Cinque Terre

       We were blown away by the beauty of Cinque Terre. I can't think of any place on Earth that comes closer to my idea of paradise. Cinque Terre was recommended to me by the daughter of my former art teach Leslie Shell who is a close friend of my mother's as well as her colleague at Highland Hills Middle School. It is made up of five beach towns strung closely together that are connected by a hiking trail as well as a train that stops in each town. The nearest town is about a 30 minute train ride from Pisa and we traveled from Pisa Centrale early that morning and then returned to Pisa and our hotel later in the evening. Within that time frame we were able to spend time in each town and although I could have stayed there for weeks basking in the sun and enjoying the scenery, I didn't feel like we missed anything major.
       We decided to go to the last town first and I was very glad that we did, because as it turns out, it was the only one with a beach. The other towns had very beautiful rocky coasts and plenty of places to swim and enter the water, but we are fans of the more traditional sand beach if it is offered. We spent the morning and the high sun hours on the sand before venturing out to the other towns.
       Not quite knowing what we were getting ourselves into we decided to hike to the second town. In the end I'm glad we did because what we saw on the way was a breathtaking mountain trail with terraced hills and sparkling coastline, but two hours later upon arrival it is safe to say that we were very hot, thirsty and worn out (and possibly a bit grouchy). Much to my surprise, during our hike on this remote mountain trail, I bumped into an acquaintance from Ball State who participated in the internship program in London with me. I knew he would be traveling, but had no idea where he would be going. It was definitely a "small world" moment to see him there of all places.
       The rest of the day we opted for the train and each town was just as beautiful as the last with its own individual flare and identity. It felt like a completely different world. There were tourists to be sure, but it was clear that each town also contained its own tight-nit community of locals. I loved everything about Cinque Terre and it's definitely a place you want on your itinerary if you plan a trip to Italy!

 

Roma Roma Roma!!

       I don't even know where to start with Rome. It is hands down my new favorite city and one of the most amazing and surreal places I have ever been. With a city as famous as Rome, I think people tend to think they've seen it all before. To a certain extent of course this is true. I have watch many movies and seen a million pictures that have shown me many of the key sites in Rome, but it is NOTHING like being there in person. I knew about the Colosseum and the Roman Forum before obviously, but I had no idea that they are literally smack dab in the middle of a bustling modern city. It was so strange to stand next to ruins as well as the largest most elaborate and modern building I have ever seen. This building specifically I don't recall ever seeing before and to me it was by far the most unbelievable thing I saw in Europe. We took and open top bus tour and I can't imagine the stress we would have caused ourselves if we attempted to tackle this city in any other way. The city is huge and there is so much to see. Taxis are very expensive and the underground system is very underdeveloped at least relatively speaking. We rode the hour and a half circuit 3 times in two days and gaped with out mouths open in complete shock and awe the entire time.
       Not only did we experience all of this, but the third day we even took a trip to the beach which was very close by. Admittedly we had more trouble getting to the beach than we had at any other point in the trip, but even that stress was worth it to me in the end because I experienced something in result of it that still amazes me. My initial plan was to go to the airport by underground which we did and then from there to rent a car and drive to the Almalfi Coast. The hitch was that we didn't book a rental car in advance and much to my surprise, there was not one available. Knowing that the beach was only a few miles away, I was determined to at least make it there, but it was no easy task. A bus went there, but we didn't speak Italian and although we sought out advice from many people, we couldn't seem to find out when and where it boarded and then from there what stop we should take and where we should walk from there to get to the beach. We finally found a French family, a mother and two daughters (just like us) who were on vacation and taking the same bus. They were extremely kind and made sure we knew where to go, but to do this we had to go through somewhat of a language chain that was hilarious and amazing all at once. One of the daughters was 14 and spoke English pretty fluently so I would speak to her in English and she would tell her mom what I said in French and then her mother would relay our questions to an Italian man who knew the area in Italian to find the answer for us. Then they would have to go all the way back down the chain to relay the message back to us. We were all laughing but finally we found our way to the beach. It's something I will never forget and was one of the most pure scenarios of human kindness I have ever been a part of.
        So....before you die, you MUST visit Rome! Here are some photos to further persuade you. ;)

NYC

       My second trip to New York City certainly did not disappoint. Jackie and I took the train from New Haven and had a very leisurely and enjoyable time in Manhattan. We had a few places we wanted to hit and to be honest, not surprisingly we did not get to them all, but we really had a great time at the places we did make it to. We visited Chinatown, Little Italy, Ground Zero, the waterfront looking out towards the Statue of Liberty, and Time Square. It was also really cool to just be in Grand Central Station when our train came in.
       It was Jackie's first time in NYC and we both agreed that it was nice to just walk around without worrying too much about where we'd end up. I was really proud of us for being able to navigate the big city all by ourselves as silly as that may sound. We did get a little turned around once when we took the wrong subway, but we probably didn't really even need to have taken the subway half as much as we did. We realized later that we could have easily walked the distance to most of our destinations. Manhattan isn't half as big as we had envisioned it and the weather was just right for walking around town.

       The highlight of the trip was probably the people we met and interacted with. It's such a diverse place and meeting people from all over the country and the world in one place is awesome. We met one man in particular who was a construction worker that has worked at Ground Zero for the past nine years. He said that he had lost 17 friends in the World Trade Center attacks and that some days it's still hard to come to work, but mostly he feels that it is a privilege and an honor. He was so great to talk to and we spent a good twenty-five minutes sharing our lives and getting to know each other and I really appreciated his honesty and genuine nature. Overall it was a wonderful experience and for me it felt like practice for this summer when I will be navigating London. I can tell you this much, London will certainly be an adventure.