Italy was probably one of my favorite trips. We got a group of 9 together and skipped quickly through Naples (I don't recommend staying there for long) so that we could get to Pompeii. We spent the day there and it was pretty impressive. We saw a lot of building foundations and a huge garden there. At the end, we saw a petrified dog and person, which was pretty crazy to see. A map of the place showed that we hadn't even seen a tenth of the place, despite being there for a full day. The archeologists are still working on excavating the whole city.
Mariel, Parker, and I decided to head to Cinque Terre instead of Rome as the rest of the group did (okay by me because I've already been to Rome). Don't be too fooled by the picture. This was taken after we had caught up on our sleep. We decided to take the cheap overnight train route instead of paying for a hostel, and we ended up with the no-AC, no-leg-room train. Still, we met some pretty cool travelers on the train who gave us free travel-sized body splash (they claimed it was because they were in that business and they had loads of extras, but I think they may have been sending a message about our lack of showers for two days...). It ended up being worth it because we got of the train and literally looked over the railing to the beach! We stayed on the beach from 4am until sunrise, then went on our hostel-search in another of the five cities, discovering it was really close to the water in the middle of a residential area. Mariel was excited to find a Co-op (they have the granola from Switzerland that we all love so much).
We spent two full days in Cinque Terre, but it still didn't feel like enough. We visited every city, hiked between them, and tried to avoid the Disney tourist groups. The place was absolutely gorgeous and it is incredible that no one really knows about it. So far, it's my #1 I-must-visit-this-again spot in Europe!
Our cultural experience consisted of time on the beach, swimming (and cliff jumping) in a cove with the locals, trying wine made from grapes growing on the hills next to us, and testing out the seafood. It's the best cultural experience I could've come up with!
As we somewhat hesitantly continued with our plans to meet back up with the group in Florence, we made a pit stop in Pisa for literally an hour and a half just to take great pictures like this and get a quick glimpse the city.
Florence was as gorgeous as others had said, but it was a Monday so the museums were closed and we couldn't appreciate the artwork. We ended up spending our last night in Italy at a great spot overlooking the city with an Italian band setting a serene mood.
Overall, the trip was great and I was glad I chose to spend my longest weekend in Italy. If I could do it over again, I might have skipped Pompeii just because it was a pretty big trip and there are so many more places in Italy that I could have spent that day. Still, the trip was incredible and I plan to visit Italy again someday (hopefully soon!)
No comments:
Post a Comment