I think it's really strange that cities have different names depending on what language you speak. For example, Florence is really Firenze and Rome is really Roma. Why does it matter? My name doesn't change depending on who I'm talking to. Plus, the real names sound better! Oh well, let's move on to the final portion of my trip to Italy...Roma!!
See pics: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/Rome#
So the drive to Roma went very well and took a couple hours. However, once we got near the city it was a different story. Due to a lack of a good map and good signs, we ended up going the wrong way on the highway that circles the city. So after a while we decided it may be best to figure out how to get to where we needed to go based on our maps. It ended up working out, but it took a while and involved a lot of turning around. When we finally got to the Hertz office, there wasn't even a place to park the car, so I basically sat in the middle of the road with hazards on while Megan ran in to get more information. Eventually we got everything settled, dropped the car off, and put everything on our backs again. We went to the nearest metro (underground) station and made our way to the appropriate stop for our B&B. We left the map to our B&B at the Hertz office, but very luckily found it thanks to Megan's memory.
Our B&B host was waiting for us outside and took us upstairs to our room. The B&B was basically a flat with a large common area, a kitchen, and three rooms. It was pretty nice and our host was amazing. She gave us an excellent city map, complete with handrawn bus routes and pointed out all of the main sites to see. She also added a couple great restaurant recommendations that she often enjoys as a local. After our introduction to Rome, we felt we better use the rest of our evening to the fullest! We unpacked our stuff and set off into town. We decided to make our way to the central area of town where a number of sights are, and most notably, all of Roma's fine shopping. We passed stores that didn't mean anything to me but made Megan pretty excited, like Dior, Prada, YSA, Gucci, Verache, and many many many more. We made our way to the Spanish Steps, which consists of 138 steps that climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna (at the base) and the Trinita dei Monti (the church at the top). The stairway was built in 1723 and is known as Europe's longest and widest staircase. The sun had gone down and we had an awesome view of Roma lit up from the top. Climbing and exploring the stairs and church worked up an appetite, so we decided to head to dinner.
We went to our host's most highly recommended restaurant called Maccheroni. It is hidden among restaurants and shops along some of the tiny streets of the central area of Rome. It was 8pm and we were told we could sit outside as long as we were done by 9pm when the reservation seating started. We ordered a jug of excellent white wine and ordered two courses. I started with penne pasta with cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella. It was by far the best pasta dish I had during the entire trip! My second course was excellent Italian Sausage. We finished just after 9pm and headed toward another sight in the area, the Trevi Fountain.
On our way to the fountain, we passed a number of street vendors which is very common in the city. A lot of them in the central area sold some kind of shelled, warm nut. However, most of the vendors consist of huge carts selling all types of beverages and snacks, including wine. We bartered with one of them for a few minutes, bought a bottle of wine, and headed to the fountain. The Trevi Fountain is the largest, standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet), and most ambitious of the Baroque fountains of Rome. Although the fountain is very old, it is meant to symbolize the place of one of the main aqueducts that supplied Rome with running water. The fountain was an extremely popular place and we stayed there for the rest of the night drinking our wine and chatting with other tourists. I didn't know it at the time, but tradition says that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. I wish I would have known because I would love to return some day!
Our 2nd day, and only full day in Rome, was another power sightseeing day. We had a lot to cover in one day, something that normal tourists would take a couple days to do. We started by walking to the Coliseum, which we had seen the night before from the outside. We were shocked how long the line was, but luckily we got stopped by someone who was selling guided tours of the Coliseum and the nearby Forum area. By taking the tours, you got to bypass the line to the Coliseum and you obviously got to learn a lot from the guide, so we did it. The Coliseum was absolutely amazing. To imagine how big and revolutionary it must have been at the time is mind boggling. The entire building, inside and out, was very impressive even in it's current state. A few years ago they found the underground series of tunnels and chambers underneath the floor of the stadium, so most of the floor has been lifted to show them. The coliseum was built in ten years between 70 and 80 AD. It seated somewhere between 50k and 70k and hosted three types of fights: animal vs. animal, animal vs. gladiator, and gladiator vs. gladiator. Obviously the fights at least included a lot of blood, and commonly included death. The underground series of chambers and tunnels also included lifts which allowed animals and gladiators to suddenly appear on the stadium floor...an ancient example of special effects. After our tour we were free to explore the Coliseum, which we did, and then went to a nearby shop to grab some lunch.
Right next to the Coliseum area is Palatine Hill and the Forum. Palatine hill is the most central hill in Rome and is where ancient Roman Emperors lived. Excavations have shown that people started living there around 1000BC! Just below the hill directly next to the Coliseum is the area known as the Roman Forum. In ancient times, this was the center of everything. No one lived in this area, but it was the financial, economic, religious and commerce center of Rome. It held a number of churches, basilicas, arches, and other buildings whose remnants can still be seen today. We met up with our tour guide that took us through this huge area. Since we still wanted to see so much, we breezed through the area after our tour and headed to our next stop...the Vatican.
