Canadians, Landslides, Squid Fishing, Gelato, Lock Picking, Rennancence, Sleepwalking, Quebeçois - A week in Review

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Ciao!



Hey everyone. Hope all is well where ever you might be at this very moment. I am currently in Florence Italy just having a cill out day as Im feeling a touch sick and needed to laundry (isn't that what everyone drams about doing in Italy?)



Alright we're to begin...



Once upon a time (last Tuesday) I arrived in Manarola, Cinque Terre Italy. Immediately I was blown away by the beauty and breath taking vistas that the area was home to. I was treated to a beautiful sunset that looks right out if a painting. Beyond amazing.

The following day was very very wet. I was beyond happy to have my gortex jacket and shoes. Spent the day touring around three of the 5 villages, Manarola, Riomaggiore and Monterosso. Absolutely stunning landscapes and people to be found all through the towns, and the best part was that as it was raining, I practically had the whole place to myself, as not many were willing to brave the conditions. That evening through the recommendation of a local, I found myself at a tiny bar after 22h for some live music. It was a blast seeing some local talent, as well with meeting some new faces, including a Canadian!

The next day in Cinque Terre brought great weather and tons of people to the villages. I explored the remaining villages and did some hiking. Something you should know about Cinque Terre is that it is a world heritage site here in Italy, literally built onto the sides of steep mountainous landscape bordering the mediterranean. It unfortunately suffers from more and more land slides as the years go on, one even happening during my stay, and isolating the most northern town (Monterosso) from all access and therefore requiring Italian military to fly in supplies via helicopters.. Crazy!

This same day for lunch I found what was probably my best meal yet, a simple tomato mozzarella sandwich with a glass of local white well sitting on the street with the sun at my back, village on my left, terraced vineyards to my right, Mediterranean in front of me with the French alps just visible on the horizon. And all the for 6 euros!

That evening I was fortunate to run into even more Canadians as well as some others from the hostel and we all went out for a great meal and shared lots of wine and even more laughs.



Friday came early and I was to travel to Florence. Got up and said goodbye to new friends, and headed for Florence. First impression upon arriving is that I was definitely in a city. No small town anymore. The hostel I am at has a plethora of facilities to use (sauna, bar, rooftop patio, etc) however it appears slow as no one from the hostel hangs about in the common spaces. Through no lack of trying I have since made many friends here, and even been so fortunate to see some of my friends from Cinque Terre who where in the area. It's been cold since getting here. Even as low as plus 8! Yikes (yes I know just about everyone just laughed or thought about how that is actually warm for Canada) but its cold ok!

I went and saw David and wow, I was speechless. Truly impossible to appreciate how amazing he really is until your 5 feet from him. I have also explored the Durmo, as well as wandered all around the city discovering everything I can. Super cool to be where the heart of the renaissance took place. Such history is mind blowing.



This traveling thing I'm doing comes with its share of adventures. So far this week I have met people from everywhere you could possibly imagine, eaten pesto in the region where it was invented, met a squid fisherman, had an amazing cappuccino, fallen out of the top of a bunk bed, done laundry in the sink, been lost, some serious coin flipping for decision making, locked myself out of my locker well in my underwear, successfully picked my lock with a paper lip in my underwear, been a tour guide, eaten donars at 1am with Romanians, as well as my personal favorite of having someone in my hostel room sleepwalk and break a door. No wonder today is a rest day!!!



Tomorrow I head towards an eternally historic weekend. It will be a once in a lifetime adventure!



Alright, I'm going to go back drying and folding laundry, and getting rid of this cold.

Who knows where I'll write from next week!



All the best,

M

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