Lucca

So today we day tripped to Lucca. We pretty much taste tested and ate our way through the town :) 

It is a small town that has a very high wall around it. The cool part is that the wall is thick and had grass on it so you can sit and enjoy the view or walk around the town with a Birdseye view. 

Of course we had our eyes open for the best deal on gelato ;) But along the gelato trail we followed signs that directed us from one must see to another. One of the tallest structures in the town actually has trees growing in top of it (picture below). 

We came across a little shop that sells buccellato. This apparently is a raisin bread with seasonings that is famous in Lucca. We got to have free samples. It tasted like licorice so we didn't like it. Bill said it " tasted like Christmas" so....

GOOD NEWS!!!! I found my one piece of genuine Italian leather! It was highly recommended in many resources I read before my travels. It was quite inexpensive also which made me happy! Now it's Bills turn :)

Lastly we  found these amazing strawberry flavored licorice filled with cream...

Back to the hostel we went to make an delicious salad and book the rest of our trip. Tomorrow we are off to Florence for a few days. Woo!

Pisa

Pisa has been carefree! After we rode on the train for an hr and a half, we arrived at Pisa. We had a long walk from the station to the hostel but we weren't in any hurry so we strolled through their downtown area looking at all of the shops and little restaurants. 

A block away from our hostel and Bill is handed a card for a BUFFET! Woo lunch!

We check in to our hostel. It has such character and is adorable. Below are pictures of our room . It is tiny and only has 6 rooms in the building. Our roomies again (knock on wood) are delightful. 

We literally are a two minute walk from the leaning tower. If I stick my head out of our window I can see it :) 

We went and took the obligatory pictures of the tower, the cathedral, and baptistery. There are some silly ones as well- don't worry! See the picture of Bill and what happens when you don't have sleeves on your shirt. Haha.

Walked around looking at gelato prices and flavors and the vendors and their goods ( there were a lot!) we went down one side street and there were all of the guys who created their items. One guy was creating pieces of artwork from spray paint. Some were pictures of the tower and others were just scenes. They were amazing. Then we found the "silverware guy" I bought a bracelet that he made from and fork and I love it! 

After our walk around we came back to the hostel to hang out. It was nice to be able to just relax and it gave us time to plan the next few days of our trip. 

We decided to walk down to the market and grab some things that we could have for dinner. Back to the site to get some good night pictures.

All in all Pisa is nice. Definitely a day trip and tomorrow we will be heading out to Lucca for another day trip.  Can't wait to see what that town has to offer. For now I'm off to bed and hoping for a nice restful sleep. 

~ciao 

Cinque Terre

sorry friends, way too tired last night to post. It was a very long, physically exhausting, but wonderful day. Bill and I hiked the coastline path to the five (cinque) towns. Sadly two of them were closed for construction, but we ended up hiking the path from our hostel to the beginning of the first path, so we still go plenty of hiking and breath taking views in. 

Of course these paths were not straight forward and paved. We were hiking on nature made trails so the majority of it was up, rocky, and winding. We literally hugged the side of the mountain and then it would wind out so we could see the coastline. I was really proud of myself. I didn't stop and pushed through it. Now don't get me wrong, there were times I had to stop to catch my breath and regulate my now hulking gulps, but there was no sitting and crying that I don't want to do it anymore. It's not like someone could come and get me. Lol. ( Although we did learn the two arm signs incase of an air rescue.) 

It was very demanding and Bill was very patient. He had to keep stopping to wait for me due to my short people problems. A lot of the steps up were not made for me. One of his strides was three of mine and some of the rock steps he climbed easily and I struggled to get my foot up and boost myself up. 

Each town was unique into itself and all were tiny. We of course stopped for gelato along the way... Strawberry and limoncello :)

The town of Vernazza is where pesto was invented. So we decided to split a small pesto pizza to try it out. Italy's pesto is MUCH better than ours. It's not so in your face and the pizza was really good. After we ate I, of course, had to go to the bathroom. I never wanted to be a dude so much in my entire life. See picture below to understand. It was very stressful!

