Ciao a tutti!
Well we are getting down to the last two months of our trip. Hard to believe nearly four months have alreays flown by. Looking at flights we noticed that day by day, prices were crawling up. So, in fear of paying an astronomical amount to come home, we decided to book a flight now. July 11th we will be back in Canada!
Let's just not rush that quite yet though...here's an update on the rest of Italy!
After Rome, we took a quick train to the next beautiful city of Italy, Florence. Even the name is pretty isn't it! Our hostel, Antico Spedale Biggalo, was 10km outside of the city, and provided us with a couple hours of adventure getting there. A "fifteen minute walk uphill" turned into an awful, half hour walk uphill on roads with no sidewalks with backpacks too heavy... Haha, needless to say, we were just happy to get there! The building itself is this massive, medieval looking castle built back in the 13th century. It was at first a hospital for pilgrims, and then years late, a Monastery. It had a bit of a creepy vibe to it. Dark empty corridors, big high ceilings. A lot of the old features have been preserved over the years, so that was a really neat aspect. For example, the stairs leading up to the dorm room have been built over the old stairway. The new stairs are see-through, so you can see the old stone steps beneath. Despite the slight creepiness, it was a great place to stay for a couple of nights. And what a view we had. All of Florence was ours to see from the balcony.
While in Florence we did a ton of walking around. The city has all these streets leading to square after square. We would be walking, not having a clue where the street was taking us, and all of a sudden we would stumble right into this beautiful square with people all over the place, a church, museum, or statue being the item of interest in the center. Shops and restaurants usually lined the perimeter. Sometimes there would be a puppet show or a little band playing. With the sun shining, its always nice to just find a bench and take it all in.
We visited the Duomo, a vast, architectural beauty. The cathedral was built in the 13th century, and the dome that dominates the exterior was added in the 15th century.
Just a little side note..My mind is still reeling over the history in these cities. The fact that these buildings, aside from multiple restorations in some cases, have withstood centuries of human contact and usage is beyond me.
We continued to enjoy the Italian cuisine. Cappuccino and brioche. Full, and flavorful pastas(always too large a serving!). Washed down with a nice glass of vino. Ahh.
We stayed another two nights at PLUS Florence, a hostel only minutes from everything. It was a great hostel as far as amenities go. A restaurant downstairs(with delicious salads!) a pool, steam room, and sauna room. It was great to unwind in the steam room after a long day of walking and sightseeing in the city.
From Florence we took a day trip to Cinque Terre. "The Five Lands" sits on the coast of the Italian Riviera. Built right into the steep cliffs, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare are all connected by hiking trails. The landscape is alive and lush with lemon trees, flowers, olive trees, and backyard gardens. There are paved paths going from one town to the next, but torrential rains and landslides have destroyed a lot of the path. Luckily there are some "off the beaten trail" pathways, so Andy and I took those to reach the other towns. Halfway throguh our hike it started to rain. Light and refreshing turned to hard and depressing. But, rain can not lift the spell that Cinque Terre lays on it's visitors. The view, the smells, the life. It's like a fairytale. A mystical, colorful fairytale. The houses are orange, yellow, and pinks. Bright green shutters are picture worthy and interesting. Despite the rain, we thoroughly enjoyed hiking through the towns. We had a taste of the fresh focaccia bread that occupies many little bakeries and restaurants-very popular with locals-and warmed up with a cappuccino.
After some more down-time in Florence, and a big mix-up with the Statue of David--we didn't even get to see the real one..it's a long story..I mean, why would you have a smaller duplicate?! Or rather, how could I be so silly to not ASK MORE QUESTIONS. Reason number 36 to go back to Italy I suppose--we jumped on a train to Venice for a night. Our hostel was on the mainland in a really nice neighborhood. It gave us a chance to explore more than just the concrete jungle of the island Venice. Spending one full day on the island was perfect. Mapless, we had fun with getting lost in the zigzag of streets, bridges, and squares. Its unlike anything we've seen, and although the Gondola rides are a tad overrated and expensive, the rest of Venice was interesting and unique. We people-watched from benches and window shopped the many shops and boutiques throughout. Had one last piece of Italian pizza(may have been the best slice) and a glass of wine.
The next day we made our way to Ancona to say goodbye to Italy and jump on a ferry to Split, Croatia.
A few days in Croatia and a loop through Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria will bring us to many friends, first all over Switzerland, then Germany, Paris, and lastly Amsterdam. Add Spain, Belgium, Ireland and Iceland to the mix and you have our last two months!! Lots to look forward to.
Look for an update on Croatia soon :)
A&C
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