Hello from Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

When I last blogged we were in Rome and anticipating a very rainy next day. Boy were we wrong. It was a beautiful day in Rome and we had a wonderful time. My hands down favorite thing about Rome is that it is a huge modern city.... and then you turn around and a breathtaking structure is right in front of your eyes. We saw the Sistine chapel in the Vatican Museum, the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain as well as a lot of sites that we ran into by getting lost.

Pantheon & Trevi fountain area

It was a big day in and so we sat down to have a big dinner and met these delightful dutch ladies that we talked to for hours throughout the night.... Now Ill stop and interject for a while.... I'm not sure if Ive mentioned this before, but Justin and I have a knack for staying out late and missing the last tram, bus or whatever is going to have to get us home for free. This has previously been a €10 mistake and not the biggest deal.

However we missed the last tram in Rome and had no idea how to use the bus system and our hotel was on the outskirts. We talked to a cabbie and he said he would get us there for €20 and we agreed. I'm sure that some blog readers have seen drivers or even driven in Rome and so let me tell you that it is the most petrifying experience. There is no rhyme or reason to it whatsoever. There are no lanes and its kind of a first come first serve system. Our cabbie was very good, but I held my breath the whole time and kissed the Roman pavement after I had gotten to our hotel safely.

We left Rome early and were extremely tired due to our late night and we experienced an extremely annoying train ride. First of all I thought the train left at 645 and it turned out that it left at 635 and unfortunately this meant an early morning sprint through the train station with backpacks etc. After we lept onto the train, we soon discovered that the door right behind us and the air pressure switch must have been broken because it made the loudest sound every time someone came through the door. Similar to that of an air compressor. Justin and I slept for the first 3 hours but were periodically awakened by this or the (literally) 30 minute coughing fit from the man next to us. I woke up ravenous and Justin got me some 'cric crocs'??? They were paprika flavored and they were the first thing in Europe I really didn't like..... whatever the packaging indicates they are not and should never be anticipated as pringles. It could also be because I was tired and cranky though and the cric crocs received the full brunt of my annoyance.

Anyhow the train ride ended in the beautiful village of Vernazza where we have been for the last 3 days!! We got off the train and were immediately whisked off to a quiet room of his for €60 by Carlos Sergio, which we definitely feel lucky to get... most rooms are going for €75 to €90. Justin and I have hiked to all of the villages and lounged by the beach for the last 3 days and it has been glorious. The hike to Montesorro is definitely a butt burner and slightly hairy, but totally worth it. Sergio does not provide breakfast, which was a bummer at first, but ended up a blessing as we have been sleeping in. There are some Sicilian brothers that make pastries to die for and don't really give you a choice.... you just walk up and they hand you something and so we've been enjoying that with a cappuccino. Last night we had dinner up about 100 stairs with a view that could make you cry. Today we opted not to hike and just lay by the beach and wonder around and eat gellato. We met a girl last night who was from Missoula!Very small world for sure and so we had fun sipping wine and talking to them until midnight last night. We have however, painted ourselves into a bit of a corner by ending our trip in Cinque Terra (Kelsey, I think you alluded to this in your Italy tips and I subconsciously chose to ignore). Our euro rail pass doesn't include Switzerland and so we have a very creative schedule tomorrow to get our little heinies back to Frankfurt to fly home. We'll be traveling from 6AM to 10PM tomorrow and then fly back to the states the next day at 1030AM the next morning, but well worth it for our stay here in these little coastal villages.

We've had an amazing trip! I hope this finds everyone well!

Love, Paige and Justin