Vatican City is actually a sovereign city-state sealed in it's own walls in the city of Rome. With a population of around 800, it is the smallest independent state in the world by both population and area. It is the central authority for the catholic church and holds a huge museum and St. Peters Cathedral. Our first visit was to the Vatican Museum. The museum was huge and had endless rooms and halls full of museum things. Since neither of us were too excited to spend hours looking at museum things, we made our way to the highlight of the museum: The Sistine Chapel. However, getting there meant we had to walk through plenty of rooms and hallways which were extremely elaborate. My favorite part of the museum was a collection of handrawn maps from the 1500s. It was very interesting seeing North America, and the world, grow throughout those exploratory years. The Sistine Chapel itself was full of people gawking at the famous painting on the ceiling. Although no pics were aloud, I snuck one here as well.
From there, we went to St. Peters Cathedral which has the largest dome in the world. The Cathedral is a lot like other Cathedrals we had seen, but even more elaborate and fancy. As we walked in, the sun shone through the windows and visibly streaked the thick air inside. My overall impression of the cathedral was disappointing. I don't understand the need for so much money to be spent on making a building so over the top elaborate. It really seemed unnecessary and gotty, but it was an amazing building. Below the cathedral are the crypts of St. Peters Tomb. A number of previous popes, including Pope John Paul, are buried there. The piazza outside of the cathedral is huge and surrounded by gigantic pillars and statues. There is a fountain in the center and, based on what I've seen on TV, this is where everyone gathers to hear the Pope.
After leaving Vatican City, we grabbed some quick gelato and took the bus to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was truly an amazing building. The large pillars outside are made from a single slab of granite and came from Egypt. Pantheon, meaning "temple of all gods," was built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome. The center dome is open in the middle and looks absolutely incredible from the inside. The piazza outside the Pantheon had a small fountain in the center and surrounded by other buildings, restaurants and shops. From there we headed to another restaurant recommended to us by our host called Gusto. It is known for their pizza, but we got there before the restaurant opened so we enjoyed happy hour in the bar before being seated outside for dinner. The pizza was incredible and definitely the best pizza I had in Italy. We later learned that our host was also there for dinner with some friends shortly after us. After a quick break at our hotel, we headed back out on the town to enjoy some drinks in Piazza Navona, the popular and young area to hang out in town. We grabbed a few beers and checked out one of the local shops before heading in for the night.
Our last day in Rome was short since we had to catch a flight in the early afternoon. We went back down into the central shopping area and browsed some more of the fancy stores. We also saw the Spanish Steps again, grabbed some gelato and some lunch, and walked the narrow streets enjoying the nice weather. Overall, I was extremely impressed and happy with Rome. It was much better than I had imagined and would love to go back again. Farewell for now!
10.16.2008
10.13.2008
Italy, Part 2 - Tuscany and more!
Welcome back! I last left you when we left the Cinque Terra region of the northern coast of Italy on our way inland to Tuscany. We had a car rental reservation ready for us in La Spezia, so we took the train there and managed to find an information office where we were instructed on what bus to take to the Hertz office.
See pics here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/Tuscany#
The bus journey was actually quite interesting. We weren't exactly sure how the ticket situation would work, so we thought we would follow everyone else's lead. Some people walked right on and others validated a ticket they had already purchased. So we decided to just walk on and sit down. As the bus continued it's journey, it got rather full...very full. When we got to our stop, I had to lift my pack above my head to avoid hitting others standing in the isle. We got to the rear door and it started to close and the bus began to move! We yelled "wait!" and then an Italian man did the same in Italian for us. The driver stopped and opened the door, but the people blocking our way didn't move! Finally a lady stepped off the bus to make room but I didn't see that she just left a bag of groceries where she had been standing, so I knocked it over but had no choice to get off anyway. We made it off and walked across the street to pick up our car. We were upgraded to a manual, diesel car that was similar to my old Scion.
Megan was a bit nervous about the driving situation, so I took the wheel while she navigated with the rather poor maps we had with us. Unfortunately, the Hertz office was out of maps but he gave us pretty good written directions. It had been about 4 months since I had driven and I absolutely loved it!!! We made our way inland, into Tuscany, and arrived in the town of Uligiana (or U-town) where we would stay for the next three nights. Utown has a great location in the heart of Tuscany. Tuscany itself was much more hilly/mountainy than I had expected and was of course filled with vineyards and wineries. Most of the towns, big or small, are perched atop hills and have city walls. They are all very fortress-like and the towns are filled with old buildings, towers and archways. We also found all of the doors to be very fascinating and a lot of my pictures ended up being archways and doors. The city walls are leftover from ancient times when each town had to defend themselves from neighboring towns and the Romans. It makes the towns really unique and quaint, but hard to find ways to get in!
