DAY 5&6

DAY 5: Cinque Terre

Each day had its own new set of adventures and scenaries. The views at Cinque Terre were probably the most beautiful. We went to the western coast of Italy to do a series of hikes. We hiked 4 trails between the 5 quaint towns: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. In the end, the hikes were totally worth it (we hiked for about 5 and 1/2 hours) and we were saved by the peanut butter (from vlfo and tiff from the states) and jelly sandwiches and pesto pizza.

Riomaggiore

Corniglia

the little bit of sun that decided to come out..

we should have known to turn around...

Of course, our vacation was running too smoothly.. so we hit our series of unfortanate adventures. On the last hike (the hardest one), we started off by climbing mountains and mountains of stairs. I thought of turning around after the first set of stairs, but I wanted to add Cinque Terre of my list of completed hikes. Anyway, it started to mist, and we were sort of relieved that the sun went away for a while bc we were starting to sweat... WELL, the mist turned into a light sprinkle.. which turned into a  moderate rain...which eventually turned into a STORM. or well, i couldn´t even really see what was in front me bc there was always water hitting my face. one of the craziest moments of my life. we stopped on the side of a cliff and i was laughing.. and crying.. and i just didn´t really know what to do with myself. Anyway, we finished the last hike (the hardest one) in less than an hour and a half bc we were practically running (they suggest two hours). We were holding onto each other and inching on the side of a cliff.. and i wish i could say i was exagerrating..but, it was pretty bad. We were soaked from head to toe.. shivering on the train ride back. Ended the day with some delicious pesto pasta and a few glasses of wine. Unforgettable.

beautiful view from our balcony window. my camera makes everything look that much cooler!

DAY 6: Florence? Pisa? Naples?

So when we thought the horror was over.. we were wrong. (okay, not that bad)... but we took a train back to Florence bc we missed the museums on Monday bc they were all closed.. we waited THREE HOURS to get into the Uffitzi Museum (where the Birth of Venus and Spring - Botticelli are). It was nice to go inside... but I would have much rather paid the extra 2 euros to make reservations and get in at a specific time (or I wish I had skipped the museum altogether). We headed to Pisa to catch an overnight train to Naples. When we got there, the train we wanted to take was booked. We debated over a few options, but decided to suck it up and take the overnight train (even though we didnt have seats) since we doubted we´d find a room for four in Pisa with such late notice. It was a Harry Potter style train with cabins and everything! Only, since we didn´t actually have seats.. we were stuck in the hall. all night long. and it was cold. long long long long long long night.....oh, did i mention we didn´t even see the tower of Pisa....

After going to Venice and realizing when you walk out of the train station, you´re already at the Gran Canal. you´d think when you get to Pisa, the tower would be right in front of you. It turns out you have to take a bus there and back and they stop running at 8pm. With our complications, we didnt even get tickets until around 9pm... On the bright side, I was able to find asian ramen at a supermarket nearby. You´d never think you miss those sort of things...