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Published: July 22nd 2014
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Cinque Terre
Leaving Monterosso behind toward the beginning of my 3.5 km hike to Vernazza So, the last solid thing on my "to-do list" for this trip was to hike in the Cinque Terre on Italy's northwest coast. Last Wednesday, I set out from Pisa to conquer the trails. There are four separate trails connecting the "five lands" and I ambitiously planned to hike them all. However, with a slow start to the day, by the time I got to the northernmost town of Monterosso, it was 2 pm. This timing combined with high heat and some difficult ascents on the first trail left me DONE after those first 3.5 kilometers. But hey, 3.5 difficult, hot kilometers in 1:10 ain't bad! And in that gorgeous setting, every drop of sweat was worth it. So after eating and gelato-ing in town #2 of Vernazza, I hopped on the train and made my way home to Pisa.
And after that, I sort of reached a low this last week. Among the many lessons of this trip, I've learned that no person should be alone so much. As human beings we desire companionship, even those of us like myself that tend to be quite comfortable on our own, so if I had to plan this trip over again (and
Cinque Terre
Arriving in Vernazza. Feeling pretty awesome and awful at the same time here. on future such trips), I would set up a better social structure for myself...activities, group meet ups, volunteer work. A strong sense of isolation combined with a sense of aimlessness overtook me at this point and I wound up spending more time staring at my iPad/iPhone screens reading, following the A's (Let's go Oakland!), watching YouTube videos and scouring Facebook searching for connection and pieces of home.
Not wanting to wallow in it however, on Friday, I took a short train ride from Pisa to Lucca, a really charming and sweet little city representing the best that Tuscany has to offer - those tan and rust colored stucco buildings and red roofs surrounded by rolling hills of vineyards. The historical center of the town is surrounded by a gigantic wall wide enough for a foot/bike path, trees and benches on top. After eating lunch in town I decided to walk around the whole thing (about 4 kms), precariously dodging the infinite numbers of bicyclists circling the path and stopping to read awhile when a nice and shady bench beckoned me over.
On Saturday, it was on to Bologna, the final stop on my Italian Grand Tour, because... well, because it
Lucca
Sights to see while strolling atop Lucca's wall was the place I found the cheapest flight back to Oslo to get home. When I arrived, the hot, sweaty walk with my backpack from the train station to the apartment was quite...ugly...considering the other places I'd been, which I guess isn't fair to Bologna. I was not impressed at first. The more modern looking buildings (1960s, 70s?) were void of character and charm, there was graffiti everywhere (not the good kind), lots of chain stores and restaurants, etc. I was still in my funk, too, so that didn't help.
But enter...Chiara! Chiara is the host at the apartment where I stayed, and she unknowingly rescued me from my funk and invited me out to drinks/dinner with her and her friend, Alice (pronounced A-li-che). Chiara is fluent in English (another reason it was hard to meet people, my Italian has improved a lot on this trip...but it still sucks), is about the same age, and it turns out women in their 30s are pretty much the same in Italy as they are in America! We had much to talk about. On Sunday, I was invited to join her and her other roommate at the local swimming pool to lounge around
Lucca
The path and beat the oppressive heat and I happily accepted.
Yesterday, Monday, was my last day in Italy. I decided to muster up a final burst of tourist energy, and traverse the sightseeing map's suggested walking tour of central Bologna. And it turns out Bologna is beautiful! The historical center of Bologna is teeming with medieval charm (is that a thing?) and gorgeous architecture. The Bolognans are obsessed with the portico...long covered walkways running along a great number of buildings throughout the town. And good thing...because it was raining! (for part of the day anyway). Along the way, I went inside a beautiful old church called Santo Stefano, meditated/prayed/sat in silence while listening to the sounds of monks chanting (a recording...I think) with my eyes closed for awhile and, in the spirit of my dear Aunt Marie, lit a candle before leaving. Bologna is home to the oldest continually operating university in the Western Hemisphere, dating to the 11th century...which essentially helps to define the university system as we know it today. Like Pisa, this college town vibe is palpable throughout the city. I also happened upon a part of town that was once the Jewish ghetto, dating back to medieval
Lucca
Bench chillin' times when Jews were segregated from the Christian society and of course again during World War II. If you know me, you know I am passionate about this history and was moved to have my first ever opportunity to see a piece of it in a place where it happened. There was a nice little museum here as well that I stopped into, happily discovering that teachers get free admission :-) And finally, as Bologna is known as the foodie capital of Italy, I made sure to enjoy some of its offerings, including a last meal of lasagna with the classic Bolognese sauce the city is known for. And for the record, though there was nothing resembling what we in America call bologna, they do prize their ham and cured meats...most notably mortadella, which I suppose is what that gross stuff we have in the states is derived from.
Whew! So, that's it...I am currently sitting in the restaurant downstairs from my hostel in Oslo, where I arrived this afternoon after a 12 hour travel day that included a 4 hour layover in Warsaw. I almost can't believe the last three weeks happened! I looked at all of my pictures
Bologna
Statue of Neptune in Bologna's most famous Piazza Maggiore while on one of the planes today and almost blew myself away with all the things I've seen and places I've been. I feel soooo lucky and frankly, pretty proud of myself. I also cannot WAIT to get home. :-)
PS If you've read all the way to the end and including the other posts, thanks. It really made me feel good to know I had all these people with me on this journey.
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Kelly
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Loved following your trip! You will have these memories forever. Safe travels home!