Our place in Utown was another beautiful B&B style hotel hosted by Guido. He spoke perfect English and showed us around. We then got back in the car and headed a few miles up the road to San Giogsoinsljhfyg (San-G, for short). San G sits on top of a large hill and can be seen for miles. It is a fortress like town with no cars inside, but once inside there are a lot of shops and restaurants. There are also a lot of flats where people live. It appears to be very very old and has a number of huge towers. We got some gelato to hold us over until dinner and Megan did some shopping at one of the jewelry shops. We picked a restaurant and got seated right when they opened. We ordered Bruschetta to start, and it was by far the freshest and best I've ever had. I also ordered a salad which came after my meal, so the waiter clearly didn't understand what I said when he asked when I would like my salad to arrive. For dinner, I ordered ravioli filled with Siena sausage and topped with walnut sauce. It was great! After dinner, we got yet another gelato and hung out by the old well in the middle of the square. On our way out, we stopped at a bakery where I got a mini almond flavored cookie and a lemon bar cake.
The next day we had planned to head up to Florence, but after a late start and some stalling at a local market and shopping in a nearby town, we decided to head to Siena instead. We stopped in a few more classic Tuscan villages on our way and eventually made our way to Siena. Siena is like a really big San G. It still has a city wall and lots of towers and neat buildings, but it is much bigger and busier. We eventually came across a huge square in the middle of town with a tower and surrounded by restaurants with outdoor seating. I said we had to eat here, so we did. We enjoyed the great sunshine and my first Italian pizza while people watching everyone passing by. We walked around town, found a really weird (and old) striped church, got some gelato, and came back to the square where we sat down and took a rest. Leaving Siena was quite interesting as we got a little turned around and I ended up driving down one of the small streets within the city wall...oops! We had also planned a scenic journey home which allowed us to see a lot of the country side, including a great view from a large hill/mountain.
We ate dinner at the only place in Utown, where Guido had called ahead and made reservations for us. He had ordered pizza from them earlier that night and he recommended it with a smile on his face. We immediately liked the place upon entering; it was small and simple with green paper table cloths. We ordered bread, linguine with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, and 2 calzones. Mine had sausage, pepers and olives (with pits!). It was excellent and so was the pasta! We also got the house red wine which was served out of a huge glass jug (which we found out was very common for the rest of our trip). The best part was how cheap everything was...all of that plus dessert for 28euros! We went back to our room and watched some MTV on tv before falling asleep...the only station that we could even partially understand.
Our last day in Tuscany was a busy one, and we knew it when Guido and the other guests at breakfast laughed at us when we told them our plans for the day. We were hoping to visit Pisa, Luca and Florence. Luckily we were able to steal a guidebook (Rick Steves 2005) from the hotel which helped us plan what we should see and do in each place. First was Pisa, and our only motivation for going there was to get the classic picture in front of the leaning tower. We were surprised how nice the area around the tower was and there were a couple other really cool buildings to check out as well. We did get "the picture" which you will see. From there we got back to our car, which I'm pretty sure was parked on a road only for authorized vehicles, and headed toward Luca. We had a little trouble finding our way out of town, but we made it and the drive was great! We went over what seemed like a small mountain/pass and arrived in Luca and found a place to park.
Luca is another classic Tuscany style town with a village wall and very old buildings with towers and squares. We had heard great things prior to our visit, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed. However, I really liked the big, open square in the middle of town (which was actually circular) and they had a lot of really cool shops. I even did some early Christmas shopping! It was definitely less crowded and very chill compared to the other towns we had visited and it kinda reminded me of Italy's Boulder. We decided to grab some quick food at a shop and eat it in the car on our way to Florence.
When we arrived in Florence, we immediately realized it was the first main city we have experienced so far. It was really busy and there were a ton of scooters driving crazily on the roads. We finally found a place to park and started walking toward the central area of town. Florence is full of history, with many well known museums, cathedrals, bridges and chapels. Due to our helpful guidebook, we had called ahead and made reservations to visit the Academia Museum, which is where Michelangelo's David statue is kept. Yeah, it's the one with the penis. We located the museum, which had a huge line outside (which we would later bypass), but it wasn't our time yet so we explored the area a bit more. We visited the Duomo, which is the main cathedral in town. I can't remember why, but apparently it's a pretty big deal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral). The inside was beautiful and as everywhere in Florence, the architecture was amazing. It also has a great tower as well. We also visited the Medici Chapels and the San Lorenzo Basilica. Again, these were very neat buildings but I'm not sure of their significance. We then made it to our museum, which was full of paintings, statues, musical instruments, many other museum things, and The David. Although no pictures were allowed, I did sneak one anyway. I was surprised how impressive it really was and it is actually one of my favorite things we saw during the trip. You have to think about the detail in the statue without any modern conveniences or machines that we have today; pretty impressive.
