Buongiorno a tutti,
I am in Napoli at a nice little hostel called "Six Small Rooms." I highly recommend it -- lively common room, the "small rooms" are quite large, nice staff and free Internet! Woo hoo! I am a little tired from traveling all day, so I think I'll turn to watch "Little Miss Sunshine" and grab a bite to eat before finding a spot to drink and watch Italy vs. France in a EURO 2008 qualifier match. Forza Italia!!!
If I could drink cappuccinos and eat sfogliatelle every day for the rest of my life, I would certainly die a happy man...
I spent most of my day today at the Vatican. I took a lot of pictures. What a beautiful place. I definitely had a spiritual moment at the tomb of Pope John Paul II. You cannot help but be wrapped in emotion when surrounded by people on their knees sobbing and praying with such intensity.
Tonight I feast. Tomorrow I travel to Napoli.
Ciao from Roma! I know it's been a couple days, but I've been on the move!
I was sad to have to say goodbye to Cinque Terra. So relaxing there. Everyone I met seemed to be going to Roma or Firenze (Florence), but I detoured yesterday to Pisa. Great little town, but the Leaning Tower wasn't as big as I thought it would be (Insert "That's what she said" line here). I did climb to the top and took some great pictures. After spending half the day there, I really contemplated going to Siena in Tuscany. I opted instead to jump straight to Roma (and will catch some wine tours later, on my way back up to Firenze.) The only problem with this plan is that Roma is significantly further away. My train didn't arrive here until 11 p.m. and I thought I was screwed for sleeping, but I found a single room through one of the hostels for only $40E. Score. Plus I got my own bathroom!!! (A first for this trip.)
Today I exhausted myself walking all around the ruins, Colosseo, Pantheon, multiple fountains, piazzas and churches. I think I will close the day today hanging out around the Spanish Steps to read some Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (now reading the series backwards).
Tomorrow: The Vatican. And probably another blog post. Stay tuned.
- Paolo
The weather in Seattle for Sept. 4: 60 degrees and raining. The weather in Cinque Terra for Sept. 4.: 75 degrees and sunny. Woo hoo! Actually, last night we had some crazy thunder showers, but it's all blue skies now, fortunately.
Today is my last big beach day here at Cinque Terra before I head south. Christian and I will be on the lookout for what we call "iPods." iPods are women who carry on the rich but declining cultural tradition of sunbathing topless. We gave them the name "iPods" in honor of the first topless woman we noticed on the beach. She was listening to her iPod, with blue earbuds that striking contrasted her yellow bikini bottoms. This woman had a side torso tattoo of a snake. At that moment we understood how Adam was so tempted in the Garden of Eden.
Off for cafe forte now. Ciao!
Hi all,
Last night, I had an amazing dinner. That is, the food was amazing. Eel linguine with prawns... Mmm. However, my roomate Christian and I met up with some other Americans and they were absolute assholes at the restaurant. They had no respect for the culture or language and maintained a fratboy mentality and practice in this place, which doesn't deserve it. We ditched them and drank a bottle of homemade wine from an old dude named Benjamin who lives across from our hotel. His limoncello was excellent, too.
Skipping to today, Christian, Serena and I hiked the entire Cinque Terra, city to city. Incredible. Six hours of hiking. The words I could write here aren't worthy of the experience. It deserves an in person explanation, truly. Afterward, we hit the beach for a couple hours and had Appertizi (small appertizers like olives and chips with a sweet alcohol drink) at a local restaurant. Appertizi is THE SHIT and I am instituting it at the Ballard Burrow upon my return. We met a couple girls from London named Polly and Lindsey at the restaurant and played cards before being told that we could not play cards because the business did not have a gambling license. What the hell? You can serve 16-year-olds grappa (think everclear) at the bar, but you can't play cards? Weird. I am off to dinner now. One more full day in Monterosso (Cinque Terra's most northern city). I am looking forward to more beach time tomorrow, then off to Tuscany and wine tours before Roma!
Buona serata,
Paolo