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Published: November 4th 2009
Yay, in Genoa
Megs and CharYay! Megan and I actually were able to meet up with our friends from PG!!! Who would have thought that we would be lucky enough to meet up with Charlotte and Kaela in Italy. Haha we actually had a bit of a situation getting from France to Italy though, we missed our scheduled train. Now for those of you who have travelled by train around Europe you would think no big deal, just catch the next train. Well that's what we thought too. But it turns out that the next train, which we hopped, on was actually full - yes I repeat full! So we were on this train with invalid tickets trying to dodge the obvious issue that we should not be on the train. Fortunately for us, even after being stopped by the Polize and the train ticket collector we made it into Italy - perhaps with a few more grey hairs.
Our first stop was in Turin (Torino). It was just the two of us. To celebrate our arrival in the new country we decided to indulge with gelato (nutella and chocolate flavour, sooooo amazing!!!!). After finding accommodation (that had no hot water) we went out for
the best dinner to date - eggplant and tomatoe pizza, gnocchi, bread, wine and some free shots on the the house! YUM! Gotta love Italy.
After Turin we made our way to Genoa to meet up with the girls. We had a great time their hanging out with locals and being introduced to too much Grappa - everyone is far to kind with the free alcohol. From there we travelled to the quaint villages of the Cinque Terre (five cliffside villages). We decided to get off the train at the middle village of Corniglia with hopes that we could find accommodation. Lucky for us, after hiking up 382 stairs and looking really lost in the village of 600, an old Italian lady (Victoria) offered for us to stay in her little villa. Through limited communication - she spoke NO English and we really can't speak Italian - it was decided that we would stay their for two nights. It was perfect for the four of us. Great view, kitchen, laundry, clean beds, what more could backpackers ask for! The area was gorgeous, we enjoyed hiking though the cliffside vineyards, exploring the other towns and making our own Italian dishes
View out our window
Char and Kaela looking out our room window in Corgnilia in the kitchen.
From there we headed to Firenze (Florence) with a quick pit stop to take picture of us pushing over and holding up the leaning tower of Pisa - ah, such tourists! Firenze was amazing. One can not put into words how amazing and powerful the architecture and art was. I think the highlights of the city were the Duomo, works by DaVinci, Botticelli which we saw at Uffizi, and going out for aperitifs (essentially unlimited free appetizers when you buy one free drink - brilliant for backpackers).
The next stop was in Greta (Tuscany region) at an organic goat cheese farm to visit Kaela's friend Lindsay. Wow, what an experience. The five of us had a great time trying to herd about 65 goats - honestly we looked like that biggest idiots - particularly trying to separate the kids and the adults all the while not to get to close to Biando (the sole adult male and unfaithful husband to 49 wives.). Char had a close eye on him! We had such an amazing time there. We spent a day hiking around the area, taking in the sights of Tuscany in the fall and enjoying
a fabulous picnic with fresh goat cheese. Honestly, we can't thank the family and Lindsay enough for having us over! What an experience! We were extremely sad to say goodbye, but we knew that their was so much more of Italy to see.
After that we were on a mission to make it as far south for Megs birthday. We had quick visits in Siena and Civitavecchia, where we went to some local hot pools. Literally, words can not describe the experience - if you want to know about it, ask us. Currently, we are on an overnight ferry headed to Catania for Meg's birthday - YAY, her mom has booked us into a hotel for three nights for her birthday present!!!!! WOOP WOOP!!!!!
Ciao for now,
-L
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Dani
non-member comment
ummmm so what about these hot pools? ;)
Hey Ladies! Glad to hear you're having a fabulous time - I want to hear more about these local hot pools!!!! Fill me in! We missed you on halloween - we went to the Hart like usual, and like usual it was a blast, but got shut down early by the cops because someone got smashed in the face with a beer bottle. Classic PG. Miss You! xoxo