Venice!

We ended up in the famous square, Piazza San Marco, which is actually quite famous for its abundance of pigeons! It was cool to see in real life after seeing it in several movies! For the majority of the day though, we just drifted around, and eventually made our way back to the train station to check about the tickets to Zagreb, where we were told it would be 150 Euros‚ EACH!! WHAT?! No way…the bus was only 24 Euros‚ so… we decided to pull an all-nighter and just go to the disco until 5 am or so…except…i didn’t know where any were!

Pigeons!

I noticed what looked like an American couple, and asked them if they knew of any, and sadly they didn’t, but it turns out…they were also stuck for the night, so we decided to pull all-nighters together!! It was actually a really fun night filled with lots of wine canal-side and great conversation! Plus, we had another lovely drunken Italian addition to the group who added a lot of humor to the night. He even offered us a place to crash, which we regretfully declined, because there were no discoteks, and we ended up back at the closed train station at 2am! NO!!! And along with many other stuck travelers tried (AGAIN!!) to sleep outside!

New friends!

Whew…was really difficult this time, and felt like crap by the time the sun came up (partly hungover too i believe) but brought us closer to our new found friends…Aaron and Michelle! When we parted ways in the morning to buy our bus tickets, we ran into them passed out on the grass in the sunshine haha! It was pretty funny because we had joked about them doing it, but they actually did!

Italian friend

Found a nice patch of grass…

Venice come nightfall!

Riomaggiore was the first of the five towns within the national park (from our direction) and we started off towards Manarola. This leg was easy, no major inclines or declines but a nice steady introduction to the course, offering chances to climb down to the sea and explore the rocks, which we absolutely took advantage of!

Danger!

This little expedition eventually led us to an impassable cove and we had to turn around. Also on this leg is the along the trail are padlocks on a fence and under the tunnel. They are placed there by young lovers to “lock” in their love forever. Unfortunately we forgot to get one on the way out of the hostel. boo

Locks of Love!

The trail gets significantly harder after passing through the second town and lucky for us, sunnier as well. We ended the day in Vernazza, which is the second to last town leaving something to accomplish for the next day, also we had heard it was the hardest of the trails. Back to the hostel we went and negotiated a cheaper rate ( half price!! )with the owner since it was pretty vacant.

The second day we were greeted with sunshine walking out of the hostel and enjoyed it throughout the whole day. The trail lived up to its reputation as being the most difficult, and took us about 2 hours to complete without any major breaks. OMg it was sooo hard…i was panting after the first few minutes haha! BUT…it was so beautiful and worth it! 0o0o and i’m thankful Brad is alive!! The trail was so dodgy in some parts and in one place brad stepped, the ground just gave out beneath him where he almost fell to his
death! Phew!

Stunning View from the hike!

The last stop in the national park was Monterosso. This town was split in two with a tunnel connecting each with the better beach on the far side. Since we worked so hard at climbing we rewarded ourselves with some lounge time while we waited for our train. Damn it felt good to be a beach bum! I was in HEAVEN!! The sun felt so good on our skin and the water looked so beautiful! (but freezing!!)

Beach at Monterosso

 Sadly..it couldn’t last forever, and we had to take the train to La Spezia, where we caught a train immediately to Verona to meet Maura, or so hoped! Turns out…because of the crazy volcano eruption, Maura was stuck in Greece and all over the place, so when we arrived in Verona (at night), we didn’t know where to go! Luckily there was a room with couches that tons of other travelers were waiting and sleeping in, which looked good to us…until they decided to kick everyone out after midnight!! We decided to try and find Maura’s residence, but after walking around the empty town for a couple hours, decided to head back to the train station, where ahh….like bums..we slept on the ground! Please Mum (and mom) don’t be mad! We wouldn’t have do it if we didn’t feel safe and before we knew it, we were joined by several other backpackers who were also stuck! Finally morning time came, and we took an early train to Venice!

