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Published: June 19th 2009
Sorry we havent been able to update in a few days, but finding a place with internet can be difficult in some of the places we have been. No worries though, we are safe and sound!
The last day we updated you i believe we were about to leave Rome.
We spent the last day in Rome just roaming around. I remember when Amber and I turned 16 and started driving on our own, Amber's dad told us that as long as we had a full tank of gas we were never really lost, we were just wandering! I think we took that advice to heart. We are so glad that we decided not to take any sort of a guided tour because we have so much more fun finding things on our own. Sure we get a little lost sometimes, but finding our way back is half of the fun!
We took a train from rome to the little town we have been staying in for the last couple of days (Vernazza). That had to have been the LONGEST train ride of my (sam) life! The smelliest guy ever sat beside me on the train! So I sat
with my face stuck directly into the air vent the entire way! haha.
We were amazed at how beautiful this place is once we got here. The entire town is on a cliffside the overlooks the mediterranean sea. It is a very small town with only one street thats not even a mile long. All of the houses are tall and built right beside each other. oh, and the houses are all different colors!! We walked up to the door of the house where we had a room booked in and rang the door bell. No one answered and we stood there for a few minutes when a little old man comes up behind us and says "I am Gessipee, father of Martina, welcome." (Martina is the owner of the house but she must have been busy with something at the time). We litteraly booked the best room in the town and it was at the very top of this very tall building. So the old man begins to take us up the winding staircase (we later counted them and discovered that there were 75 stairs!). keep in mind we had 20 pound backpacks on, so the old man
had to stop and wait on us a few times while we were walking up! haha. It was worth the walk though! the room was great and when we stepped out on our balcony... i can't even descirbe to you how awesome the view was, and pictures will never do it justice. Straight across from us was a castle and straight below us was the main square. To the left were the mountains and to the right was an endless view of the mediterranean sea. Beautiful.
We had pizza on our balcony before we went down to explore the town a bit (which didnt take long). then we went down to the beach were we have spent most of our time for the last two days!! the water is so clear and beautiful. If you stand still long enough and then look down you can see fish swimming near your feet! there were flat rocks all along the sides so we would lay on top of them and get tans. After all of the traveling we have done, a little lazy town like this were we could just relax is just what we needed!
The first night we
went to a restaurant in the main square. I (sam) thought i would have seafood since i was at the sea. It took forever for them to bring the food out and thought for sure that it was because they had to go catch the fish. haha. Well, when they brought it to me i just starred at it for a little while. They brought me the entire fish! I could still see its skin and where its eye was! Amber could hardly eat her pasta because she was so grossed out. Normally, if I were home, i would never touch weird looking food. But it's time to try new things! It actually tasted good... i think it just threw me off because it wasn't deep fried! haha. Also, there was so room on the rest of that plate to throw some extra food on there. You know, back home there would have been a massive pile of mashed potatoes and maybe some form of vegetables on the other side of that plate. But they decorated it?! Sure it was pretty, but i was hungry!
Last night we had some really awesome food at a restaurant at the very top
of the hill. The owner's name was Massimo and he was the nicest man we met in the whole town.
We had lasagna with pesto. Pesto comes from this area so of course it was awesome. The lasagna was topped with green beans and potatoes... who would have thought that would have gone so good together? yummm!
The food and service was so awesome there that we went back this morning to have breakfast!!
Last night, after we had some ice cream and listened to the instruments being played in the square, we slept out on our balcony. We could see the stars perfectly and falling asleep to the sound of the ocean was awesome.
We are very sad to leave this place and we wish could have spent another night.
For now, we are going to go try to find a place where we can store our backpacks and do a little hiking through the mountains and into one of the next towns. Then we are going to take a train to Pisa to see the leaning tower and we are spending the night in Florence.
-Sam and Am
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Jackie
non-member comment
Backpacking Europe August
Hi, I just came across your travel blog by "googling" Cinque Terre backpacking 09 and my friend and I (2 US college girls) are doing a very similar trip to yours this August. We are still trying to find places to stay in Cinque Terre and Rome and your experiences in your blog sound wonderful! Do you have the names or an email address for the places you stayed? Thanks so much and I hope you enjoy the rest of your travels!!! Jackie