Sunday + {Day Twenty: Monterosso + Vernazza}

We slept in this morning, then swung by the focaccia place for breakfast. I had a delightful cheese + tomato + mushroom slice plus freshly squeezed orange juice. Then Gooligan and I split off from the rest of the group because both of us wanted to hike to the next village over. We paid our 6 euro per person dues for access to the National Park (which includes the trails).

The hike between Monterosso and Vernazza is about ninety minutes but it is a tough hike. Lots of it is steep uphill with these deep stone steps. But the views alone are completely worth it. Cinque Terre has some of the most beautiful scenery ever.

A lot of people on our way laughed or pointed out Gooligan’s shoes—comfortable yet sturdy leather flats—which was more than a little insulting. Considering we ran into people who were wearing flip-flops, Gooligan’s shoe choice was fairly practical. Anyway, we made it all the way to Vernazza with no accidents.

By the time we arrived, we were ravenous. We stopped off to get an incredible fresh juice drink (lemon + orange + peach), then headed to the train station. We had agreed to meet Sarah and Shannon at the train station in the next town, a difficult feat when we don’t have any cellphones. (Well, Shannon has hers, but since none of the rest of us has a phone, it doesn’t help for in-group communication.)

Anyway, it turned out that their train was delayed by a considerable amount of time. A little silly considering that the towns are about three minutes apart on the train. But luckily they arrived about ten minutes before Gooligan and I had agreed to go our separate ways from them if we couldn’t connect.

After we met up we had a delicious lunch (more pasta) and then asked our waiter for a recommendation for the best gelato in town. We followed his advice and it was delicious. It was also Sarah’s first gelato ever! I got coconut and chocolate chip.

Then we went down to the harbor in Vernazza and bought tickets for the ferry back to Monterosso (3.50 euro each). The ferry was quick—about ten minutes—and it was so cool to see the village from another perspective, since we had already seen it from ground level and up in the mountains.

We walked around Monterosso, exploring all the cute artisan gift shops, and picked up a few souvenirs. One of the best artists we talked to was a woman from California who moved to Monterosso nine years ago for study abroad. She made these amazing necklaces. Gooligan got one for her birthday (which is in ten days!). It has tiny charms on it: a spoon, a fish, a set of Libra scales, a little picture of Cinque Terre, etc. and is absolutely gorgeous. Plus the woman was so amazing and helpful and encouraged us to look at everything. (We had a bad experience in another shop where the shopkeeper was grouchy and passive aggressively drove us out, which is a lesson for anyone in retail: never judge a customer by what they look like: both Gooligan and her sister ended up buying necklaces from the really amazing woman and both Shannon and I bought prints from her.)

Then we walked back our Airbnb, stopping for about an hour to frolic in the water. The water was wonderful—fairly warm—and the beach was nice, but a little rocky. One of the waves surprised us and soaked the bottoms of my jeans. Then Gooligan and I climbed up on this huge rock before we had to get back home to change for dinner.

We wanted to go to this specific restaurant for dinner, but it was either closed or had shut down, so we went to the one next door which was fantastic. We ran into a few Americans from the south that were really great and told us the food was amazing. I ordered homemade black-and-white pasta with mussels. Probably the best food I have eaten all trip, hands down.

After dinner we headed back home sleepily and, after doing some paperwork for grad school, we went to bed for another fairly bad night of sleep.

Saturday + {Day Nineteen: Monterosso}

We took an early taxi to the train station today in time to catch our train to Cinque Terre! Cinque Terre is a group of five beautiful Italian coastal villages interconnected via the train, hiking paths, and a ferry. We stayed in Monterosso, the village best known for its sandy beach. The Airbnb we stayed at is run by a woman who works at a focaccia place; for breakfast, we received free focaccia and coffee or fresh-squeezed orange juice or hot chocolate.

We arrived in Cinque Terre around midday; by the time we found the focaccia place, got our keys, and dropped our stuff off, we were starving. We decided to head out to find something to eat, but ran into two problems: (1) absolutely nothing is open that early (it was maybe 5:30 or 5:45) and (2) it began to rain. By the time we reached “old town” (about .6 miles away) we were thoroughly soaked. Our clothes were plastered to our bodies.

Since nothing was open, we decided to stop in at a wine bar that served appetizers, too. We split some delicious bread—Gooligan and I ordered smoked swordfish which was amazing—and then about an hour later we moseyed over to an actual restaurant in “new town” (near where we were staying).

It’s interesting in Italy because all the restaurants have a sitting charge of around two euro but they all also stuff you with free bread at the beginning of the meal, so it balances out in a way. Aside from breakfast at the train station eons ago and our appetizers, we hadn’t eaten all day, so we stuffed ourselves on pasta.

Then after dinner we headed home, where I immediately fell asleep, only to wake up about an hour or two later with the worst stomachache. After a miserable night, I fell asleep early in the morning.