 

I have learned that Cinque is the place of steps and I am so glad to be going to places with flat land for the next few days!

Our hostel was adorable. We were in a 9 person room that wasn't completely occupied, and the nice sea breeze made for good sleeping. We lucked out and had a cute ( read cheap) italian place across from the hostel and did take out since all we wanted to do was take off out shoes! Lol  

We took our time getting ready in the morning and headed to the train station. we pit-stopped at a little cafe to grab croissants and water for breakfast. We headed to Pisa.

Things learned: 

1) graffiti is everywhere in Italy. It doesn't mean you are in a "bad" neighborhood. Clearly they just like spray paint. 

2) Italians have a very different way of child rearing... Like they aren't concerned  when they can't see them and let them run ahead or stand outside while they are in a store ( I'm talking like 4-6 years old here)

Milan

Slept like a log last night! Thank goodness too because today was "break in your walking legs" day. Kristina, tell Jason he would of been in heaven. These mattresses are VERY firm, lol. Woke this morning and Bill and I had our hostel breakfast of cereal, croissant, and a pound cake type cake. It doesn't sound like much, but one- it's free and 2- we aren't big breakfast people. Headed out to the metro to get our tickets and catch the next train to Milan.

It was quite hilarious because the machine wouldn't take our money. We played this game for about five minutes before Bill went and bought the tickets from the guy at the stand (cheater!)

Milan is pretty... Underwhelming. Haha. I'm not complaining now. I can say I was there, I was glad that I got to see the Duomo and the whole basilica is gorgeous, I just wouldn't do it again. It's weird because Milan is not what you would picture... I'm not really sure what I pictured but it wasnt that. Lol.

Milan is a city (DUH) but it is a little more spread out than, but more crowded than, NYC. There were just people everywhere. Bill and I constantly wondered how it was possible for so many people to just be hanging out. Just sitting hanging out, in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day, hanging out....Metropolis is a good word to describe the atmosphere. A lot of residence, restaurants, and not very "sight seey"

Anywho I HAD MY FIRST GELATO TODAY!!!! It was amazing. It was called frutti de bosco, mixed berry basically, it was amazing. I was sad when it was gone. So we got another one after dinner- strawberry cheesecake and limoncello. :)

The gelato nazi informed me that we have to get different flavors each time, unless its the last day, then we can repeat. Good thing I like to try new things ;)

There was this absolutely huge water fountain in front of the Castello sforzesco. We stopped to take pictures and we having a conversation about getting a picture of us in front of it when we were accosted. This boy/ man came up to try to "give" us bracelets. I said no thank you a few times and shook my head. In going with language barrier (?) as to why I was ignored. He proceeded to take my wrist and tie a bracelet around, and then a second. What do you know, he had a friend who gave Bill two also! Who wants to guess what they asked for after that?? ;)


Somehow Bill and I managed to find the only buffet in Milan and it was only 6 euro! Pasta salad. Bread with a sweet butter/ cream, mozzarella, tomatoes, sweet corn, shrimp, crab meat, mixed fruit, mixed rice, mini sandwiches and chips. A glass of wine each of course!

We tried to wait until the sun went down to get a lovely night picture of the basilica HOWEVER the darkness doesn't actually happen until after ten in Italy. At 6 we were more than ready to go.

Things I learned about people in Milan:
1) they like to smoke
2) they have small dogs
3) they like coca cola
4) the all have mopeds or very small cars. Those with more than two kids... Someone is walking!
5) Italian Disney kids are POPular! There was a mad rush to a store signing done by Violetta (Disney goddess) and all out madness for hours.

Up early tomorrow and on our way to explore the nature and coastline on Cinque Terra. I can't wait the pictures look amazing!

Planes, trains, and subways...

