Our Italian journey begins -- Venice & Cinque Terre

It’s been exactly one month since I graduated from the University of Georgia. I can’t say my life has changed drastically like many of my fellow graduates. I haven’t moved, or started a new job or entered the “real world” as they say. However, these past few weeks have been some of the best of my life, and I have created memories that surely will stay with me forever. I’ve traveled places I had only dreamed about or 'pinned', experienced different cultures, overcome various language barriers and learned (am learning) to be a savvy traveler. I can’t believe we still have three weeks left of visiting beautiful places. I’ve enjoyed every minute so far and and am looking forward to the rest of our journey.

After leaving the beautiful country of Switzerland we began our trek through Italy - starting with Venice. After having a long day of travel, we arrived a little after 8:00 p.m. We had a hard time finding our place, and as it was getting dark we began to worry a little. Eventually after numerous wrong turns and asking directions from many locals, we made it. We spent the next day wandering the streets and canals and having our first taste of Italian pizza, wine and of course, gelato. Before dinner we took a bottle of wine to San Marco square and enjoyed our surroundings and what seemed like the place to bring dogs to play together in the evening. For dinner we took a short walk to a restaurant on one of the canals. The night before, during our aimless wandering, we had seen this place packed with people and saw that it was rated high on Trip Advisor and decided to give it a try. It was a small restaurant, with all of the tables and seating very close together - very family-oreinted feel. The meal and the atmosphere were excellent. My favorite part was the pana cotta at the end :). We decided we were glad we visited Venice, but it was definitely a city you could see in one night and one day. The amount of tourists was a little overwhelming and it was hard to place a finger on the local vibe of the city. 

The next day we packed up and headed to the train station. We were running late, but managed to get on the train with two minutes to spare and we were on the way to Cinque Terre! Cinque Terre was one of the places I was most excited for and boy, did it not disappoint. We stayed in Monterosso, the northern most town of the five, at a precious bed and breakfast. Cristina, the owner, was young and very friendly and our room was quaint and a perfect retreat after a long day. There was also a cat there that I appropriately named Tom. As our usual first days in new places go, we spent the afternoon wandering the streets, taking in the scenery and enjoying our first beach destination since we’ve been in Europe. For dinner we went to a restaurant that Cristina suggested. Since Cinque Terre is the home of pesto and seafood, I ordered pesto gnocchi  and Drew ordered an entire lobster which he made sure to enjoy every bite of. He talked about his lobster meal “fit for kings” for days. 

In the morning we started the hike from Monterosso to the next village - Vernazza. The hike was a little over 2 miles and took about an hour and fifteen minutes. It was an incredible hike with the most amazing views and we had wonderful weather which was a plus considering some of the weather we had in the beginning of our trip. It definitely wasn’t an easy hike, with lots of climbing up and down the mountain, but it was one of the best I’ve done in my life. 

Leaving Monterosso

Hello Vernazza!

When we arrived in Vernazza we headed straight for the nearest pizzeria with a view and had a relaxing lunch by the sea. We wandered over to the rocks near the harbor and found a good rock to sit on and take in the views while preparing for the next hike. We walked around Vernazza for a while and then started the next trek to Corniglia. This hike was a little over 2.5 miles as well and took about the same amount of time as the last one. Again, beautiful views, wonderful trail scenery and a very enjoyable hike. In Corniglia we had some gelato, walked around the town and then boarded a train back to Monterosso. Unfortunately, the last two trails to the other towns were temporarily closed due to rock slides.

 That night we had a picnic out on the rocks during sunset and ended the night with a few drinks in old town. We were thrilled when we found an I.P.A as well as a summer ale - tasted like home and summer nights at Terrapin.

Our third day in Monterosso we spent laying on the beach, swimming and jumping off rocks into the ocean. It felt like the perfect summer day and I couldn’t have been happier. We had planned to take the boat and/or train to the other two towns that evening for dinner but unfortunately I started to feel under the weather late in the afternoon, and we didn’t quite make it.

Cinque Terre is definitely somewhere I will return. It was a perfect place to relax, as well as be adventurous, eat great food and it isn’t overly crowded. We debated staying another night, but in the end we headed to Florence early on Friday morning. I’ll write about Florence tomorrow, but for now we are on the train headed to the Amalfi Coast to Positano - another one of the places I am most excited for. 

