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Ok, so its been 4 days...I need to recap the trip before I forget all the things I did. So really, this post is more for me than anything else...so I can look back and remember all the fun times I had. So I'll put it behind a cut, and if you don't wanna read it all, you don't have to.
Thursday-Went to work that morning...BAD idea. So stressed and about to have a meltdown. Got lost on the way to the airport trying to escape traffic; thank god for Katie's GPS. The plane was a little ghetto...we flew KLM, the Dutch carrier, and it was a little below par (but the food was good). I wound up sleeping on the floor next to our seats so that Katie and I could both stretch out and nap. Good times.
Friday-Arrive in Amsterdam. Get on wrong train going to the city center (I blame exhaustion). Find our way to the Van Gogh museum...really really cool. The prints of the paintings do not do them justice. After that, we wandered around the neighborhood, took pics, and found a giant park in front of the Rembrandt museum to crash in. We laid under our tree for almost an hour, because we were too dead to move. After that, it was on to the coffeeshop...and well, you know. Then we went to the Red Light District...yes, there really are hookers in the windows, even at 3:00 in the afternoon. Amsterdam is surprisingly small and walkable, so at about 5, we had seen it all, so we headed to our airport to crash a little and head on to Italy. We arrived in Bologna at midnight, got to our hotel where they had given our room away, went to another, then finally at long last got some real sleep.
Saturday-Hiked around Bologna looking for our car rental place. Bologna is ok...some cool stuff, most mostly hot and dirty. We find it, and quickly realize that driving in Italy is a different ball game altogether. Katie finally gets the hang of it and we drive on to Venice. We get lost for 4 hours, but finally make it. We have to carry our stuff on our backs because you can't drive into Venice. We did a gondola, fed the pigeons, and then got lost trying to find our hotel. After two long hours, we finally get to it...and we are the only guests, it is completely dark...and the room is decked out in red velvet...a total rent-by the hour type of place. Oh well, it had a shower and a bed.
Sunday-Spend another hour or two in Venice, then head back to our car on the mainland and on to Cinque Terre. Our GPS is momentarily dead, since we haven't figured out where the car charger in our car is yet, and we have to use the map (where the roads aren't labeled). I find what I think is a direct route, but it winds up being through the mountains. The drive took about six hours, but it was extremely beautiful. The mountains in Italy are gorgeous. We finally make it to La Spezia around nightfall, find a hotel, and crash. But not before getting a bite to eat at a creepy little cafe next door where the old woman microwaved some TV dinners for us.
Monday-Leave our car in La Spezia and hop on a train to Cinque Terre. They are five towns built into cliffs on the Ligurian coast, and we decided to stay in Vernazza. The way you book a room there is to walk around ringing doorbells until you find someone with a room to rent. We found a charming little studio, changed into our bathing suits, walked out onto the rocks, jumped in, and promptly got stung by a jellyfish. From then on, we relaxed on the rocks, not in the water. We rented a kayak, and kayaked around Cinque Terre...amazing. Katie's kayak would only work backwards for some reason, so I think the excursion was a little more stressful for her. Later on, we met some local boys (including a gorgeous dreaded one named Luca) and hung out with them at the local bar, and later on the rocks. There's nothing like drinking on the rocks on the Ligurian coast at 2am with 5 random Italian boys. It was fun.
Tuesday-Leave Cinque Terre, but not before checking out another cliff town. Except this one was actually on top of a cliff, so you have to hike up 400 or so stairs to get to it. Considering that I had two heavy bags on my back, I was about to opt out, when an elderly Italian man named Tino informed me that I have "eternity to rest". Ok, if a 70-year-old tells you that you can rest when you're dead, you have to hike the damn cliff. Not only did the old man beat me up, but he carried my stuff for me too. And he was right about the view being worth it...absolutely breathtaking. We got back to our car in La Spezia, and drove down to Siena, but not before stopping in Pisa and getting our requisite Leaning Tower pictures. We find our hostel (actually a hotel, or the nicest hostel ever), and crash.
Wednesday-Tour Siena, the most charming town ever. It's medieval and Gothic and creepy, but laid back and cutesy at the same time. We went to a church that had a dead saint's head in a box (as well as her mummified thumb on display), and toured the Torture Museum, where we learned all the fabulous ways that people can be mutilated. After that, lunch (nothing works up an appetite like torture). Then we paid 10 euro to see the rest of the city....the cathedral, the bapistry, crypt, etc. Well worth the price. Siena is just cool, end of story. At about 5, we said goodbye to Siena, and drove down to Sorrento so that we could see Pompeii in the morning. Unfortunately, Naples is on the way to Sorrento, and we got lost in Naples at 10:30 at night...not fun. Naples is universally known as one of the scariest places to drive in in the world...I was sure I was going to die. Katie's new motto: "FUCK YOU, VESPA!!" Finally made it out, and found our campsite in Sorrento...yes, we had a "house tent", which was really just four plastic walls and two cots...comfy. Ah well, a bed.