Florence is situated on Arno river and there are a number of beautiful bridges that cross it. They are also full of history from ancient times when Romans and other enemies attempted to invade and disable Florence. The most well-known bridge, the Ponte Vecchio (if you heard it pronounced correctly, you'd probably recognize it) is an amazing bridge that is full of shops, mostly jewelery. It is open in the middle, however, and has great place to snag some photographs which you will see. We crossed the river to explore the other side a bit and then decided to hit up a restaurant recommended by our book that was a little out of the way. A 15 minute walk later, we found the restaurant that sits just outside the city wall. The book called it surprisingly cheap and very traditional so we thought we'd give it a go.
We were absolutely amazing how surprisingly cheap it really was. Each course was no more than 3-5euros and the house wine was much cheaper. Everything on the menu was in Italian, so we pulled out my trusty phrase book to help us figure out what everything was. We were pretty excited to have to learn everything, but the only English-speaking waiter eventually came to use and translated the entire menu for us. It was very nice of him but probably not necessary. We definitely "splurged" for this meal. We each got appetizers, a first course, a second course, vegetables, and split a dessert and it was still one of the cheapest meals we ate. And the food was great!
During our walk back to the car, of course all I had on my mind was Gelato, but for some reason we never stopped. We got back to our car and followed the signs back to the highway, which luckily took us to the top of the a hill that overlooked the entire city. It was absolutely beautiful at night, with the cathedral domes lit up and the reflections sparkling on the river. Even better, there was a gelato shop up top as well! We got some gelato, admired the view, and I even posed in front of the fake David statue too. Fortunately for all of you, I was fully clothed. We got back to the hotel pretty late, and completely beat, but we had successfully seen everything we had planned and didn't feel like we cut ourselves short either. What a great day!
Thursday morning we checked out of the hotel and stopped at San G one more time to find an Internet Point and do some final shopping. We also got some snacks and lunch to eat on our long drive to Rome. Tuscany overall was a great experience. You could easily spend weeks roaming the country roads, visiting all of the cities, towns and villages, and checking out the vineyards and wineries. Renting a car was a great decision and it really allowed us to experience a lot that Tuscany has to offer. But it was time to leave and off to Rome we went!
See pics here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/Tuscany#
The bus journey was actually quite interesting. We weren't exactly sure how the ticket situation would work, so we thought we would follow everyone else's lead. Some people walked right on and others validated a ticket they had already purchased. So we decided to just walk on and sit down. As the bus continued it's journey, it got rather full...very full. When we got to our stop, I had to lift my pack above my head to avoid hitting others standing in the isle. We got to the rear door and it started to close and the bus began to move! We yelled "wait!" and then an Italian man did the same in Italian for us. The driver stopped and opened the door, but the people blocking our way didn't move! Finally a lady stepped off the bus to make room but I didn't see that she just left a bag of groceries where she had been standing, so I knocked it over but had no choice to get off anyway. We made it off and walked across the street to pick up our car. We were upgraded to a manual, diesel car that was similar to my old Scion.
Megan was a bit nervous about the driving situation, so I took the wheel while she navigated with the rather poor maps we had with us. Unfortunately, the Hertz office was out of maps but he gave us pretty good written directions. It had been about 4 months since I had driven and I absolutely loved it!!! We made our way inland, into Tuscany, and arrived in the town of Uligiana (or U-town) where we would stay for the next three nights. Utown has a great location in the heart of Tuscany. Tuscany itself was much more hilly/mountainy than I had expected and was of course filled with vineyards and wineries. Most of the towns, big or small, are perched atop hills and have city walls. They are all very fortress-like and the towns are filled with old buildings, towers and archways. We also found all of the doors to be very fascinating and a lot of my pictures ended up being archways and doors. The city walls are leftover from ancient times when each town had to defend themselves from neighboring towns and the Romans. It makes the towns really unique and quaint, but hard to find ways to get in!
