Roma

Our stay in Rome was a bit of a whirlwind. It’s a big city and we only had about a day and a half to see all there was to see. We came prepared though, and made the best of our time.

We arrived in Rome’s Termini train station in the mid afternoon and made the short walk to our hotel, Aenea Superior. We met with the hotel owner, who checked us in and also gave us an overly comprehensive step-by-step itinerary of all the sights and tourist activities we needed to accomplish during our stay. After the conference, we felt a little overwhelmed. So we threw down our bags and rushed out to tackle our afternoon #1 recommendations. Our plan was derailed pretty quickly when we found out that the Colosseum was closed for visitors for the day. Also, a horrendous thunderstorm rolled in that sent us scampering for cover. It was raining too hard to do anything, so we rushed back home trying to stay dry utilizing random awnings, building overhangs, bookstores and a grocery store along the way. Our very nice room at Aenea came complete with a full kitchen, enabling us to stay out of the rain and still enjoy a self-catered Italian meal.

Thankfully, the weather was a little more cooperative our second day. We woke up early and headed straight to the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. We didn’t spend too much time wondering the grounds but checked the Vatican Museum off the list, which included Michelangelo’s masterful painting on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. After sending a quick post card from the Vatican City post office, we walked a short distance to St. Peter’s Square. Our original plans to visit the Bascilla had to be scrapped because some guy dressed in a white robe was speaking to the masses gathered in the square. Come to find out, the Pope gives a mass every Wednesday morning when the weather is nice, and we just happened to stumble upon it. Neither of us are Catholic, but we were still pretty stoked to see the Pope in person.

The next stop on our walking tour was Plaza Navona, where we were greeted again by a large gathering of people. This time, it was angry students protesting recent government initiated educational cut-backs. We thought it best to move through quickly and we’re pretty glad we did. Not long after we left the area, as we saw later on the news, things turned violent.

After lunch, we sought out the much more peaceful setting and amazing architectural feat of the Pantheon. We finished off the day by walking though the ancient Roman ruins and Palatine Hill, before touring the Colosseum. Jim decided to learn a few things, and opted for the audio tour. Highlights of the audio tour included hidden marble urinals for the senators and bears attacking gladiators from the mouth of a whale.

Cinque Terre

The next stop on the Euro segment of our travels was to a spot in Italy called the Cinque Terre. It’s a series of five beautiful towns along a nine kilometer stretch of rugged northwest Italian coastline. The towns from west to east are: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We arrived in Monterosso, our Cinque Terre home-base, around three in the afternoon. The sun was bright, the temps were high, and we were pretty happy to be there.

 

We exited the train station, nearly falling onto the beach. We walked maybe a quarter mile along the beach, through a tunnel, along some rocky cliffs, through the narrowest, windiest streets we’ve seen, and up about 100 stairs to Manuel’s Guest House. We sort of reserved Manuel’s on a whim, but it turned out to be one of our best finds yet. The location was great, perched high above Monterosso overlooking the town and blue Mediterranean waters. Basically, Manuel rents out a few spare rooms of his house for pretty cheap to people like us. It’s not 5-star luxury, but our room was large, clean, the bathroom worked properly and the views were perfect. Oh, and did we mention beer and wine (yes, wine) were on tap for cheap?

That evening, we toured around the newer part of town, tested out the beach, and then meandered through the older part of town where we were staying. We did some much needed work, and then ate a good Italian dinner making sure to sample some pesto – the local specialty.

First thing the next morning, we set out on the Cinque Terre trail, the nine kilometer path that links the five towns of the Cinque Terre. We covered seven of the nine kilometers from Monterosso to Vernazza, and Vernazza to Corniglia. The paths were very narrow with a lot of elevation changes and often criss-crossed through vineyards and olive orchards. It was a pretty challenging hike but a lot of fun and the views were spectacular. There were a wide range of hikers on the trails. Our favorites were the people with full backpacks, expedition-strength hiking boots, and trekking poles. If these people somehow got lost and ended up in the Himalayas, they’d be fully prepared. On the other end of the spectrum were hung-over looking college kids wearing flip flops.

Wanting to leave some hiking for the next day, we rode the train back from Corniglia and got a few good hours of beach time in. The weather was even nice enough to entice Jim into a quick swim. We wasted away the evening hours soaking in the views from our balcony and wine from the tap.

The weather was not quite as nice our final day on the Cinque Terre. In the morning we kicked around town and Manuel’s till early afternoon, and then caught the train to Corniglia to finish the remaining two sections of the hike. The section between Corniglia and Manarola, was much easier than the first two, and not quite as scenic but offered some great vistas from the top of several sheer cliffs. The walk from Manarola to Riomaggiore, called Via dell’ Amore (the Lover’s Walk), was short, mostly flat and paved. We took a few pictures and tried to make the twenty minute walk as romantic as possible. We opted to ride the ferry back to Monterosso and enjoyed a great sunset along the way.