Thursday-Wake up in our campsite, and promptly discover our front bumper hanging off. Actually, more than the bumper, the whole front of the car. I guess we hit a tree or something. No problem, a family of Dutch mechanics descend upon our car and fix it up like new. Wouldn't even take a payment. Now that is luck. We then head to Pompeii, which sadly, is quite overrated. Hot, dusty, crowded, and really not much to see. The bodies are all in glass cases and shoved into a corner at the far side of the park. Not quite worth the money. But then we drove 30 minutes south to Paestum, a tiny town that happens to host what I believe must be Italy's greatest hidden treasure: three huge Greek temples standing in a field with wildflowers and poppies. We hung out there for hours, eating a picnic dinner of fresh mozzarella, bread, and awesome yellow melons (need to find out exactly what those are), and talking about life. We watched a bride and groom come for their wedding photos...I want to get married in southern Italy amongst beautiful ruins too! Not fair. So Paestum was definately worth the five hour trip south, even if Pompeii really wasn't. After Paestum, we get back in the car and head back up to Rome...with Katie driving 185k the whole way, and me freaking out. Don't worry, she tells me...its in kilometers; we're not going as fast as you think we are...did the conversion the other day, and 185k is 115 miles per hour. I'm going to kill her. Make it to Rome at 1 am...and can't find our hostel. We found the street, but the hostel is gone...so we whip out our "emergency" credit card and book a last minute hotel room...expensive, but anything to get us off the Rome streets in the middle of the night.
Friday-Roma! Citta Eterna! We drive to the Vatican (yes, in Rome you can actually drive all over the city and park anywhere, a first for us so far) and do the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The Sistine Chapel was cool, except that you have to go through an hour long maze of artwork to get there...all of which is beautiful, so by the time you get to the actual chapel, you've gotten your fill. Still kind of cool to see it in person. It's extremely high...so you have to lean pretty far back to study it. The Basilica was cool too. You have to climb 300-plus steps to get to the top, but the view of Rome at the top is spectacular. The climb down is a little dizzying though, as it is a very tricky, slippery spiral staircase. That plus the heat made me a little sick, so I had to rest up and have some water before the next adventure. We went to the Pantheon, the Capitol, and some other places. We checked into our hotel, rested, then went to dinner at an awesome veggie restaurant, and then to Trevi Fountain...a hotspot at night. We met three cool guys...one from Cali, one from Toronto, and one retired investment banker who now travels the world with Toyota. We hung out with them all night, including a trip to the Ancient City where we hung out in the grass next to the Colosseum and passed a bottle of wine back and forth. Later we hung out with Cali boy in the alley by our hotel till the wee hours of the morning, discussing politics, life, film, art...everything. It was truly awesome.
Saturday-Last day in Rome! We had seen all the sights that we had wanted to, so we decided to spend the day driving around Rome, jump in every fountain that we saw, and take pictures before we got busted. We must have done about 25 total, and only got chased by the cops once. We even jumped in Trevi, a HUGE no-no. That was an awesome day. We were soaked and exhausted by the end, but our little adventure allowed us to see ALL of Rome. The ins and outs and parts we never would have gone to otherwise. After that, we drove to Fiumicino, the airport town, got a bite to eat, and crashed early so that we could be up at 3 for our 6 am flight.
Sunday-Almost got left in Amsterdam. Apparently we had gotten the times mixed up, and we thought we had 2 hours to kill before our connecting flight...actually, the plane had already boarded when we got to the gate. Silly me had gone off to buy a magazine, and I took my sweet time. When I got back, I was attacked by 5 Dutch flight attendents who were screaming at me to find my boarding pass and passport, because the plane was about to leave without me. Of course, it took forever to find, because I couldn't concentrate with all the yelling and screaming. I finally find it, run down to the plane, where Katie is literally standing in the doorway, refusing to budge until I got there. Awesome. How many friends would hold a plane for you? 30 minutes into the flight, the head flight attendent kneels down beside me and gives me a 10 minute lecture on how I caused the plane to be delayed 30 minutes, and how I was never, ever to do this again. I feel like I should have written on a blackboard 50 times, "I will never be late for my flight again". Oh well, we still arrived in Atlanta ahead of schedule, and the trip was officially over.
