This weekend was interesting to say the least.  I was able to explore Italy by train and by foot!  I had my first experience with the Italian train system on my way to Rome.  I woke up bright and early on Friday morning and ventured to the train station.  We printed our tickets and almost forgot to get them stamped.  It’s very important to get them stamped before you get on and to do this you simply find the little yellow boxes near the platforms.  Since it was so early I tried to nap on the train but I found that my attention was drawn to the scenery outside and I began to closely pay attention to the way the landscape changed as we left Tuscany.  Once we arrived in Rome,  we went to the hostel and tried to check in.  We were greeted by a creepy stairwell and a less than friendly receptionist named Mike.  He even joked (I hope) about bringing a gun out if we get too loud.  Who does that?!  Anyway, we couldn’t check in until 2 pm so we quickly left and began our tour of the city.  We started with the ever so famous and beautiful Colosseum.  The line to enter was extremely long and although I’m upset I didn’t get to go inside, I’m almost glad that we didn’t or else I never would’ve been able to see everything that I did.

After seeing a few things, we went to grab lunch.  We wanted pizza because we were told pizza in Rome is much better than in Florence so we asked a local where the best pizza place was.  The rumors are true and the pizza was awesome.  After lunch, we saw a few more things and then headed back to the hostel.  Surprisingly, our room was very nice and we even had our own bathroom to use.  That evening, we went to an Ice Bar that was -5 degrees!  We had a lot of fun but when we got too cold, we left and went to the oldest Irish Pub in Rome and it happened to be karaoke night!  It was fun to see the locals sing because many of them sang American songs.  The following day we woke up early and had a full day of sight seeing before we almost missed our train!  We were able to see the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Vatican and St. Peters basilica, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, King Caesars palace, and the Roman Forum.  I would have to say that my favorite part of the trip was going inside St. Peters basilica.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  Just make sure that if you plan on going inside that you have your shoulders covered and a dress or pants that hit below your knees.

On Sunday morning, back in Florence, we woke up bright and early again.  Today, we were venturing to Cinque Terre (literally five earths or five towns).  These five beautiful towns are built on mountainsides along the coast and date back centuries.  They are fisherman towns and are widely known for their fresh pesto and fresh anchovies.  They are also very different from most towns because they are set directly on the mountainside and are very colorful.  Above the fortresses built for protection  against pirates sit a cluster of muli-colored pastels.  The fisherman’s would paint their house these colors so when they left on their trips they could identify their houses and wave to their families. 

We got off of the train in Riomaggiore and were blown away by the view, little did we know the views only got remarkably more amazing.  From Riomaggiore, we walked along ‘Via dell’Amore’ (lovers lane), where lovers come and put locks along the path to lock in their love.  When we arrived in Manarola we had to take a train to Corniglia because the paths were under construction.  Once we got to Corniglia we climbed about 400 steps! This picture is from just over half way up!

At the top of the steps we got lunch and naturally I had to try the famous pesto and I quickly came to the conclusion that it was the best I’ve ever had. After lunch we hiked to Vernazza and when I say hike I mean it was a full on nature hike up and over the mountain!  It was exhausting but a ton of fun! This picture is from about half way through the hike.  The town you see is Corniglia, where we started this hike.

Once we arrived in adorable little Vernazza, we got gelato, sat on the beach for a while and then took a fairy to Monterosso where the beaches were rolling.  All five towns were absolutely gorgeous and I recommend a trip to Cinque Terre if you are ever in Italy!

This weekend I was able to travel pretty far on the trains and the sight I saw along the way were just as amazing as the ones I saw by foot.  The rolling landscape with towns sitting in the plains between them and the white washed villas sitting atop the mountainside with vast vineyards are all just as beautiful as the Collosseum or the black sand beaches.  I have begun to really take notice to the small difference from town to town and the large differences in landscape here compared to the landscape at home.

Location: Florence, Italy