Jul
27
Well I’m back in Spotorno after 9 days of travel. It was supposed to be a quick weekend train trip to Cinque Terre with Clay and then a quick weekend train trip to Nice/Antibes with Casey. However, I found out at the last minute that I was going to get the whole week off in between…so why not through Prague into the mix?! Haha, that made things a bit more difficult travel-wise, but it was worth it. I love that city.
Cinque Terre: I was met at the train station by Barbara, our friendly landlord for the next couple of days who didn’t speak any English. This was normal to me, but as I walked around for a bit I started to hear English speakers everywhere and realized I could communicate with people! So I started up random conversations with all kinds of people and made some friends while waiting for Clay – who was several hours late, by the way. Good thing he eventually showed up!
We made the hikes in the middle of the hottest part of the day from Vernazza to Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The first one was a doozie, but it was a beautiful accomplishment. We stopped in each town to look around and take coffee or a snack and also stopped just before Manarola to go for a swim. The clear blue Mediterranean water was just too tempting on a hot day like that. After exploring Riomaggiore we took the train up to Monterosso for another quick visit. This town was very different from the others because it seemed more public and commercial. It was larger and had many beaches stretching along the coast. The other beaches were much smaller and more secluded…mostly rocks and cliffs. I personally prefer the other towns. We stayed in Vernazza for two nights and found it to be a beautiful village bustling with people while still able to hold its ancient charm.
Genoa: We were only here for a few hours so not much to say. But I’d like to go back sometime. It’s a big city with lots to do, cool architecture, history, good shopping, and it’s on the beach! What more could you ask for?
Milano: Again, we were only here for a night, but it was the only night that we had air conditioning so I’ve got to give them credit for that! There are some very stunning sights here like the Duomo and of course good shopping if you have some money to spend. I’ll be going back next month so maybe I’ll see more then.
Prague: I’ve been to Prague before and knew it was worth going back. The city center has pretty much been taken over by tourists, but I still love it! It just has a great feel to the city. New buildings and shops mixed with an ancient castle, cathedrals, and synagogues. Of course, I was
most excited about the food! I think I have mentioned that here in Spotorno (and Alba) the only food you can find is Italian. Italians think that they have the best food in the world, so there’s not much variety. In Prague, however, you can find just about anything. My first stop was KFC, and yes I was very excited about this. We also ate Mexican food, Irish, Czech, and American. It was all delicious! And of course you can’t make it out of Prague without participating in a Pub Crawl (at least I apparently can’t). All I can say is that good times were had and keeping Clay out on the dance floor until 4am was a particularly fun accomplishment!
My flight from Prague to Nice was a bit complicated because I had to book two completely separate flights and stop in Rome for about 4 hours. I think I spent the first 1 ½ hours trying to figure out where I needed to exit if I was just coming right back in. My flight to Rome arrived right beside the gate where my next one departed, but I had to go around the world and back to get there. Then I spent the next hour or so being followed by a Sicilian named Luca…those Sicilians are just a different breed. Next I waited in line for Easy Jet to open the gate for about an hour while they discussed whether or not to cancel my flight. Luckily, eventually they let us on board. Better late than never!
Antibes: Casey and her boyfriend picked me up from the airport and we arrived at their home in Antibes around 10pm to find a delicious dinner waiting for us. This was prepared by the two couchsurfers from UGA, Chelsea and Brad, that were also staying with them for a night. I love the whole vibe of traveling Europe and the people you meet along the way. They will be traveling around the world for an entire year with just the packs on their back. Great conversations that night! Check out their blog at
www.driftingduo.com. The best part of Antibes was probably walking around the port at night and seeing all the enormous yachts that park there (do you call it parking?). Apparently the biggest ones always go to Antibes instead of Nice because it’s the same feel, but a little less ‘in the spotlight’.
Cannes: We saw the sights here and walked around until we got too hot…then spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. Good choice I’d say! Cannes is a nice town though. It is bustling in the summer with tourists and of course during the film festival every year, but for the rest of the year I hear that it is pretty much deserted. We saw all of the stars’ handprints and the red carpet for the film festival. It was also here that I tried the delicious French pastry, Macarons. Yummm…it’s probably a good thing they are so expensive or I would have eaten much more.
Nice: This was Casey’s old stomping ground before she moved to Antibes, so she was able to show me around from an insider’s perspective. The old city is very different from the rest of Nice, but they are both worth checking out. There are great views of the whole area from the top of Colline du Château. And one of my favorites parts was the boardwalk, Promenade des Anglais, that runs along the coastline. It is always filled with people day and night…walking, jogging, and rollerblading with a beautiful ocean backdrop. Oh, and did I mention the crepes in France!? If you didn’t already know, I’m kind of obsessed with crepes and there was a creperie at almost every other door. Both sweet and salty, and so many different kinds to choose from! I had my fair share before heading back to Italy.
Eze: Another beautiful town in France...this one set up high on top of the cliffs overlooking the sea. It was about an hour hike to get up there and we were dripping with sweat by the end (as always). But the town was worth it to see. Besides, I needed my exercise to make up for the crepes I was consuming. The old city is very small with lovely winding stone walkways between the buildings. Many of the shops are still built with stone and wood from long ago and were selling the traditional locally made soaps, perfumes, and spices along with clothing and art. Also, even though we were there on a weekend during the summer, there still weren't too many tourists. There was an amazing garden set on the edge of the town sloping down the cliff. Casey described it as the 'Alice in Wonderland' garden because of all the bizarre animal sculptures and fountains. There was even a giant chess board on one of the levels in which each piece was larger than me.
Ventimiglia: I almost forgot about this little stop because I was only there for an hour – and that was just because the ticket line took so long that I missed my train. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful little places I have found. I was there right at sunset and found it very picturesque with the sea in one direction boasting lots of true Italian fisherman and the Alps in the other direction. Another reason why I love this area of Italy!
Then finally, I was back home around 9pm on Sunday night to greet the little ones that had been without me for a week. At least two out of the three were really happy to see me. Claudio came around after a few minutes.
J So that’s about it…very long but I still have much to to say. Another time…
Check out my new pics on Flickr! Putting some on Facebook soon also.
Reason #2...productions, pageants, and festivities. I love the holiday spirit and joy in the air. Last weekend I was at home with the 3 munchkins for the entire weekend as their parents ran off to Holland (I know...lucky me). So on Saturday night, I was in need of getting out of the house and promised them we could go to the cinema to see Rapunzel. Bad idea to ever promise children something that's not set in stone. They have never been to the cinema before (and didn't even know their town had one) so they were quite excited. Sure enough, after the adventure of getting everyone dressed up, in the car, and spending 30 min looking for parking, we get to the cinema to find out that Rapunzel wasn't playing. Nevertheless, I was saved by the Christmas festivities. I had no idea ahead of time, but Saturday night there was a town-wide living Nativity production. We were there too early in the afternoon to actually see the production; however, we did at least have a lovely stroll through town seeing everyone dressed up in clothing from biblical times, buildings and scenes creating Jerusalem, live animals of all sorts, and people endlessly offering 'my kids' every sweet, candy, hot chocolate, and focaccia imaginable. All in all...good times with the exception of Claudio's little hands almost freezing off and me feeling like a really terrible mom for getting him out in the cold.