Our place in Utown was another beautiful B&B style hotel hosted by Guido. He spoke perfect English and showed us around. We then got back in the car and headed a few miles up the road to San Giogsoinsljhfyg (San-G, for short). San G sits on top of a large hill and can be seen for miles. It is a fortress like town with no cars inside, but once inside there are a lot of shops and restaurants. There are also a lot of flats where people live. It appears to be very very old and has a number of huge towers. We got some gelato to hold us over until dinner and Megan did some shopping at one of the jewelry shops. We picked a restaurant and got seated right when they opened. We ordered Bruschetta to start, and it was by far the freshest and best I've ever had. I also ordered a salad which came after my meal, so the waiter clearly didn't understand what I said when he asked when I would like my salad to arrive. For dinner, I ordered ravioli filled with Siena sausage and topped with walnut sauce. It was great! After dinner, we got yet another gelato and hung out by the old well in the middle of the square. On our way out, we stopped at a bakery where I got a mini almond flavored cookie and a lemon bar cake.
The next day we had planned to head up to Florence, but after a late start and some stalling at a local market and shopping in a nearby town, we decided to head to Siena instead. We stopped in a few more classic Tuscan villages on our way and eventually made our way to Siena. Siena is like a really big San G. It still has a city wall and lots of towers and neat buildings, but it is much bigger and busier. We eventually came across a huge square in the middle of town with a tower and surrounded by restaurants with outdoor seating. I said we had to eat here, so we did. We enjoyed the great sunshine and my first Italian pizza while people watching everyone passing by. We walked around town, found a really weird (and old) striped church, got some gelato, and came back to the square where we sat down and took a rest. Leaving Siena was quite interesting as we got a little turned around and I ended up driving down one of the small streets within the city wall...oops! We had also planned a scenic journey home which allowed us to see a lot of the country side, including a great view from a large hill/mountain.
We ate dinner at the only place in Utown, where Guido had called ahead and made reservations for us. He had ordered pizza from them earlier that night and he recommended it with a smile on his face. We immediately liked the place upon entering; it was small and simple with green paper table cloths. We ordered bread, linguine with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, and 2 calzones. Mine had sausage, pepers and olives (with pits!). It was excellent and so was the pasta! We also got the house red wine which was served out of a huge glass jug (which we found out was very common for the rest of our trip). The best part was how cheap everything was...all of that plus dessert for 28euros! We went back to our room and watched some MTV on tv before falling asleep...the only station that we could even partially understand.
Our last day in Tuscany was a busy one, and we knew it when Guido and the other guests at breakfast laughed at us when we told them our plans for the day. We were hoping to visit Pisa, Luca and Florence. Luckily we were able to steal a guidebook (Rick Steves 2005) from the hotel which helped us plan what we should see and do in each place. First was Pisa, and our only motivation for going there was to get the classic picture in front of the leaning tower. We were surprised how nice the area around the tower was and there were a couple other really cool buildings to check out as well. We did get "the picture" which you will see. From there we got back to our car, which I'm pretty sure was parked on a road only for authorized vehicles, and headed toward Luca. We had a little trouble finding our way out of town, but we made it and the drive was great! We went over what seemed like a small mountain/pass and arrived in Luca and found a place to park.
Luca is another classic Tuscany style town with a village wall and very old buildings with towers and squares. We had heard great things prior to our visit, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed. However, I really liked the big, open square in the middle of town (which was actually circular) and they had a lot of really cool shops. I even did some early Christmas shopping! It was definitely less crowded and very chill compared to the other towns we had visited and it kinda reminded me of Italy's Boulder. We decided to grab some quick food at a shop and eat it in the car on our way to Florence.
When we arrived in Florence, we immediately realized it was the first main city we have experienced so far. It was really busy and there were a ton of scooters driving crazily on the roads. We finally found a place to park and started walking toward the central area of town. Florence is full of history, with many well known museums, cathedrals, bridges and chapels. Due to our helpful guidebook, we had called ahead and made reservations to visit the Academia Museum, which is where Michelangelo's David statue is kept. Yeah, it's the one with the penis. We located the museum, which had a huge line outside (which we would later bypass), but it wasn't our time yet so we explored the area a bit more. We visited the Duomo, which is the main cathedral in town. I can't remember why, but apparently it's a pretty big deal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral). The inside was beautiful and as everywhere in Florence, the architecture was amazing. It also has a great tower as well. We also visited the Medici Chapels and the San Lorenzo Basilica. Again, these were very neat buildings but I'm not sure of their significance. We then made it to our museum, which was full of paintings, statues, musical instruments, many other museum things, and The David. Although no pictures were allowed, I did sneak one anyway. I was surprised how impressive it really was and it is actually one of my favorite things we saw during the trip. You have to think about the detail in the statue without any modern conveniences or machines that we have today; pretty impressive.