So you are all probably wondering "hmm...wonder if CJ got to Milan and found her brother?" Well my friends, the answer would be yes. Of course, not without some drama to carry me to my final destination.

Mom decided to drive me to JFK to make sure that I was there (for her sanity) which was fine with me since dealing with transportation makes me nervous... throw in 3 modes to count on to be on time and work properly.... hilarious!

All was well at JFK and I got myself a drink and read for a little before my flight departed.
Hello Charlotte, North Carolilna! Cute little airport that was set up very smartly. Whoever did that needs to go fix the other stupid airport set ups. (I will have to find a way to post some pics later) I had four hours to kill, which was fine, rather be there and relax panicky and sweaty. I decided that to start off I would get a pedicure at the airport spa- HOUR DOWN!! The chosen color was a light blue called "Eurin Europe" HA! Lunch at Tequitera. Cute little Mexican bar. Yummy nachos!

Found my seat at terminal, ready to get on plane, relaxed...."malfunction of plane" pushed back waiting for other plane. That's cool I'd rather not die on the way across the Atlantic. oh, now you need to change gates for new plane, 3 gates down, no problemo. Wait, wait, wait, 6 people board plane. Everyone else is held. CJ says to new neighbor friend "why is our pilot leaving the plane and walking down the hall?" Everyone else off plane. BAthroom malfunctions. *sigh* 8:30 we were told we weren't using that plane. WAiting for new plane. Change back to original gate. 9:40 JUST KIDDING!!! go to terminal B for your fourth plane. By 10:30 I was finally on a damn plane waiting for take off (original flight 6:30) ** See early comment about realiable transportation**

Because of this lovely plane game I now no longer had a 3 hour layover. I pretty much had no layover. Because of the time malfunction we then waited on the tarmack in Dublin for another 20 minutes for a plane to move. Guess who now has 10 minutes to catch the next flight???

Of course I have to go through customs, go back to Ryanair to have my ticket stamped, bc I'm a foreigner, and run through the entire airport to get to Ryanair and my gate. Now friends, I know that I can be overly exaggeratory about things (and usually on purpose) however, it was literally on the other side of the airport... this is NOT a small airport. They kept telling me I wasn't going to make it. I kept praying to let me get on that plane.

The running joke now is that I have airport asthma because I couldn't clear my lungs and kept coughing. Weird voice issues for a while too throughout the day but better now :)

No need to bite your fingers... I was lucky this time and made it. Had to check my bag #&$*$(#( but I made it and couldn't catch my breath to say 'boo' let alone argue. My 2 hour flight from Dublin to Milan I was a mess! I was wound so tight... but I made it! That's all that mattered.

Since I ran through Dublin I had no chance to talk to Bill who would  arrive in Milan an hour before me. Again, since I am a foreigner I had to stand in line to get stamped with three other planes full of people (again legit, not exaggeration) So Bill is waiting on the other side starting to worry because it was taking way too long. I finally get stamped and find him. HALLELUJIAH!

I am so out of it at this point from lack of sleep and anxiety. I was just want toget a drink, eat, sleep, shower, and pee- not necessarily in that order. Thank God Bill had time and sat to figure out how we were getting from the airport to the hostel. I was so out of it I went into the men's room to pee at the airport. Some woman goes "that's the mens" I just responded with "yeah" and left the room.

We check in to our lovely hostel, I take a lovely shower, and we go to explore the town around us. We weren't impressed with the restaurants we found so we went to the supermarket and bought some cheese, meats, bread, tomatoes, and grapes. DInner is served! It was nice to check out the area and have a nice dinner. We caught up on what Bill has seen and done so far and got the next week together of our agenda.

I am so excited to go to bed tonight just to be able to be well rested and start brand new tomorrow. The The real adventure will then begin and I can't wait!

Tomorrow starts the adventure. Just have to get to JFK... in rush hour...in time for my flight :)