So today we woke up early and caught the train to Pisa just for a quick stop to basically…well get the famous picture of holding the building up! Ha! Brad thought it was ridiculous, but luckily he loves me, and went along with it! We got there, and it was actually very impressive at how much it is really leaning! Unfortunately, for some silly reason, they had the grass all blocked off, so none of our pictures looked right! Then a group of teenagers obviously said…screw this…we’re going on the grass…which lead to all the other young people going on the grass..including ourselves! So…much better pictures! It took the cops about 15 minutes before they decided to come out blowing their whistles, in which Brad and I immediately grabbed our packs and ran!

It ain’t no thang…!

Ahhhhhh!

Anyway…with my satisfaction with our pictures, we headed back to the train station to take a train to La Spezia, which is where we go to get to Cinque Terre! Well it was an EMPTY train, so we had out bags on the seats across from us, and i started to sleep on brad’s shoulder when i heard this commotion… about 5 (horrible looking) gypsies were walking down the aisle and getting in everyone’s face talking jibber-jab. The two with babies hanging off them got right up to us and Brad’s going no NO NO, and meanwhile another one was behind them unzipping my bag behind her back! LUCKILY i was watching her and got up and stopped her, AND luckily she only would have gotten emergen-c and vegemite (which i would have cried about) haha but, once i realized…they quickly moved on! It was really scary and got our hearts racing…they were really tricky and i’m sure got plenty of tourists things!

View of Firenze!

From Roma we moved on to Florence or Firenze in Italia.. (Not exactly sure how that translation came about) The entire train ride was a blur. Our attempted all-nighter with Maura prior to riding being the cause, was pretty successful except for the measly hour of sleep on the couch in the hallway of the Best Western.

Riverside!

As soon as we arrived, we headed straight for the campsite so we could grab a quick nap before seeing the sights. Appropriately named, Camping Michelangelo, the site was in close proximity to Piazza del Michelangelo and shared the same beautiful views of Firenze.

After a much needed nap we got to it. Down the hill and over the famous Ponte Vecchio we went, dodging the plethora of jewelry dealers and opting for the awesome views instead. We walked around a good bit of the city holding out as long as we could but ended up calling it quits pretty early. After a delicious Gelato we climbed back up the hill and watched the sun slip behind the mountains of Tuscany from out campsite.

The day began really early, probably around 3am, when Chelsea rolled over and said, sooo… are we staying in a hostel tonight?! The higher altitude and mountain winds combined for a very frigid night, so we did not get much sleep, and spent the rest of the morning in search of a hostel.

We found this pretty cool place thanks to a bunch of backpackers we passed on the street, who we would hang out with later. We settled in and got our sight seeing on. The first stop, Academia of course to see David. The outside of the building is pretty plain, considering the masterpiece that it holds and luckily, we only waited about 25 minutes to get in. (We heard that ques can be as long as 3 hours!) We tried to pace ourselves and appreciate all that Academia had to offer, which was some impressive painting, sculpture and instrument collection. Expecting to be led through a series of museums and galleries we were pretty surprised to turn the corner and be struck with the size and beauty of David after the first one. We are by no means art buffs, but you really do not have to be appreciate this masterpiece. We sat down and took our time checking it out, a noteworthy experience and a highlight of Firenze. It was incredible how much better it was than the 2 other fake ones u can find in the city! The detail was amazing!!

boooo…

Boooo….

Yayyy!!!

There is enough art and architecture in Florence to occupy a few days And a bunch of euros, so we just walked around and saw what we could from the outside. We checked out the central market area where the streets are lined with sellers of, randomly enough, leather. Leather bags, jackets, bracelets and so on.

We headed back to the hostel and recruited other hungry and broke travelers (1 girl from France who lived with PRETTY LIGHTS!!! Which is mine and Brads favorite musician!!, 2 Aussies, 2 girls from Great Britain, and then quite a few Americans…Texas, Seattle, New York… so we had a great mix!) for the 7 euro buffet. I know I know, buffet, nasty, but this was Italy and food is better there. It was a good time all around and our new friends were grateful for our discovery and their full bellies.

Couldn’t help ourselves…

 We carried the fun into the night. A box of wine and good company made for an awesome night and a great second day in Florence!