Florence is situated on Arno river and there are a number of beautiful bridges that cross it. They are also full of history from ancient times when Romans and other enemies attempted to invade and disable Florence. The most well-known bridge, the Ponte Vecchio (if you heard it pronounced correctly, you'd probably recognize it) is an amazing bridge that is full of shops, mostly jewelery. It is open in the middle, however, and has great place to snag some photographs which you will see. We crossed the river to explore the other side a bit and then decided to hit up a restaurant recommended by our book that was a little out of the way. A 15 minute walk later, we found the restaurant that sits just outside the city wall. The book called it surprisingly cheap and very traditional so we thought we'd give it a go.
We were absolutely amazing how surprisingly cheap it really was. Each course was no more than 3-5euros and the house wine was much cheaper. Everything on the menu was in Italian, so we pulled out my trusty phrase book to help us figure out what everything was. We were pretty excited to have to learn everything, but the only English-speaking waiter eventually came to use and translated the entire menu for us. It was very nice of him but probably not necessary. We definitely "splurged" for this meal. We each got appetizers, a first course, a second course, vegetables, and split a dessert and it was still one of the cheapest meals we ate. And the food was great!
During our walk back to the car, of course all I had on my mind was Gelato, but for some reason we never stopped. We got back to our car and followed the signs back to the highway, which luckily took us to the top of the a hill that overlooked the entire city. It was absolutely beautiful at night, with the cathedral domes lit up and the reflections sparkling on the river. Even better, there was a gelato shop up top as well! We got some gelato, admired the view, and I even posed in front of the fake David statue too. Fortunately for all of you, I was fully clothed. We got back to the hotel pretty late, and completely beat, but we had successfully seen everything we had planned and didn't feel like we cut ourselves short either. What a great day!
Thursday morning we checked out of the hotel and stopped at San G one more time to find an Internet Point and do some final shopping. We also got some snacks and lunch to eat on our long drive to Rome. Tuscany overall was a great experience. You could easily spend weeks roaming the country roads, visiting all of the cities, towns and villages, and checking out the vineyards and wineries. Renting a car was a great decision and it really allowed us to experience a lot that Tuscany has to offer. But it was time to leave and off to Rome we went!
10.12.2008
Italy, Part 1 - Cinque Terra Region
Hello! I just got back from a week long trip to Italy with my friend Megan from Denver. We went to many incredible places so I have decided to split the trip up into three segments. Our first couple days were spent in the Cinque Terra Region along the north coast below Genoa. We then got a car and explored Tuscany (part 2) for three days before heading down to Rome (part 3).
See pics here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/ItalyCinqueTerra#
We left my flat around 6am on Saturday and had to get 4 different tube lines due to some unexpected closures, and caught the express train to Stansted airport. We were the first people on the plane since we had priority boarding and grabbed an exit row. We joked about needing an emergency evacuation and had our exit strategy all planned out; good thing since our descent ended up being pretty bumpy! After landing in Genoa, we had some time to spare before our bus came so we took a seat in the sun and had a snack. After catching the bus to the train station, we had another hour to waste before our trail left. We walked around the area near the station and finally caught our delayed train to Cinque Terra.
The Cinque Terra region is a beautiful and rugged area along the coast consisting of 5 small towns. There are no cars allowed in any of the towns and there is a coastline trail connecting each town. We arrived in Vernazza where we were staying for the night, which is the 2nd most northern town in Cinque Terra. We were immediately amazed when we stepped off the train and saw the town. It was made up of one main road that stretched from the station to the coast. It was filled with shops, restaurants and small boats rolled up from the inlet. The "side streets" were really just extremely narrow alleyways filled with random paths and a lot of stairs. You will also notice in a lot of my pics that there are clothes hanging outside most of the buildings. This is very common and we saw it throughout all of the areas we visited. All of the buildings were carved into the cliffs along the water and the town was built up on itself since it didn't really have anywhere else to go. Since our hotel was located on the main road, it was easy to find and after being buzzed in we walked up many flights of stairs to meet our host.
Megan spent a lot of time finding really great places to stay, and this was the first of many great rooms we had. Our host was an old Italian lady who spoke very little, if any, English. She greeted us like family with hugs and kisses on the cheek, and then started explaining everything about the keys, doors and room entirely in Italian. Thank goodness Megan was able to decipher most of it. The room was great and had a small balcony with a tiny view of the water through one of the narrow alleyways.
After we unloaded our packs and changed, we went downstairs to walk around town. It was just before sunset and the light was beautiful. It was the first of about 5 amazing sunsets we had over the entire trip. The town was amazing in every way. There is a very small inlet with lots of small fishing boats that are kept on the road in town. The colors, textures, stairways, and alleys are great and make the town even more beautiful. For dinner, we decided on a place up many stairs overlooking the sea and the village. It was perched atop a cliff and the floor was crooked! The food and wine were excellent and it was the first of many absolutely amazing meals that continued every day of our trip. I had spaghetti with pesto (pesto is the main local specialty for the area) and we got some of the house white wine. After dinner, we obviously had to grab some gelato, which we also had at least once every day of our trip. We then headed back to our place and sat on the balcony for a while before heading to bed.
