Final Stop - Cinque Terre

LOCATION:

Riomaggiore and Monterosso, Italy

 

While it's true there are two nights remaining on the grand European adventure, this stop felt like the last real time we would get to be tourists. We decided to finish the trip in a perfectly relaxing style, in the Italian riviera region known as Cinque Terre - named for the five small villages that dot the Mediterranean coast. They are stunningly beautiful, but there are no museums, cathedrals, or historical monuments to check out so relaxing and enjoying the views was thankfully the only thing on the agenda. Our trip from Pompeii to Riomaggiore - where we stayed for the night - was another long travel day and tiredness is making my emotions go a little crazy so I may or may not have cried a little when we finally got off the train and saw this... at the train station...

Not kidding, this is where the train stopped.

 

We walked up the steep hill to our hotel, and then found a wonderful place to grab dinner - ravioli for me, fish for Erin, wine for us both.

Views from our hilltop hotel.

Pretty at dusk.

Our hotel had a "jumper." So fun!

These villages are so small - this is the harbor!

The only jelly fish I am not afraid of!

 

The next day was equally relaxing, and the sole mission was to check out at least one more of the villages, and then make our way back to Milan for our flight the next morning. We decided on Monterosso, because it seemed larger, and was a good connecting point for Milan-bound trains.

Again, stunning sea-meets-cliff views.

Monterosso had larger stretches of beaches.

The villages are tiny - and this is one of the larger ones!

The region was full of beautiful lemons - which make limoncello!

My final Italian lunch - caprese salad.

We head back to Barcelona tomorrow, and have one final afternoon and evening to say goodbye to Europe before returning to Austin. I can't really process right now how great of a trip it has been - at dinner tonight Erin and I were both in awe reminiscing over the amazing things we have been able to do in the last four weeks together, and ten weeks for me total. I suspect the coming days, weeks and months even will be full of reflection - so stay tuned for final insights, lessons learned, favorite moments, and overall thoughts on Euro-trip 2013!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Erin and Angie Versus the Volcano!

LOCATION:

Herculaneum and Pompeii, Italy

 

My European travels twelve years ago did include time on the Amalfi coast, which I remember loving. I also remember seeing the tour busses for the nearby Pompeii ruins but didn't have time to visit, so I was excited to see it this time. For most of the trip thus far, I have had some background knowledge about the history of where I was visiting and filled in the larger gaps by asking lots of questions and making good use of the wisdom of the Internet. Pompeii though - even after visiting - is a big fat question mark. I sort of get the basics (thanks to brochures and educational signs!) - Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, covering most of what was below in deep layers of ash and rock. The quickness of the event essentially froze the area in time, and the layers of debris provided the perfect barrier to keep life - and death - almost perfectly preserved for nearly 1600 years. The first excavations began in 1631, and there is still a lot that is yet to be uncovered. The things we saw absolutely boggled my mind - and I am already excited watch documentaries and read books about the main event and the discovery of the ruins. My list of things to research when I get home is already pretty long, but Vesuvius (and volcanoes and archeology and science yay!) is now at the top.

We stayed the night in Pompeii, and our time in the area was spent hiking to the summit of the volcano to see the crater, visiting the smaller site of Herculaneum, and finally exploring the larger ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii. I'm not sure how many times I said "wow" or "I just don't get it" or "what the heck!" but it is probably somewhere in the hundreds. Again, this blog post is more about questions than answers, but here goes!

Hard to capture the size of the crater.

Vesuvius lizards everywhere!

Climbing volcanos is tiring!

Herculaneum was the next stop, and we were both pretty awe struck. It was late in the day, which meant it wasn't very crowded. It is also much smaller than Pompeii, so it was a good introduction to the wrath of Vesuvius.

What the? How was this buried for so long?

A floor mosaic.

 

The next morning was an early one, meaning we were literally the third and fourth people into the Pompeii site. It was amazing to see it without crowds of tourists - a fact which I did not fully appreciate until later in the day when the busses arrived. We also encountered the world's friendliest security guard who led us around parts of the site, pointing out and explaining things (in a hard-to-decode but wonderful Italian-English mix) that we would have not noticed on our own. The highlight of the unexpected VIP tour was getting access to some of the areas locked to other visitors, including a fantastic Venus fresco, a bathing area, and a wall with stunning colorful mosaic tile work.