So that's my extremely long recap. Like I said, more for me to remember it all. Italy was so great, I thoroughly recommend it to everyone. Just beware of those crazy Vespas, and make sure you always arrive early for your flight! Ciao for now, bellas!
Thursday-Went to work that morning...BAD idea. So stressed and about to have a meltdown. Got lost on the way to the airport trying to escape traffic; thank god for Katie's GPS. The plane was a little ghetto...we flew KLM, the Dutch carrier, and it was a little below par (but the food was good). I wound up sleeping on the floor next to our seats so that Katie and I could both stretch out and nap. Good times.
Friday-Arrive in Amsterdam. Get on wrong train going to the city center (I blame exhaustion). Find our way to the Van Gogh museum...really really cool. The prints of the paintings do not do them justice. After that, we wandered around the neighborhood, took pics, and found a giant park in front of the Rembrandt museum to crash in. We laid under our tree for almost an hour, because we were too dead to move. After that, it was on to the coffeeshop...and well, you know. Then we went to the Red Light District...yes, there really are hookers in the windows, even at 3:00 in the afternoon. Amsterdam is surprisingly small and walkable, so at about 5, we had seen it all, so we headed to our airport to crash a little and head on to Italy. We arrived in Bologna at midnight, got to our hotel where they had given our room away, went to another, then finally at long last got some real sleep.
Saturday-Hiked around Bologna looking for our car rental place. Bologna is ok...some cool stuff, most mostly hot and dirty. We find it, and quickly realize that driving in Italy is a different ball game altogether. Katie finally gets the hang of it and we drive on to Venice. We get lost for 4 hours, but finally make it. We have to carry our stuff on our backs because you can't drive into Venice. We did a gondola, fed the pigeons, and then got lost trying to find our hotel. After two long hours, we finally get to it...and we are the only guests, it is completely dark...and the room is decked out in red velvet...a total rent-by the hour type of place. Oh well, it had a shower and a bed.
Sunday-Spend another hour or two in Venice, then head back to our car on the mainland and on to Cinque Terre. Our GPS is momentarily dead, since we haven't figured out where the car charger in our car is yet, and we have to use the map (where the roads aren't labeled). I find what I think is a direct route, but it winds up being through the mountains. The drive took about six hours, but it was extremely beautiful. The mountains in Italy are gorgeous. We finally make it to La Spezia around nightfall, find a hotel, and crash. But not before getting a bite to eat at a creepy little cafe next door where the old woman microwaved some TV dinners for us.
Monday-Leave our car in La Spezia and hop on a train to Cinque Terre. They are five towns built into cliffs on the Ligurian coast, and we decided to stay in Vernazza. The way you book a room there is to walk around ringing doorbells until you find someone with a room to rent. We found a charming little studio, changed into our bathing suits, walked out onto the rocks, jumped in, and promptly got stung by a jellyfish. From then on, we relaxed on the rocks, not in the water. We rented a kayak, and kayaked around Cinque Terre...amazing. Katie's kayak would only work backwards for some reason, so I think the excursion was a little more stressful for her. Later on, we met some local boys (including a gorgeous dreaded one named Luca) and hung out with them at the local bar, and later on the rocks. There's nothing like drinking on the rocks on the Ligurian coast at 2am with 5 random Italian boys. It was fun.
Tuesday-Leave Cinque Terre, but not before checking out another cliff town. Except this one was actually on top of a cliff, so you have to hike up 400 or so stairs to get to it. Considering that I had two heavy bags on my back, I was about to opt out, when an elderly Italian man named Tino informed me that I have "eternity to rest". Ok, if a 70-year-old tells you that you can rest when you're dead, you have to hike the damn cliff. Not only did the old man beat me up, but he carried my stuff for me too. And he was right about the view being worth it...absolutely breathtaking. We got back to our car in La Spezia, and drove down to Siena, but not before stopping in Pisa and getting our requisite Leaning Tower pictures. We find our hostel (actually a hotel, or the nicest hostel ever), and crash.
Wednesday-Tour Siena, the most charming town ever. It's medieval and Gothic and creepy, but laid back and cutesy at the same time. We went to a church that had a dead saint's head in a box (as well as her mummified thumb on display), and toured the Torture Museum, where we learned all the fabulous ways that people can be mutilated. After that, lunch (nothing works up an appetite like torture). Then we paid 10 euro to see the rest of the city....the cathedral, the bapistry, crypt, etc. Well worth the price. Siena is just cool, end of story. At about 5, we said goodbye to Siena, and drove down to Sorrento so that we could see Pompeii in the morning. Unfortunately, Naples is on the way to Sorrento, and we got lost in Naples at 10:30 at night...not fun. Naples is universally known as one of the scariest places to drive in in the world...I was sure I was going to die. Katie's new motto: "FUCK YOU, VESPA!!" Finally made it out, and found our campsite in Sorrento...yes, we had a "house tent", which was really just four plastic walls and two cots...comfy. Ah well, a bed.