We got up around 8am and our hostess delivered a small breakfast and Italian coffee to our balcony. We fueled up for the day, which included a hike (with our packs) through 2 towns to the southernmost town of the Cinque Terra region, Riomaggiore. The first part of our hike was between our town of Vernazza and the next town down the coast, Corniglia. The hike was pretty tough and climbed up the cliffside which included many steps. However, it felt good to be outside and the trail offered amazing views of the towns and the shoreline. Upon approaching Corniglia, we walked through a number of small vineyards that are terraced up the hillsides. These wineries fill the area and produce the most common local wine, which is a white whine. Corniglia is a bit bigger than Vernazza and sits atop a cliff directly above the water. We took a break outside a small "bar" and got some tea. In Italy, a bar is basically an Italian fast food place. Fortunately, Italian fast food is great! They offer teas and coffee, all sorts of other drinks, and many forms of fresh sandwiches, paninis and sometimes pizza; much better than McDonalds!
We continued our hike down the coast from Corniglia through Manarola and finally arrived in Riomaggiore. The trail during this portion was much easier, and busier, and stayed pretty level along the water. We took a short break at a small beach made entirely of smooth black rocks. The views were great and it was nice to touch the water! The weather was absolutely perfect yet again, with the sun shining and the temperature not too warm or cold. Upon arriving in Riomaggiore, we were supposed to call our host so she could walk down to let us in our room. Unfortunately we couldn't find the number but luckily saw the neighbor who called her for us! She came down, let us in and showed us around. Our room was amazing, by far the best place we stayed. The building sat above the town and we had a wrap-around balcony with the best view in town I think. You'll see from the pictures that we looked down on the entire town and had an amazing view of the water. We walked to town and grabbed some food and wine, and enjoyed the entire afternoon and evening on our balcony. The food we grabbed was incredible: fresh bread, cheese, salami, tomatoes, foccacia, grapes and some little cookies from a bakery.
The wine throughout Italy was surprisingly cheap and we only paid 2.50euros per bottle in town. It's also very cheap at most restaurants and it's cheaper to drink wine than beer. Restaurants are also a very interesting experience. The menus are split up into appetizers, first course (usually different pastas with sauces), second course (different kinds of meats prepared in different ways), vegetables, and desserts. As we traveled south through Italy, pizza became more popular and there would be a section for that as well. Generally, Italians order an appetizer or salad, a first course, a second course, and vegetables! We found that an appetizer and a first course was plenty of food, but we did splurge some times which you will read about in upcoming posts. Restaurants also generally close between lunch and dinner and don't open until at least 7pm. Dinner is usually eaten closer to 9pm which is when places get pretty busy. We headed down at about 10pm to the main place in town that was recommended to us by our host. Again, the food was amazing...I had penne with eggplant in a tomato sauce. Megan got a beef dish recommended by our waitress. After dinner we stopped to get some gelato and then walked down to the water for a while. On our way back to our room, I had to stop and get a 2nd gelato...it's just so good!
The next morning I decided to go for a run just after I woke up. I had my eye on a tower seen at the top of the hill above town and figured it would be a good destination. I ran up the road until it stopped and went the following way to the top using a hiking trail. The view from the top was great! After I got back and we were packed up, we stopped for some tea on the way to the train station. We got our tickets and were on our way to the town of La Spezia, and this is where I will leave you hanging until next time!
See pics here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/ItalyCinqueTerra#
We left my flat around 6am on Saturday and had to get 4 different tube lines due to some unexpected closures, and caught the express train to Stansted airport. We were the first people on the plane since we had priority boarding and grabbed an exit row. We joked about needing an emergency evacuation and had our exit strategy all planned out; good thing since our descent ended up being pretty bumpy! After landing in Genoa, we had some time to spare before our bus came so we took a seat in the sun and had a snack. After catching the bus to the train station, we had another hour to waste before our trail left. We walked around the area near the station and finally caught our delayed train to Cinque Terra.
The Cinque Terra region is a beautiful and rugged area along the coast consisting of 5 small towns. There are no cars allowed in any of the towns and there is a coastline trail connecting each town. We arrived in Vernazza where we were staying for the night, which is the 2nd most northern town in Cinque Terra. We were immediately amazed when we stepped off the train and saw the town. It was made up of one main road that stretched from the station to the coast. It was filled with shops, restaurants and small boats rolled up from the inlet. The "side streets" were really just extremely narrow alleyways filled with random paths and a lot of stairs. You will also notice in a lot of my pics that there are clothes hanging outside most of the buildings. This is very common and we saw it throughout all of the areas we visited. All of the buildings were carved into the cliffs along the water and the town was built up on itself since it didn't really have anywhere else to go. Since our hotel was located on the main road, it was easy to find and after being buzzed in we walked up many flights of stairs to meet our host.
