Roma, Cinque Terre, Grecia

Forgive me for how long it has been but I have gotten so far behind that I wanted to wait until I had enough time to fully update on everything! I have too much to say so I will try to just recap.

ROME

On the 19th of May my two girlfriends (Jenny and Angela) and I were to spend the weekend in Rome. The night before we left I received a call from Neil and Kyle who were in Venice. I was able to convince them to pass through Florence (the next city on their list) and continue on to Rome to meet us for the weekend. I was so excited to have people from home that I can't even explain it.
Rome was more fun than I remembered it to be. I had forgotten how beautiful everything really is. The order of the adventure went like this: Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps via del Corso (a main entrance into Rome), Trevi Fountain (still one of my favorites just like my last visit to Italy), Colosseum and surrounding area, and Vatican City (Sistine Chapel, St. Peters Basilica, and etc.). The pictures don't do anything justice, especially the inside of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters. When we were in St. Peters we went in the prayer room where it was so peacefully quiet and even the tourists managed to stay quite while everyone was praying. Nuns and average people alike were knelt at the foot of an amazing gold altar with their rosaries in hand and deep in prayer. When you left the room to return to the massive and breathtaking inside of the church, you couldn't help but just remain silent in reflection for a few moments..
The trip was extended for a day because we arrived at the Vatican too late on Saturday to make it through the line in time to be able to enjoy everything before closing. It is not open on Sundays and we therefore stayed through Monday and dedicated an entire day to Vatican City. When in Rome, right?

After returning from Rome I had the pleasure of escorting Neil and Kyle back to Florence and they stayed with me at my once empty and quite apartment. I had been living alone in a three bedroom apartment outside the city center and was ecstatic to have company! We planned a trip to Cinque Terre for the weekend so they hung out in Florence for a couple of days until I finished my first level of Italian. Then it was off to the infamous Cinque Terre.

CINQUE TERRE

Since these five (hence cinque) villages are so small it was impossible to book a place to stay before arriving. Our trip was on and then off because we couldn't find a place to stay. After talking with multiple people and learning that you simply arrive and look for a camere our trip was back on and we were on a train two hours later. The first night we decided not to go to one of the villages and to stay in La Spezia, the biggest city near Cinque Terre. We figured our chances of finding a place to stay would be better here. We lucked out at the station and phoned the hotel of a nice couple that told us they had just booked a couple hours before. There were only two twin beds so we pushed them together and fit all three of us quite nicely! Lucky for me that I am small...or maybe unlucky because that meant I automatically got the middle.
The next morn we took the train to Monterosso, the furthest of the villages with the best beaches. Immediately we went straight to the beach and remained for the better part of the day. I was in heaven...and so were the boys. Me because of the sun, ocean, and spectacular views/ the boys mainly because of the boobs. Actually Kyle was not too happy after he had to purchase a bottle of sunscreen for almost 30 US dollars. I have learned that all throughout Italy, sunscreen and lotion are rare and expensive.
After enough sun and salt water we decided to walk to the next city, Vernazza. And we really thought it was just a walk. Then we encountered groups of people decked out in full on hiking gear. We're talking hiking boots, ski poles or walking sticks, water bottles, backpack and etc. More than one person, and I think two different languages, looked us up and down and commented on our beach attire. (I has shoved my suit in my purse and made one of the boys carry my water bottle and that was all I had on me.) But being the adventurous Coloradoans that we are, we bravely pushed on only to realize that although about 2 miles long, the hike was cake for anyone who has ever hiked in the real mountains. The only mishap we had was when Neil stepped off the trail and down into the stream (about three feet) because the trails were so narrow you couldn't really pass by someone. Single file only. Hiking was my favorite activity to participate in at the time and made me feel right at home...only if Nikoli would have been there! The hike pretty much took the rest out of so we rejuvenated in Vernazza and enjoyed a gelato while waiting for the next train to Riomaggiore (where we were lucky to get the last reservation at the popular Mar Mar hostel). We each enjoyed an entire pizza that night, drank some wine, and played an intense game of cribbage.

It was in Cinque Terre when the boys made their reservations for their next destination, Greece, that I decided I needed a vacation due to high levels of stress. I chose not to go to my first week of level 2 and last week of language class altogether and accompany Neil and Kyle to Greece. Back to Florence we went to get ready for the next adventure, nearly two full days of traveling to include a 21 hour ferry ride and the rest via train to Pireaus, Greece!

GRECIA

In order to get to Greece from Italy, specifically Florence, you must jump through some hoops. However, it is very popular for Italians to vacation here so everyone laughed when I told them where I was going. They understood all too well what I was about to embark upon. From Florence you must take the train North to Bologna and then back down South to the east coast city of Ancona. This takes about 4 hours total. Then you must take a bus from the train station to the port. In order to do this you must ask the nice Italians on the bus where to get off because it is not obvious what-so-ever. Then, if you were paying attention as to which direction the big ships were, you walk that way... really there were no signs. Then you choose between one of the many ferry companies that advertise how fast they can get you to Greece (18 hours was the shortest advertised). We were budget traveling and chose to purchase only the deck pass which meant for our 21 hour ride we would be aloud to roam around the deck and cabin to find a place to sleep. The ship was actually really nice and was just as big as a cruise ship.