Brad forgot to mention, but we actually went out to a bar and then a nightclub for a little bit! The nightclub was crazy….dark with blue lights and PACKED…and of course…loud house music! It was fun for a bit, but we were not dressed for the occasion AT ALL…dying of heat! But a cool experience nonetheless!

Night out!

Our last day in Firenze, we just took it easy! Walked around to some pretty gardens and sat down for a bit! Felt like total hippies as we braided flowers into my hair and
watched the ducks race around the pond…or so we thought!! We’re going 0o0o how cool they are racing…or maybe..0oh they’re teaching their young to fly! Then we watched them land and immediately were shocked to see what looked like the male duck trying to rip off the female ducks neck as they all tried to rape her!!! We were so upset! But it was a big moment in our day hahah we spent a lot of time watching this scenario go down!

Hippies in the park

We tried to go to the Boboli gardens, but it was ridiculously expensive, so went to the free gardens next door to eat our lunch and wandered around..getting ourselves lost in the beautiful streets of Firenze before we climbed back to the top of the hill to watch the sunset! We bought ourselves a bottle of wine and enjoyed it with some crackers….which apparently is the thing to do, as tons of other people were sitting around us on the steps doing the same thing! No public drinking laws in Italy = great! The sunset was beautiful and it was a lovely relaxing day!

Wine at Sunset!

Sunset!

Our abode in Morlupo :)

Then we caught a train in to the city to meet Maura and her UGA abroad friends! We drank our boxed wine (which apparently here is for cooking and what bums drink….but hey! We are bums for the next year) and then went out to an Irish pub haha of course…cant get away from them! I’m ALL about eating local food, but we have eaten the crap out of Pizza and Gelato so i felt ok when we ordered supreme nachos and hot wings!

UGA friends!

It was ladies night too so we got great deals on drinks! It was definitely fun to be out, and we played flip cup…my fave…AND my team dominated!! But the best part of the night was when the bars closed and we went sightseeing at 2 in the morning! Everything was lip up so beautifully and nobody was around to get in the way! We layed down in front of the Colosseum and looked up at it! STILL gets me everytime i see it! 0o0o and i threw 2 more coins in to the Trevi fountain [KEL!]

Colosseo at night!

Trevi Fountain at night!

We probably walked around until 4am or so before we headed back to the hotel, and Brad and i grabbed our bags and headed to the train station to catch out train to Florence! We were exhausted and walking with those heavy bags was not fun! BUT it was worth it for a fun night with a friend!

Today we woke up pretty early, and were happy to find the guy at the campgrounds decided to give us the discount! We asked the night before if he would do 5 euros a person …instead of 8 euros… and he said no….but when we went to pay when we checked out, he gave it to us So nice!

We took one last stroll through Sorrento, and were sad to leave, because it was such a nice little town! Here is how much they LOVE their lemons…tons of stores dedicated to them with candles, soaps, statues, everything! haha saying it was not valid, and long story short…they made us pay a penalty! AHHhh we were sooo mad…they were saying you pay me now..only 1 penalty…or we call police and you get 2 penalties! GrrrRR! We were scrounging up money because we didnt want to give him our 50€ … thinking he would just keep the change. He finally let us go a little short on the cash, and gave us a joke of a ticket..our names were not even on it!

We went straight onto a train to Rome from Naples and went to go meet Maura ( friend from UGA) because she was in Roma for the weekend with her study abroad! We were thinking about going out with her, but were exhausted and decided to just take the train back to Morlupo, so as you can see…today was a day of riding on Trains!

I will add this picture just so it isn’t too boring haha…not as many pics this entry! Here is a pic of the oranges we have been eating! We were terrified at first, but have grown to love them because they are SOOOO juicy and flavorful!

