning/end of their journeys. Each had a different story, a different reason for traveling, and a different outlook on their travels.




The next day we went to Manarola and relaxed on the beach! It was NOT raining (praise the Lord) and the water was so warm, so we did a lot of swimming. The sun was a little too much for Zach…but he came prepared.

We spent the night playing cards, and enjoying the slow pace, and peacefulness of the village. We were headed to Rome next so we appreciated the quiet atmosphere while we could.
Roma, Roma, Roma. I was so excited to get to the capital city-mostly because Zach and I would be meeting our friend, Caroline Olsen!! We’d both met Caroline at FLBC and though she was one of my best friends, I hadn’t seen her in 8 months so…needless to say I was very excited. Zach and I had one day in Rome by ourselves first, so we walked around and explored a bit. We did some grocery shopping and I bought my breakfast for the next three days.

I know it's sugar cereal Dad, but...I'm on vacation so it's fine. It was nice to have MILK. I hadn’t had it in 3 weeks so it was delicious. We stayed in that night because we had a lot of sightseeing to do in the next two days.
The next morning, I went to meet Caroline at the airport. It was a bit of a gong show trying to get to the airport, but I finally found the right bus and went to meet her while Zach (you guessed it) took photos of random things. As soon as Caroline came out of the gate, we went into town and walked straight to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. The Colosseum had been one of my favourite sights the first time I went to Rome, so I was really excited to go back. Caroline spent most of our time talking, laughing, and…doing musical numbers throughout the afternoon and just enjoying each other’s company (while taking in the sights, of course).





We went out to a “hole in the wall” Italian restaurant for dinner thanks to Rick Steves and then had some gelato (obviously). I think Caroline loves gelato more than me. I didn’t think it was possible…but apparently it is. That night, Zach and I met up with our friends from Vancouver and hung out with them for the night. We also met their friend from Australia. Caroline was still jet lagged so she stayed home and was passed out by 8:30 PM. God bless her.
Zach and Caroline went to Vatican City the next day, but since I had already been I did my own thing and went to see St. Peter in Chains where Michaelangelo’s famous statue of Moses was. It was my Dad’s favourite statue when we went in 2006, so it was really cool to go back and actually appreciate why he liked it so much. Caroline and Zach also had a great time at the Vatican and even got to see the Pope!




But the day wasn’t over yet! We still made it to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps while squeezing in time for dinner….and gelato.



Caroline and I also danced in the square while a street musician was playing. Zach wasn’t embarrassed at all.

One of our random interactions with a local happened at the Trevi fountain. Everywhere in Italy there are men offering people roses. They try to get you to buy them, but obviously I always say no. However, Caroline and I were sitting for a picture and this guy came and gave us roses. We told him we didn’t want them and tried to give them back to him, but he refused and said he wouldn’t take them. We told him that we didn’t have any money but he said, “no, it is for free”. So we started walking away. Then, he told Zach to give him some money. I believe Zach’s exact words were “I am not paying anything for their stupid roses”. The guy wrecked his face at us (maybe cursed at us in Italian, I don’t know) and grabbed the roses from us. At least we got a picture with them first!

And that was Rome! More adventures from the THREE of us soon!
A