South of France and Italy (boring title, I know, but that's what it is)

We were a bit hesitant about returning to France after our horrendous experience at the train stations in Paris, but gathering up our courage, we set forth! We were supposed to call our hostel when we arrived in Nice, but unfortunately, we had no phone and the train station staff was (true to form) rather unhelpful. A really sweet lady tried to help us, but alas, nothing worked. Frustrated, I decided to go out and start following the directions, hoping that when we arrived at the location where the hostel supposedly picked you up in a shuttle, there would be a store open who might help us. We found a phone/call center within five minutes of leaving the station, though, so everything ended up working out just fine. And just to clarify things, the French are actually very nice, friendly, and even helpful...just not those that work at the train station (at least not generally).

Anyway, Nice was a cute town, especially in the city center with their markets. What was really fun was a short bus trip we took to Eze Village. The cobblestone streets wound their way up a hill with various shops set into the side. We stopped for some crepes on our way back down, which were delicious. After a hike down the hill and subsequent mountain, we took another short bus ride to Monte Carlo where Rebecca searched for a stone disc in the sewers (Indiana Jones computer game reference).

Leaving Nice, we journeyed through various towns in Italy, arriving at long last in the quaint town of Riomaggiore, part of the five villages that make up Cinque Terre. Anyone going to Italy, put Cinque Terre into your travel plans. As enjoyable as the rest of italy was, this was by far our favorite stop. Riomaggiore is the quintessential Italian town, and our hostel was really a little apartment with six beds, a kitchen, bathroom, and washing machine. We were able to wash our clothes (at last) and in typical Italian fashion, hung them out to dry on the clothesline outside our window. The full day that we spent in Cinque Terre was one beautiful view after another. We hiked from town to town, taking a ferry between the final two towns. Each picture was postcard pretty. The government, having noted the beauty of these towns, has made the Cinque Terre into a national park, thereby maintaining the charm for future generations, of which we were one.

Our next stop was Florence. On the way we stopped briefly in Pisa, which has practically one claim to fame, and that is it’s leaning tower. Pretty neat to see that, and then we continued on our way... One of the big things to do in Florence is to see Michelangelo’s David. I must admit, I was wary and doubtful that I would think it so very spectacular. Upon entering into the large room dedicated to the statue, I have to admit to being quite in awe. It was beautiful and even as we were leaving, I kept looking back (and no, not because of that...get your heads out of the gutters)! We met an Albanian artist named Albert one night in Florence who treated us to coffee and chatted awhile.

We had originally planned to head to Sienna next, but switched that with Rome due to the fact that the last weekend of the month had many free sights, including the Vatican on Sunday. We had three full days in Rome and they were packed. From the Colosseum and Roman Forum to the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica, we scoured the city. We even went a bit out of the city to see Ostia Antica, and old Roman port. Also included in our sight seeing adventures were some catacombs. The Vatican was crazy! We got in this huge line of people and it took us about 2 hours to get in. The museums were alright, but the really amazing draw was the Sistine Chapel. Now, I appreciate art, but I don’t always understand it very well. Since we got into the Vatican for free, we opted to get the audio guide. We were really grateful once we got to the Sistine Chapel. As I listened to the description of Michelangelo’s great work, I was struck with the realization that I was hearing the Gospel message, and so were all the people who walk through that chapel with an audio guide. It really was an amazing artistic accomplishment and in learning more about it, I wished I could have stayed even longer!

After the hectic pace of Rome, we were thrilled to get to Sienna, where we took a bus to a little town called San Rocco. We stayed in a Villa located on a private farm. The location was remote and quiet, and we had our own room...yah!!!!! The lady and her daughter who ran the place helped us arrange a wine-tasting tour, which was a lot of fun. We were actually taken to a vineyard called Mozart Vineyard where they play Mozart 24/7. They have apparently joined together with students from a University (in Florence, I think) in order to study the affect music has on plants. It was fascinating to walk through the Vineyard there, hearing music coming from the numerous speakers set up everywhere. When we weren’t out tasting wines, we were back at our beautiful villa, taking walks on the property, or sitting on a balcony reading, or chatting with some of the other guests. It was extremely relaxing, so much so that putting on our backpacks on the day we left was torture.

However, Venice was next and we couldn’t miss out on that! Venice is, of course, unlike any other city. When we first arrived I looked out the front of the train station and for a split second wondered why there was a boat driving down the street! We actually stayed in a hostel on the Island, which made the experience even better. Our hostel had a free breakfast and a free dinner. We would all sit around a large table in the common room, and although it was awkward at first, this arrangement made it easy to get involved in conversations. Our first night there we stayed up until midnight talking with a couple of other people we’d met. We only had one full day in Venice, but we made the most of it, visiting a church, heading up a tower for a really unique panoramic view, and even taking time to get lost. Gondola rides in Venice are ridiculously expensive because they can be, so since we weren’t exactly willing to spend 100 euros on one, Rebecca bravely assembled a group from our hostel and six of us we got together in the afternoon. Definitely overpriced, but I suppose it’s one of those things you just have to do when you’re in Venice. We had a great time.

Well, upon leaving Venice, we boarded a train bound toward Switzerland. We were thrilled with the prospect of an entire week in one place. Even though they remind you on their website that L’abri is not a place for a relaxing vacation, we felt pretty good about being told where to go, what to do, and what to eat. It’s not always so bad being taken care of...

Explanation of Pics:

1. A narrow street in Eze Village...it was like this all over and lots of fun to wander through!
2. On the hike down from Eze Village, we enjoyed this view...
3. Rebecca posing with Monte Carlo as her background.
4-5 Cinque Terre...gorgeous, isn't it?
6. This is one shot of many of the Roman Forum.
7-8 The Colosseum.
9. Bet you can't guess what this one is...oh, the leaning gave it away, huh? When my mom was here 35 years ago, she took pictures of her friends which came out with the tower straight and her friends leaning! Check out Rebecca's sight for our tribute to that little mishap!
10. Another view of Cinque Terre because I liked it and it's pretty!
11-12 Ah, Venice! This is our little group on a gondola ride!
13. This is the Mozart Vineyard. They were in the midst of grape harvesting season, so some of the grapes were still on the vine.
14. The view from our villa balcony!
15. This is me at the Vatican. I'm overlooking the grounds.