But hopped on a train back to Napoli! We had the pass we had bought yesterday that was valid for 24 hours so used that in the little machine, and it let us through…everything was fine! WELL… by the time we got into Naples…the 24 hours was up and there were ticketmen (mafia) making you show them your tickets to get OUT of the train station, which we had never seen before. We show them ours and point to the clock and kept walking, but they weren’t having it! We ended up having to pay them

0o0o and im going to combine this with tomorrows, because the next day…we just stayed in Morlupo and hung out and relaxed! It was so nice to not do any walking around ha! Brad and i just caught up on some research in our Lonely Planet book and played cards (they have become our savior for passing time!) We have a massive ongoing score of Rummikub going haha! We made dinner there…delicious Gnocchi, which was even better than the one we bought in the restaurant, and a huge pack of vegetables!! I Do not know how Italians stay healthy because all they have here is carbs…mostly pizza everywhere…and pasta of course…and then Gelato!! Luckily Brad and i have been buying lots of fruit, but we needed some veggies in our life!

Gorgeous Coastline!

Everybody talks about the Almalfi coast, and how beautiful it is, so we decided to go for it! We were warned of the CRAZY bus driver and that you shouldn’t go if you get car sick…so we were crossing our fingers for Brad! But 0o0o0o it was the most beautiful drive!! I couldn’t stop taking pictures! Brad got a little bit queezy and i was even worried about myself because these roads were TINY…and you would do a complete U-turn basically on these windy roads and think you were either going to fall off the side, or hit one of the poor small cars trying to come the other direction.

You can see how Brad got queezy!

The first stop was at a small town called Positano, and it was lovely! Crazy how steep everything was and all the homes were just on the edge of the hill! But definitely helped keep people in shape there! Then the next stop was Almalfi, and it was a really cute little town! We got some Gelato (of course)….

Positano!

Gelato on the beach!

Brad got Pistachio because of Cassie’s recommendation, and I got this Banana Kiwi flavor and it was AmAzInG!! We ate it on the the beach….which was surprisingly comfortable. It looks really rocky but the rocks are so so smooth…we couldn’t stop feeling them! We actually ended up taking a little nap too bc it was nice to lay down…as you can see we had our packs so got tired easily!

We actually had booked a hostel in Almalfi (we learned after not booking in Naples), but decided to go back to Sorrento since it was a free ride back, and the camping was a wayyy cheaper option! And i just have to blog about this TV show that we saw when we got a bite to eat! It was the funniest thing! At first we thought it was a show to determine if the person was a male or female because they were showing all these transsexuals, cross-dressers, people in bondage, and then kind of normal looking people. Next thing we know they are standing up singing and waving their hands back and forth in unison, and then next thing we know it is like Ninja Warrior, and the list goes on! We couldn’t stop watching and still do not know what the point of the show was…it was great!

The bus ride from Naples to Pompeii was quick; we absorbed some of the beautful scenary as well as some travel tips from our new friends who had just spent some time in Vietnam.

The city of Pompeii was, in its day, a vacation spot for the wealthy Romans. The streets were made of these massive uneven stones which made walking a challenge. Most of the ruins looked similar, not to say that they were not impressive just some areas were better preserved than others. More specifically the building made for washing wool which had a pretty elaborate design. We read that urine was used in the cleaning process and was actually taxed and sold as a commodity. One of the coolest parts of the grounds was the olloseum/arena, not because of the mass bloodshed that took place before the volcano tore up the town, but according to our new friend Pink Floyd played a show there in the 70’s… Pretty sick right? We snapped a bunch of photos of the area and of course took a shot of the bodies that were preserved in the ash (they poured liquid plaster into the indentation in the ash to make it solid).

After Pompei, we hopped on a train to Sorrento, and as soon as we pulled in, we knew we loved it! There were Lemon trees and Orange trees everywhere!!! Luckily too…we met this really nice and very kind of posh British girl who told us about a camping area right near her hotel! And she was righht….it has an AMAZING view! And was super cheap! So we set up our tend…mostly Brad actually..changed out for a stroll in the the city! The Lemoncello shops there were like wineries…they gave you samples at everyone…so Brad and I went into everyone we saw haha! It’s pretty good…the creamy ones taste a bit better! We ended up getting a bottle…at the supermarket of course because its way cheaper…along with some food which saved us lots of money too! We went back to our campsite and drank our lovely lemoncello with some lovely conversation before we went out to the bars! I kicked Brads butt in some fuseball…we walked by a pizza place closing down and Brad got us an awesome deal on some delicious pizza…and we went home for a pretty early but great night!