Italy

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Day 1: Rome. Today I saw the Colosseum and pyramid. I hiked up to a great view of Rome. I saw the inside of an Irish pub (go Argentina!) and watched the USA lose in Venezia Piazza. I learned that restaurant owners who want pigeons to go away sprinkle chili flakes on the ground.

Day 2: Rome. Today I walked forever. I saw the rest of Rome. I ate a lot of gelato (all of the gelato). I watched the sun set and I sat in a mostly-empty St. Peter's square until I got kicked out (who knew it closed?)

Day 3: Rome. Today I went to my 22nd country! The Vatican definitely counts. I learned that Hungarian is super useful when people are harassing you in line trying to sell you things. Made some Canadian friends that way. Also went to St. Peter's Basilica. A lot of standing in line. Super tan. More gelato. Read by the Colosseum. Met 2 solo travelers. Then met 6 more solo travelers and sat with them for a while. Decided not to go to Venice this trip because it is going to be depressing to be there as a poor single person traveling alone. I'll go back for sure.

Day 4: Terni. Got on a train and didn't have my ticket checked. Spent the day riding on the back of a motorbike through the hills of Umbria. vineyards and olive groves and medieval towns everywhere. Mountains. Yes We explored some small towns and then went to a festival for dinner where I learned I can't eat like an Italian. Such amazing food and wine everywhere. Happy Fourth of July!

Day 5: Terni. Today I rode on a motorbike next to a lake through the Umbrian hills. Then I hiked up to an abandoned castle. Then I hiked up to the biggest waterfall in Europe and the second biggest artificial waterfall in the world! (Artificial=built by the ancient Romans). Pork and wine for lunch.

Day 6: Florence. An old Italian man who didn't speak a word of English bought my breakfast this morning. In Florence I did laundry, ate, and read my book. I met a British guy named Kieran and we stumbled upon a rock concert. Not sure if the last band spoke Italian or English. Then we drank wine on the steps of the Duomo. We taught each other slapping hand games. Then we taught an Italian couple the games. When we played all together, the man slapped the woman really hard in the face and knocked off her glasses. It was the most awkward/hilarious moment ever. I swear the games are not that violent.

Day 7: Florence. Today I realized that I left my towel in Terni. So I'll be using a small quick-dry towel for the rest of the trip. Also, in every hostel, there is always a man who is way too old to be staying in a youth hostel. This particular one sleeps under me. Kieran and I pet two golden retrievers and a husky today. Then we decided to meet up in Genoa on Friday (provided we find a couchsurfer). We went into the basilica after standing in the wrong line for a bit. Things Americans like: yelling about the line they're standing in. We met up with Kieran's friend Hannah, had a picnic in a park with construction because all of the gardens are private, and ate a lot of gelato. At midnight we went out to get food, and it was raining so Kieran and I danced in the rain on the cobblestone streets.

Day 8: Cinque Terre. I woke up this morning with millions of mosquito bites. Millions! Still haven't seen a mosquito. I packed and got on a train for Pisa. Did not see the leaning tower. Got on a second train for La Spezia. A really smelly woman sat next to me. Thankfully she got off the train pretty early. In La Spezia I basically ran to get my bus which then turned out to be late. Had interesting conversations with an old Italian lady who spoke no English, but it resulted in me getting on the right bus without having to pay. The hostel is in a little town on a hillside. Met some Americans and went to the first town: Riomaggiore. Ate a mix of seafood in a cone. Watched the sunset on rocks. Got nailed by a wave. Splash zone. Ate gelato. Now it's time for football!

Day 9: Cinque Terre. This place cannot be real. Beautiful houses that are in different colors because they are old fishing villages and the fishermen wanted to be able to find their way home and also wanted to see that their wives were keeping up with the housework. Classy. All of the trails but one were closed today. So I hiked for four hours instead of six. The Mediterranean plus hiking=my favorite things. After my first hike I took the train to the beach and jumped in the water. I saw all 5 villages. Made friends with Aussies and Danish people and watched the sunset/storms with them until I had to go back to the hostel. Everyone needs to come here. There are no words for how beautiful this place is. Wish I was staying here longer.

Day 10: Genoa. Double digits! Last night I decided to come to Genoa. Kieran found a way to get there, so we met up this morning after he went to the wrong train station. Don't ask me about the sites of Genoa. We saw plenty, but we don't know what they were actually called. We wandered the streets, choosing dark alleyways as often as we could and had a wonderful adventure. Our lunch was amazing and cheap. I ate starfish! And pesto genovese, obviously. Not together. We went down to Porto Antico and watched and discussed some fish. Then we had a drink on the marina and watched people be rich on HUGE yachts. We tried to look classy enough to get invited on one. It didn't work, so we discussed the rich people further. We went to a wine bar and hung out there for a few hours. We met a guy who knows a deckhand for Steven Spielberg's yacht, which is apparently here without Spielberg. Our main goal is to find a way onto that yacht tomorrow. Our couchsurfer is super nice and made us dinner (more pesto!). Then we got gelato, because yes. Always. Now we're exhausted, and we have a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow to get on that boat.

Day 11: Genoa. Spoiler alert: we did not get on Steven Spielberg's boat. We woke up this morning and had an easy walk back to the train station. Our biggest source of pride is that we actually did things today! So productive. We paid all of 2 Euros to go into the Palasso Reale, which was this unbelievable palace. In each room we read each other the description with different accents. On the roof we pretended to be the queen and shouted things at our royal subjects. I swear we're adults...
We also walked to the basilica, which was closed. So we got gelato (the best in Italy!) and drank wine on the dock and talked about the rich people on their yachts some more. The biggest yacht left, so we watched it get packed up and made plans to jump on it after it left, but unfortunately, we didn't take the opportunity when it came. Then we went to buy bracelets from an African man. We found one from Kenya, and Kieran proceeded to sell me to him for all of the bracelets. Best friend ever. Sadly it was time to part, so Kieran dropped me at the train station, threw me into a group of Italians and said "talk to them!" Most of them were 17 and didn't speak English, but I had a great conversation with the older one the whole way to his stop. Every so often the others would start singing songs in English because it was the only English they knew. And that was the end of my time in Italy.

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