Friday + {Day Eighteen: Milan}

Since Sarah and Shannon wanted to see Venice, they took an early train to the city for the day. Gooligan and I considered taking a day trip ourselves. Richard had some tempting suggestions. But we decided to just walk around the city and see the sights.

Richard gave us a lot of amazing pointers. We ate at this bakery, then went and saw the castle--beautiful, but not as castle-y as we expected. Then we went to the aquarium. Then more walking and a fiasco where we couldn't figure out where to eat lunch. We eventually chose this place with a HUGE line. Food was fabulous! Stuffed pastries with ricotta and spinach.

After lunch we went back to the Duomo and sat in the pews and had a wonderful, long conversation.

Then since I absolutely had to get gelato we did! So good.

When we got back to Richard's, he was making a painting for his boyfriend. We sat and talked to him, had some wine, and helped him peel some vegetables for dinner. His boyfriend arrived just before dinner and we had a lovely chat with them. Several of their friends (mostly neighbors in the complex) stopped in and soon there was a great lively dinner party going on!

Unfortunately Shannon and Sarah's train was delayed coming back from Venice, so they were quite late to the party (literally), but they didn't miss all the festivities. A bunch more wine later, and we stopped in at another neighbor's for awhile, before we all headed home around two in the morning.

Not necessarily a lot to see in Milan, but the people we met were amazing, warm, and friendly, so I'm glad that we started our trip to Italy off on the right note.

Thursday + {Day Seventeen: Milan}

I fell down the stairs today. I'm okay, miraculously, but I fell down half a flight of our ubertiny staircase in Barcelona. The sum total of my damage: I scraped a lot of the skin off my pinky finger.

Our taxi driver was grouchy that we were late (he was actually early) and then he blasted Whitesnake's "Slip of the Tongue" the entire trip to the airport. It probably would've been cheaper to actually go to a Whitesnake concert.

Anyway, fifty euros later, we arrived at our airport with plenty of time to catch our last flight of the trip. From here on out, it's all trains! We took Easyjet this time instead of Ryanair. Much, much better.

From the airport in Milan we took a shuttle bus to the train station where we caught a taxi to our host's house. 

Our host, Richard, was waiting for us outside his place. Richard was lovely and welcoming from the very first moment we arrived. He immediately verbally walked us through the city, the good places to eat, the major sights, etc.

While I am (especially in retrospect) so grateful for Richard's advice, at the moment, I was in considerable amounts of pain from my sunburn, which I hadn't had time to treat and had been rubbed at by my luggage/shirt all day. By the time we got to Richard's my skin was on fire.

But after I got the change to treat my skin, I felt a million times better so although we were tired, the four of us hit the street immediately after dumping our luggage off. We ate at this delicious mini pizza restaurant called Mipi. Definitely the highlight of the day. Then Sarah really wanted to see the original Prada store, so we did. We also went into the Duomo--this amazingly huge Gothic cathedral.

Then we made our way to the Brera District, where Richard had told us to eat at a happy hour. After buying a drink for six or eight euros, we got to eat for free at this huge, delicious buffet.

We were also seranaded by a lovely guitar player. Then we made our way back home, where we slept soundly.

Wednesday + {Day Sixteen: Barcelona}

After yesterday we were pretty beached out, so today we spent the day admiring some of Gaudi’s works and exploring the city. But first I spent the morning putting the finishing touches on my third packet of the semester for grad school.

Then, once everyone was ready, we stopped at La Rambla and the famous Farmers’ Market there. Gooligan and I got fresh juice (coconut/strawberry and mango respectively). It was delicious. As we wandered the stalls, sipping our drinks, everything looked so incredible. Gooligan and I ended up splitting a burrito and then later Gooligan, Sarah, and I went halvies on some Ibrico ham, the famous Spanish ham! It might’ve been better with something else—in salad or on a cheese sandwhich—but by itself it was potently overwhelming, especially on a blazingly hot day.

After the market we caught the metro to the super famous Gaudi cathedral still under construction, Sagrada Familia. We walked around it, seeing before the “finished” side and unfinished. The amount of detail and symbolism is awe-inspiring.

Next, we went to a house Gaudi had designed. Also absolutely gorgeous. I wish we’d had more time in Barcelona to explore more of Gaudi’s works, especially the insides. But alas, we were on a time crunch, so we headed back home. After we took a short siesta, Gooligan and I headed off for the cathedral down the street from our rental. Gorgeous! Gooligan and I toured the entire inside and even went up to the roof. It had cooled off by then and was wonderfully breezy.

Inside the middle of the cathedral was a courtyard with a fountain, pond, and swans! They came right up to the fence and honked at Gooligan.

After that church we took a break and got ice cream—coconut and some kind of chocolate candy—before heading off to another church. We sat inside this one for a long time, just taking in the grandness of the architecture. The amazing thing about churches like these is the mix of tourists and believers. It almost doesn’t matter if you’re a believer or not; the immensity of these churches is so intense that even if you don’t believe, there’s something magical about them.