Really, is this real?

A reconstruction of the vineyard, with Vesuvius in the background.

Seriously, how cool! This was on the VIP tour.

The bathing pools.

See the shells?

Ancient plumbing.

Writing on the walls.

A fresco in the city's prostitution house - apparently ancient Romans were very sexual!

Or guide - we didn't know if he was just bored, or was leading us around because of our genuine excitement about everything he showed us.

 

The final jaw-dropping thing about Pompeii were the casts of people who died in the aftermath. Thousands were killed because of asphyxiation and toxic fumes when their homes were buried. Because of the overall preservation, it was possible to make plaster casts from the bodies that were found, showing what death looked like in the city.

 

Though what happened was tragic for sure, it has become the best source of information about the life of ancient Romans. There is still so much to be uncovered, so all of the signs say "PompeiiViva" - meaning Pompeii lives. I am excited to leave a place with more questions than answers, and Pompeii was definitely a surprise highlight of the trip.

 

This postcard might be my favorite souvenir ever.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Two Seas I See!

LOCATION:

Bari and Sorrento, Italy

 

When planning the grand Europen adventure, we initially struggled coming up with the best way to get from Croatia back to Barcelona for our return flights. We debated changing flights, looked at flying north and then making our way back south by train, but ultimately decided to end the trip with a bit of time on the Mediterranean coast of Italy to see Pompei and the Cinque Terre, and then taking a cheap flight from Milan to Barcelona. The start of this final leg of the trip was an overnight ferry from Dubrovnik, leaving us in Bari - on the Adriatic side - around 8am. Our train to the other coast didn't leave until 1pm, so we ended up seeing Bari for a bit. Not much to say about Bari, except that it is a port city and there is a church that has something to do with Saint Nicholas. We were also tired and sort of smelly, and though that fact has nothing to do with Bari, it definitely impacted my opinion of it.

The depressing ferry breakfast.

Sidewalk chalk Saint Nick.

Statue of Saint Nick. No lap to sit on though.

After Bari, the next phase of the journey was a few train connections to Naples and then a smaller subway-type train to Sorrento. We didn't do enough research though, so finding out we would be on the standing-room-only train for over an hour was not a good surprise. We finally ended up in Sorrento around 8pm, making the entire trip a full 24 hours. Definitely the longest - and most trying - day so far. But we mustered the energy to go out for a quick pizza, then collapsed into bed.

 

Broccoli, sausage, and mozzarella.

This was taken before the ferry, but is also accurate of how I looked at the end of the long day. This is also what happens when I get off balance with my giant backpack.

I will say this has been the most challenging day of the trip so far - which I attribute to many modes of transportation with heavy luggage, hot temps, and overall tiredness. Erin wisely commented though that it would be hard to find a person anywhere who felt sorry for us - even with a long day here and there, the fact that I have been able to go on this amazing ten week adventure is something to be grateful for!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Dubrovnik By Wall and By Sea!

LOCATION:

Dubrovnik, Croatia

 

After so many cities, it's only natural that some just impress more than others. Well, Dubrovnik was absolutely a highlight - dare I say even a favorite. Though there is obviously tons of history here, I loved it so much I can't even think of the right words to say so this post is just going to be a picture slideshow of my personal Dubrovnik favorite moments - mainly the famous city walls and the super awesome sea kayaking adventure Erin and I had. Enjoy!

 

Ruins inside the walls.

Erin in a power pose.

A non-seaside view of the walls.

And a seaside one.

My wall Rapunzel moment - sadly my hair is not long enough for a prince to climb up.

The red tile roofs inside the city walls, with Lokrum island in the background.

This one's for you dad - "we're gonna need a bigger boat."

And the fortress next to the walls.

Kayaks, ready for a ride.

Do I look scared here? I am a little.

But Erin was a good steerer, so no need to worry!

This is the super secret cave beach we kayaked to.

That's the boat that's picking us up - funny right? Someday...

Not scared anymore, kayaking is my new favorite!

Heading back for a sea view of the walls.

I heart Dubrovnik!

 

Posted with Blogsy