Florence, Cinque Terra and Pisa: Oh My.

After living my vacation dreams in Croatia, I eventually had to move on and head back to Italy (this is the life I live. Harsh.) 

I ended up flying back into Rome and taking a severely delayed train to Florence (something to do with a track fire----though I could have made that up in my lousy translation skills). Since I hadn’t really enjoyed my time in Rome, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about Florence, however, I liked it so much more. 

Not only was it a little bit cooler, the city was so much easier to explore and manage. It was touristy, but not nearly as crowded as Rome. People were friendlier and it was just so much more enjoyable. I was able to take in a number of the museums, caught a glimpse of David and spent a few hours in the Uffuzi.

 It was nice just walking around, trying all the food and shopping at the leather markets. Of course I ate my weight in gelato. It was so good! I loved all the fresh flavors and especially loved comparing them. 

My favorite flavor ended up being Pistachio. I learned that the places with the best gelato are the ones where you can’t actually see the cream because it’s in canisters, meaning it’s fresh. And delicious. I also had some recommends for Paninis….and my friend’s sure didn’t disappoint in their suggestions. I tried what was apparently the two best shops in the city. And I’m not 100% sure what I ate, but I sure enjoyed whatever they were. 

Florence is such a pretty city. I loved climbing the Duomo and the Bell Tower (one right after the other!). It was definitely a tight squeeze and a few people had panic attacks due to the limited space. One woman really freaked out. But the views at the top were well worth it. I spent my 7^th workiversary at the top of the Duomo. It’s insane to think that I’ve been doing this for 7 years!

Each night, I walked to the top of Michelangelo Plaza to watch the sunset. The view is one of the best I’ve ever seen and getting to watch the sky change colors was incredible. I loved all the pinks and the purples. It’s hard to capture the beauty, but I sure tried.

 As I was planning my post-London vacation, I had seen a picture at a study abroad fair and knew that I wanted to go to Cinque Terra. Turns out, it’s not that easy to get to those tiny, colorful towns on your own, so I took a day tour that ended up working out really well. We met at about 7 am and headed to our first stop: Pisa. 

To be honest, Pisa was a disappointment. The tower isn’t that big and there is literally nothing else there. The ride to Pisa was worth it though. Turns out, it was sunflower season in Tuscany, so there were a lot of sunflower fields along the way. How pretty! I would have loved to stop near one and taken some photos. The quick drive by ones will have to do though. 

I ended up climbing to the top of the tower (had to be done right?) and took a few photos, but we had very limited time there, so that was about all I ended up doing. 

Once we finally arrived at Cinque Terra, we boarded the small train that transports people between the towns. Our group grabbed a light lunch at a tapas like place that had delicious wine and cheese and a beautiful view. The second town we stopped at had the quintessential Cinque Terra view, with the colorful Cliffside houses and the tiny, winding streets. I met some girls from Australia on the tour and we ended up exploring the town together. We climbed to the top of one of the hills and ended up finding a fort, that you could get a great view of the entire town and coastline. Gorgeous! 

The third town we went to, was supposedly known for it’s beach…but it was a bit dirty, so I ended up just wandering around, shopping and grabbing some local treats for the road. I wonder what these towns were like before they were filled with tourists. I’m sure all the locals know each other and I’m sure it was much quieter than it was when I was there. I can just image the townspeople getting together during a festival or a celebration and the entire are coming alive with food and laughter, wine flowing. 

Once we got back to Florence, I was pretty exhausted. Since it was my last night in Europe I tried to muster up some energy to go out, but ended up staying in, packing and relaxing. So looking forward to my flight home.

Croatia is my heartsong

For my second stop on this European tour, I found myself once again in Croatia. After last summer’s brief trip to Zagreb, I knew I needed to come back and explore the Southern part of the country, especially Dubrovnik. 

As soon as I arrived, I had a feeling that whatever Heaven is, it must look like Dubrovnik. I had first caught wind of this city 10 years before during a “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?” segment on the Today Show. I knew from that moment that I had to one day go there myself.

It did not disappoint. I fell in love the moment I saw it. The city, from up above literally took my breath away. I arrived mid-day, checked into my adorable guest house that was just within the city walls and began to explore. I wanted to do it all, right away and thankfully Dubrovnik was an easy town to walk around in and small enough to get to know quite quickly. 