Thursday-Wake up in our campsite, and promptly discover our front bumper hanging off. Actually, more than the bumper, the whole front of the car. I guess we hit a tree or something. No problem, a family of Dutch mechanics descend upon our car and fix it up like new. Wouldn't even take a payment. Now that is luck. We then head to Pompeii, which sadly, is quite overrated. Hot, dusty, crowded, and really not much to see. The bodies are all in glass cases and shoved into a corner at the far side of the park. Not quite worth the money. But then we drove 30 minutes south to Paestum, a tiny town that happens to host what I believe must be Italy's greatest hidden treasure: three huge Greek temples standing in a field with wildflowers and poppies. We hung out there for hours, eating a picnic dinner of fresh mozzarella, bread, and awesome yellow melons (need to find out exactly what those are), and talking about life. We watched a bride and groom come for their wedding photos...I want to get married in southern Italy amongst beautiful ruins too! Not fair. So Paestum was definately worth the five hour trip south, even if Pompeii really wasn't. After Paestum, we get back in the car and head back up to Rome...with Katie driving 185k the whole way, and me freaking out. Don't worry, she tells me...its in kilometers; we're not going as fast as you think we are...did the conversion the other day, and 185k is 115 miles per hour. I'm going to kill her. Make it to Rome at 1 am...and can't find our hostel. We found the street, but the hostel is gone...so we whip out our "emergency" credit card and book a last minute hotel room...expensive, but anything to get us off the Rome streets in the middle of the night.
Friday-Roma! Citta Eterna! We drive to the Vatican (yes, in Rome you can actually drive all over the city and park anywhere, a first for us so far) and do the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The Sistine Chapel was cool, except that you have to go through an hour long maze of artwork to get there...all of which is beautiful, so by the time you get to the actual chapel, you've gotten your fill. Still kind of cool to see it in person. It's extremely high...so you have to lean pretty far back to study it. The Basilica was cool too. You have to climb 300-plus steps to get to the top, but the view of Rome at the top is spectacular. The climb down is a little dizzying though, as it is a very tricky, slippery spiral staircase. That plus the heat made me a little sick, so I had to rest up and have some water before the next adventure. We went to the Pantheon, the Capitol, and some other places. We checked into our hotel, rested, then went to dinner at an awesome veggie restaurant, and then to Trevi Fountain...a hotspot at night. We met three cool guys...one from Cali, one from Toronto, and one retired investment banker who now travels the world with Toyota. We hung out with them all night, including a trip to the Ancient City where we hung out in the grass next to the Colosseum and passed a bottle of wine back and forth. Later we hung out with Cali boy in the alley by our hotel till the wee hours of the morning, discussing politics, life, film, art...everything. It was truly awesome.
Saturday-Last day in Rome! We had seen all the sights that we had wanted to, so we decided to spend the day driving around Rome, jump in every fountain that we saw, and take pictures before we got busted. We must have done about 25 total, and only got chased by the cops once. We even jumped in Trevi, a HUGE no-no. That was an awesome day. We were soaked and exhausted by the end, but our little adventure allowed us to see ALL of Rome. The ins and outs and parts we never would have gone to otherwise. After that, we drove to Fiumicino, the airport town, got a bite to eat, and crashed early so that we could be up at 3 for our 6 am flight.
Sunday-Almost got left in Amsterdam. Apparently we had gotten the times mixed up, and we thought we had 2 hours to kill before our connecting flight...actually, the plane had already boarded when we got to the gate. Silly me had gone off to buy a magazine, and I took my sweet time. When I got back, I was attacked by 5 Dutch flight attendents who were screaming at me to find my boarding pass and passport, because the plane was about to leave without me. Of course, it took forever to find, because I couldn't concentrate with all the yelling and screaming. I finally find it, run down to the plane, where Katie is literally standing in the doorway, refusing to budge until I got there. Awesome. How many friends would hold a plane for you? 30 minutes into the flight, the head flight attendent kneels down beside me and gives me a 10 minute lecture on how I caused the plane to be delayed 30 minutes, and how I was never, ever to do this again. I feel like I should have written on a blackboard 50 times, "I will never be late for my flight again". Oh well, we still arrived in Atlanta ahead of schedule, and the trip was officially over.
So that's my extremely long recap. Like I said, more for me to remember it all. Italy was so great, I thoroughly recommend it to everyone. Just beware of those crazy Vespas, and make sure you always arrive early for your flight! Ciao for now, bellas!