Finally we headed home. On our way, we ran into Sarah and Shannon and joined them for dinner. Then it was home, shower, packing, and cleaning!

I forgot to mention: our host came by to fix our shower! He was actually really kind and helpful during our whole time in Barcelona! In addition, he brought us a new fan and also called a taxi for us since the one Shannon tried to schedule wanted to charge us seventy euro.

Tuesday + {Day Fifteen: Barcelona}

Beach day! Today we shamelessly slept in, then walked to the beach where we spent all day lounging in rented beach chairs. Six euro for a chair for the whole day. Best deal ever. While we lounged, I tore through the remaining 300-odd pages of The Adventures of Kalavier and Clay. It was sad, but good.

After a good amount of lounging, we took turns taking a dip in the Mediterranean. The water was clear, deep, and free of jellyfish. (I have a long-lasting grudge against jellyfish, due to a traumatic childhood event.) I would’ve spent more time in the water, but I got a little more sun than I originally thought I had, and the salt in the water stung.

After the beach we hit up the farmacia for some aloe, then went home to rest for a bit before dinner. We wanted to go out for tapas and then find somewhere to dance, but since our internet wasn’t working and we weren’t sure where to go on a Tuesday night, we went out to tapas, split a picture of cava sangria, and called it an early night.

I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but our shower is broken in our place. Freezing cold and the shower head which won’t stay on the wall sprays everywhere and floods the bathroom and living room hallway.

Monday + {Day Fourteen: Barcelona}

Our taxi didn’t show up again, but this time, it was not because it was a no-show, but because it was lost. Luckily, they called us (Shannon’s phone works over here) and we connected almost immediately. The taxi took us to a shuttle pick-up site, where we caught a shuttle to the airport to catch our flight.

After our last fiasco with Ryanair, we made sure we were at the airport as early as possible, which was good, because we were originally in the wrong terminal. But, as the correct one was just next door, we scurried over.

This time we got a stamp on our passports and checked our bags (not sure what happened re: our last Ryanair trip, but I think we were confused about whether the bag we paid for was our carry-on or our checked ones). Our flight was great—I slept through the whole thing—and when we touched down at Barcelona, faced with the prospect of figuring out how to get to our apparently really confusingly located place) we decided to just pool in for a taxi.

The taxi dropped us off and we texted our host that we had arrived. Only for him to text us back when he arrived at the apartment to tell us that he didn’t see us.

Apparently the taxi had dropped us off on the wrong side of the city. As it turned out, the driver hadn’t even read the street name right. We had to stop by a little bar/restaurant and ask for their help. They were very kind and helped us find a taxi. This time the taxi driver used GPS, thank god, and we were dropped off at the right place. As with the last place, this place is also an entire rented flat, as opposed to rooms in a flat or a house. After our host gave us our keys, he left.

Our first order of business was finding lunch, since we hadn’t eaten since four in the morning. Luckily there is a delicious tapas place across the street from us. We ordered a picture of sangria and about seven plates. The food was unbelievably good. We are definitely planning on going back at least once more.

Then we filed back across the street and up the narrow staircase to our apartment, where we immediately crashed on our beds, eagerly embracing the concept of siesta. Two hours later, we were up again, and ready for the beach!

We walked there, stopping to buy a coke and a pastry. The beach here is perfect. It is sandy and huge and there was plenty of space to plop down and soak up the sun. I brought along the Michael Chabon book I've been toting everywhere. My next packet is due in a couple of days. Either today or tomorrow I am going to work on getting all my files collected.

Since we got such a late start at the beach we only stayed for maybe an hour or so until the sun went down beneath the buildings and the wind plus the shade was a little too chilly. Then we headed back home to shower.

As we quickly found out, the shower doesn’t really work that well. The shower head holder is broken, so Shannon tried to shower by holding it, but the way the bathroom is set up, and because the shower head itself is also broken, water spewed everywhere.

Our host sent someone to bring us rags to mop it up, and tomorrow someone is supposed to come by to fix the shower head so it doesn’t leak everywhere. But until then we're going to covered in sand and filth. Just kidding. We're relatively clean. It'd just be nice to shower after a day of traveling/hanging out at the beach.

Since we were getting pretty hungry by now, we headed out to find some food. We ended up at this decent restaurant, where three of the four of us got burgers. I don't know about anyone else, but with all the walking and stair-climbing and standing we've been doing, I really crave meat and we rarely order anything with too much meat in it because it's usually pretty expensive.

After dinner, we headed home. Walking through the streets of Barcelona at night is so nice. The weather is t-shirt perfect, even at ten. It's hard to shake the mental attitude that I need to bring a coat "just in case." But since everything is within walking distance, even if we need to run home to grab something, it's not a big deal.