That first afternoon, I took the cable car to the top of the nearby mountain and saw the surrounding area. I think I took a million photos of the city from up above…and at all angles possible. It felt like being there was a dream. I couldn’t believe it. 

As I was walking around the town afterwards, I stumbled upon a local kayaking company that was promoting their evening sunset tours. I knew that I had to do that. It ended up being one of my favorite things I did my entire vacation. I loved being on the water, we did a bit of snorkeling and watched the sunset from the sea. 

Does life really get any better than this? 

I’m not sure. 

Every day that I spent in Dubrovnik, I fell more and more in love with it. The food was delicious and even if I just walked around the walls, I always found something new to see. During my first morning, I climbed the city walls and walked all around them. It’s not a bad walk and it was so cool to look down on the town.

Croatia has such an interesting history. It has been around for such a long time, but in the past 20 years has becoming its own country and is still rebuilding. Dubrovnik wasn’t hit too hard from the war, but the surround towns were. Locals told me stories of their experiences, many of them near my own age have vivid memories as they grew up surrounded by it. I couldn’t image what would happen if Dubrovnik had been bombed. It would have been such a shame to lose such a wonderful place.

Lucky for me, the week I was in town was also the beginning of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, a six week event that features a ton of musical/theater performances, orchestras, ballets and other artsy things. I was able to catch a glimpse of the opening night festival (the president of Croatia was there) and sat on the banks of the sea watching the fireworks. The city was alive till the early hours of the day with live classical music each night. I could slightly hear it from my room. What a way to fall asleep! 

One of the days, I took a ferry to Lokrum Island, just about a 15 minute ride from the mainland. It was a great hike, regardless of how hot it was and once again offered a different view of the city. The island is known for having a ton of peacocks roaming around---they were pretty, but they sure do make a horrible sound when their calling. One of the Kayak guides told us that the island is haunted and locals refuse to sleep there or be there after dark. 

I spent some time at the beach almost every day and wandered the small streets in old town.  Oddly enough, there are not a lot of sandy beaches in the area, only rocks, but I did find one just a short walk from old town that had the sand and thankfully, wasn't too crowded. 

My last night in town I ended up seeing a ballet based on “Dangerous Liaisons” It was outside, in front of an old church and just a beautiful way to end my trip! 

This country really has captured my heart. I've been lucky enough to see a lot (but really just a little) of this world and people always ask me where my favorite place is that I have been. 

I've never had an answer before. 

Hands down, it is now Croatia. 

There's a boat that leaves from Napoli...

After a few days in Rome, I was ready to move on and had one final day to spend in the area.

This is what I love about Europe. Extra day? No problem, jump on a train and go somewhere else. 

I looked on the map and Naples instantly stuck out. 

Why? Well, here is my lameness shining through: it's a city that is featured in one of my favorite musicals. (#geek).

After reading up, I realized that Pompeii is only another 45 minutes from Napoli, so I decided to spend a majority of the day there. 

I left Rome in the morning and took the almost three hour ride to Napoli. There are a number of different trains that run, some faster and more expensive. I chose the cheapest...and consequently slowest route possible. It was fine though. 

After arriving in Napoli, I headed for their version of the subway that would take me and the hundreds of other tourists to Pompeii. 

Only problem, the trains were having major delays and cancellations. The first train I tried to take never came. So we waited. And waited. After an hour and a half or so, right before I was about to give up, one came! 

Wahoo. It was so crowded, but thankfully I ended up getting a seat for most of the journey. 

When we finally go to the Pompeii site, and the massive exited at this tiny station, you could see the ruins of the city from afar. 

 

I remember briefly learning about Pompeii in school and one time while I was in NYC, there was an exhibit in Times Square that I went to, but other than that, not much knowledge. This place is so neat for a few reasons, one being that it's super creepy if you think about it. Archaeologists were able to create casts of bodies that have been found and the details are insane. You can see facial expressions at the exact moment that the person passed.

I spent a few hours walking around the ruins. They are not that well marked, but you can't really get lost. I tried to stick with the audio tour, but quickly got turned around and just had to start making up history myself. That is one thing I would have changed----gone on a group tour, just to know exactly what I was looking at...and to hear some of the many (I'm sure) stories of the town and its people.