Love from the train somewhere between Rome and Napoli,

Emily & Drew

Switzerland! -- Lucerne & Interlaken

Right now (when I started to write this...) I am sitting in my bed in Interlaken looking out of the window to the Swiss Alps that surround this town like a walled fortress. During these past several days in Lucerne and Interlaken, Switzerland I’ve been surrounded by some of the most beautiful, picturesque scenery of my life.

On Monday, we arrived at the train station in Paris around 11 a.m. after missing our 6 a.m. train ride to Lucerne. We weren’t too concerned because there were 24 other trains leaving for Lucerne from Paris that day. Our care-free attitudes quickly took a downward spiral when the lady at the ticket counter told us there was no possible way to get to Lucerne, or any city in Switzerland, for at least two more days. This began one of our first real mishaps of the trip. Our hostel in Lucerne was already booked and paid for, and we had no where to stay in Paris. We spent the next six hours in Gare de Lyon trying to find a way to make it, even if we had to go through multiple cities. Around 4 o’clock we thought we had it figured out and had routed a way through Strasbourg to a small city in Switzerland and finally to Lucerne. The train to Strasbourg left in 20 minutes and we rushed to the ticket counter with lifted sprits and hopes that we would make it. Unfortunately, the train we were ready to hop on was at a different station on the other side of Paris. After a day of stressful planning and re-routing we decided it was time to find a place to stay that night so we weren’t left sleeping on a bench in the park. As an after thought, being “stranded” in Paris isn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened. We booked a room in Paris and made our way to the hotel. We ended up having one of our best meals yet at restaurant that was on top of a hill overlooking the city. It was a beautiful way to wrap up our Paris-stay. 

The next morning we hopped on a train at 7 a.m. to Nancy, France, and then changed trains and went to Strasbourg. From Strasbourg we rode to Basel, Switzerland and finally boarded a train to Lucerne. Although it was a hectic and long day of travel, it felt good to have figured out a way to get to Lucerne all on our own, and with taking the long way we were treated with beautiful scenery of the French countryside as well as our first glimpses of the Alps. 

The day we arrived in Lucerne was a beautiful, sunshine-filled day. We had wonderful pizza and pasta at a small Italian restaurant near the lake, took a nap at our new home for the next two nights, and ended the night having a couple drinks at an Irish pub on the lake. 

The next day we had a hike planned, but to our dismay it was raining - I am surprised the whole continent of Europe is not flooded by now. Our response to a bump in our plans was to bar hop all day which was an adventure on its own.

In the morning we decided to commit to the hike we had been denied even if the weather was not ideal. When we woke up it was a little cloudy, but no rain! We packed up, locked our stuff up in the lockers at the train station, and boarded the boat that took us on an hour-long scenic ride to the base of Mt. Rigi. From there, we took a mountain train up the mountain with incredible views of the mountains and lake below. 

All of a sudden, to our surprise, this was our view out of the window.

We were obviously underprepared for a full on blizzard, but we zipped our jackets and put our hoods up and hopped out into the snow. It was a crazy feeling going from sunshine and greenery to literally above the clouds in the snow. We walked up to the peak of the mountain and enjoyed the view.

We decided to walk down the mountain farther and had quite the adventure slipping and sliding through the snow, throwing snowballs and looking down at the lake and towns below. Drew got some great footage on his GoPro camera which he had strapped to his chest during our time on the mountain. I’ll see if I can upload that on here or to Facebook. After an exciting day we took the mountain train to the bottom and all of a sudden we were back in the sunshine and snow-free environment.

We hopped back on the boat, went to the train station and headed to Interlaken! Our time in Interlaken used as our recuperating time. We had planned to go paragliding or hang gliding, but it rained the whole time so we used the time to rest, read and do some more travel planning. The third night we moved hostels and it was one of the best hostels we’ve been so far. We had a balcony with a nice view, free breakfast and a short walk from the main town. We also were able to do laundry for free. We were like giddy little kids in candy shop when we were folding our clean clothes. After traveling every few days and living out of suitcase, I guess it’s the little things. 

Overall, Switzerland was beautiful, relaxing, and full of adventure. The only downside was the high price. It is definitely the most expensive place we will travel, so having our money go a lot farther in Italy has been nice so far. 

I'm putting my Switzerland album on Facebook tonight so look our for that. Next post -- Venice!

Love to my friends & family!

Emily