We left the port at about 1.30 in the afternoon and were to arrive in Patras, Greece the next morning at about 11.00. So naturally we enjoyed a few beverages and card games after soaking up some sun on the deck. Actually, I enjoyed one and then soaked up some sun only to find myself face down on the deck of the ship and dripping with sweat. When I stood up to Kyle and Neil amused at how long I had been sleeping in the sun I noticed I had left behind sweat marks of my arms, stomach, and legs on the deck. They remained until the next morning when the deck was sprayed. Don't worry Kyle and Neil passed out (sitting in their chairs) soon after and they were both literally catching flies while snoring a little and awoke with extremely stiff necks. When it came time to sleep we set up camp (the boys had sleeping bags and I had my cocoon) in the main sitting room/bar area that was on the opposite side of the disco. This ended up being a bad idea.
It turns out quite a few people prefer to stay up drinking for the entire night instead of sleeping. We should have done that instead of drinking early! So we moved to the dining area only to be asked to move at 6 in order for people to eat breakfast while not staring at homeless college kids asleep under their table. We moved another time to the end near the disco that finally closed. Of course, though, this was a cafe in the morning and we were told to get up off of the floor for the same aforementioned reason. So back out to the deck where we had all napped the afternoon before it was. Everything had just been washed and so we carefully positioned ourselves in the driest spots.

By now, however the sun was coming up and we were passing through some of the Greek Isles and it was worth being awake for. The water was the clearest I have ever seen and many of the islands were small and seemed to be uninhabited. I was so happy we passed through this because we were staying in Athens/Pireaus the entire time and not traveling to any of the islands! The journey was beautiful until arrival at Patras and my favorite part of Greece altogether.
Getting from Patras to Pireaus (the next city closest to Athens with the only hotel availability we could find) included two train changes and a couple of hours. We finally made it in time to get a snack, shower and go get dinner. We were pumped to get a break from bread, pizza, more pizza, pasta, and pizza. We were in search of a famous Greek gyro…but turns out they aren’t as famous in Greece as in America. Not to mention Greek isn’t so easy to read. But, we found pitas instead and they were d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.


Of course the main reason we were in Greece was for the Acropolis. This was an all day-er and pretty cool. Disappointing at times because everything is constantly being restored and is covered in scaffolding, but nonetheless amazing to see. I am still always amazed wherever I go to see how advanced ancient civilizations really were. You don’t see us building anything as complicated as they did without machines! It is also odd, however to see these historic sites smack dab in the middle of a giant city like Athens. It is literally in some peoples back yards.
Then next day we went to a museum…and sorry but by now that is the best I can do. I have been to so many ‘museums’ that I can’t keep them apart or differentiate between what was in each. Except for the really famous stuff of course….However, I do remember that I loved this museum because it had a bunch of jewelry and artifacts from Troy. And we all know how much I looooooove Troy. Not just because of Mr. Pitt or because I was Helen for Halloween… I actually was able to apply all of my Historic Costume and Textile knowledge to everything I saw it that made me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth from CSU!

After museum though we all needed un caffe. We had also noticed that everyone in Greece had these drinks that were half foam/cream and accompanied by a glass of water. We decided it was about time to see what the rage was all about. So we found a very hip café and inquired about these “Nescafe frappes.” Kyle and I got the (I’m not going to lie, not so delicious) frappe while Neil ordered the “mmmm… so trendy drink” (that is seriously what the ad said). His was much trendier and much tastier than ours. We had not eaten much and were all talking about a hundred miles an hour in a short amount of time, maybe even almost drunk off of caffeine and spent almost two hours sitting in this café. Our waitress found us quite amusing….especially when she noticed Kyle making a funny face while drinking his. She asked him if he like it and he said, “Yes, but how do you drink it?” She laughed and made a sucking out of the straw gesture and said, “you just drink.” Americans, we are so special.
The end of Greece meant goodbye to the boys. After 13 days I had become quite attached and did not want them to go. They went on to Croatia and I flew solo back to Italy. That is another story in itself but let me just say that I am glad to have, by some miracle, not been stranded at some train station outside the center of Rome overnight, not got caught being a second class passenger in first class with an un-validated ticket (and no room in second class if I was caught), and become friends with the nice Italians in my cabin who called me a cab so that I was not stranded in Florence at 3 in the morning (as the buses don’t run that late and you have to call cabs and reserve them, you can’t hail them)!

That is for now. I started my internship today and it was great! I spent all day designing and learning the color and style preferences of Enrico Coveri. Check out his website if you are curious…
www.coveri.com
I will elaborate more soon as I do not have any more time now!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying summer! I sure do miss the mountains, the fresh air, and the peace and quite (I never thought I would say that!).