Megan spent a lot of time finding really great places to stay, and this was the first of many great rooms we had. Our host was an old Italian lady who spoke very little, if any, English. She greeted us like family with hugs and kisses on the cheek, and then started explaining everything about the keys, doors and room entirely in Italian. Thank goodness Megan was able to decipher most of it. The room was great and had a small balcony with a tiny view of the water through one of the narrow alleyways.
After we unloaded our packs and changed, we went downstairs to walk around town. It was just before sunset and the light was beautiful. It was the first of about 5 amazing sunsets we had over the entire trip. The town was amazing in every way. There is a very small inlet with lots of small fishing boats that are kept on the road in town. The colors, textures, stairways, and alleys are great and make the town even more beautiful. For dinner, we decided on a place up many stairs overlooking the sea and the village. It was perched atop a cliff and the floor was crooked! The food and wine were excellent and it was the first of many absolutely amazing meals that continued every day of our trip. I had spaghetti with pesto (pesto is the main local specialty for the area) and we got some of the house white wine. After dinner, we obviously had to grab some gelato, which we also had at least once every day of our trip. We then headed back to our place and sat on the balcony for a while before heading to bed.
We got up around 8am and our hostess delivered a small breakfast and Italian coffee to our balcony. We fueled up for the day, which included a hike (with our packs) through 2 towns to the southernmost town of the Cinque Terra region, Riomaggiore. The first part of our hike was between our town of Vernazza and the next town down the coast, Corniglia. The hike was pretty tough and climbed up the cliffside which included many steps. However, it felt good to be outside and the trail offered amazing views of the towns and the shoreline. Upon approaching Corniglia, we walked through a number of small vineyards that are terraced up the hillsides. These wineries fill the area and produce the most common local wine, which is a white whine. Corniglia is a bit bigger than Vernazza and sits atop a cliff directly above the water. We took a break outside a small "bar" and got some tea. In Italy, a bar is basically an Italian fast food place. Fortunately, Italian fast food is great! They offer teas and coffee, all sorts of other drinks, and many forms of fresh sandwiches, paninis and sometimes pizza; much better than McDonalds!
We continued our hike down the coast from Corniglia through Manarola and finally arrived in Riomaggiore. The trail during this portion was much easier, and busier, and stayed pretty level along the water. We took a short break at a small beach made entirely of smooth black rocks. The views were great and it was nice to touch the water! The weather was absolutely perfect yet again, with the sun shining and the temperature not too warm or cold. Upon arriving in Riomaggiore, we were supposed to call our host so she could walk down to let us in our room. Unfortunately we couldn't find the number but luckily saw the neighbor who called her for us! She came down, let us in and showed us around. Our room was amazing, by far the best place we stayed. The building sat above the town and we had a wrap-around balcony with the best view in town I think. You'll see from the pictures that we looked down on the entire town and had an amazing view of the water. We walked to town and grabbed some food and wine, and enjoyed the entire afternoon and evening on our balcony. The food we grabbed was incredible: fresh bread, cheese, salami, tomatoes, foccacia, grapes and some little cookies from a bakery.
The wine throughout Italy was surprisingly cheap and we only paid 2.50euros per bottle in town. It's also very cheap at most restaurants and it's cheaper to drink wine than beer. Restaurants are also a very interesting experience. The menus are split up into appetizers, first course (usually different pastas with sauces), second course (different kinds of meats prepared in different ways), vegetables, and desserts. As we traveled south through Italy, pizza became more popular and there would be a section for that as well. Generally, Italians order an appetizer or salad, a first course, a second course, and vegetables! We found that an appetizer and a first course was plenty of food, but we did splurge some times which you will read about in upcoming posts. Restaurants also generally close between lunch and dinner and don't open until at least 7pm. Dinner is usually eaten closer to 9pm which is when places get pretty busy. We headed down at about 10pm to the main place in town that was recommended to us by our host. Again, the food was amazing...I had penne with eggplant in a tomato sauce. Megan got a beef dish recommended by our waitress. After dinner we stopped to get some gelato and then walked down to the water for a while. On our way back to our room, I had to stop and get a 2nd gelato...it's just so good!
The next morning I decided to go for a run just after I woke up. I had my eye on a tower seen at the top of the hill above town and figured it would be a good destination. I ran up the road until it stopped and went the following way to the top using a hiking trail. The view from the top was great! After I got back and we were packed up, we stopped for some tea on the way to the train station. We got our tickets and were on our way to the town of La Spezia, and this is where I will leave you hanging until next time!
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