Ahh Italy, a country where the sun never disappears and the gelato is almost as cheap as water, a welcome relief given water can often be quite expensive in Europe - choices are great!
Anyhow, this one will be a bit of a briefer blog outlining the highlights from the following cities. I've also been to Florence and Milan, which I've documented in earlier blog posts.
Rome
With only one night in this historic paradise, I was left with the excruciating decision to leave off a number of sites I'd wanted to visit. Places like the Vatican and the Trevi fountain will have to wait until next time.
But I've never been one to want to rush things. Packing everything into one day seems silly and exhausting. Combined with the fact that I had been sightseeing for some two and a half weeks prior and I was ready to take it slowly.
Besides, there was a reality tv show about choirs on and it looked interesting haha.
But boy was sacrificing a packed schedule worth it. Chopping out a number of places meant more time spent soaking in the other stuff, like the Colosseum. I walked down from my home stay and immediately reached down to pick up my jaw from the dusty ground. What a highlight, and then venturing inside and looking back up at where thousands would've sat so many centuries ago was quite the surreal feeling.
Given it was a Sunday, I also went to the Basilica di San Giovanni, where I prayed for a number of people on my heart. It's been an interesting time away from New Zealand but that never means New Zealand is far away for me.
From those two sites I left feeling sunburnt and satisfied - Rome was an outstanding success.
Florence
I will never forget the difficult journey that came courtesy of scrambling probably some of the easiest directions one would ever receive. Nevertheless, Simone - my host who waited for two and a half hours - was very accommodating and it was a particularly pleasant stay in Florence.
The main cathedral was another hat tipping moment. I was dead keen to venture inside and see what was on offer, but with a ring of people waiting to go inside I decided to be content with the exterior view.
The markets there were pretty amazing and lined with leather bags, wallets and all sorts. Given that most of the stuff is cow and calf hide, it left me wondering why I hadn't seen any of either in Italy so far. Then it clicked. I'd seen heaps, just in different forms.
Pisa
Pisa was beautiful and a night there was just what was needed. A nice walking city with some beautiful walkways, it was nice to just spend a morning relaxing and not having to worry about touristy stuff.
That had happened the afternoon of the day before, where I went to the leaning tower and was practically the only one not to try and hold up the structure. Seriously the silliest sight ever - "oh look, if it wasn't for me this tower would've crashed into the ground!" Well..
La Spezia
Stayed in a hostel with Australian Kate, in Biassa. Nestled below cinque terre, had a good chat with a Russian Kazakh called Yekrem. At least I hope that was his name.
It was nice just to look out over the valleys and relax. Not needing to ask people for directions or worrying about missing the last bus. This was peace and tranquility - one of the first times I had experienced this on the trip so far.
Portovenere
Having done the Cinque Terre I hiked up towards the top of Muzzerone to my next stay at Rifugio Muzzerone.
There were some stunning views and I was later drinking and eating with fellow traveller Maddie and American siblings Tommy, Katie and Ally. The beauty of bumping into English speakers in a non-English speaking country is there's almost an instant bond. A connection that almost puts people at ease. They are not alone in this different environment.
A rather eventful day followed, with a bus from Portovenere to Vezzano Ligure station before trains to La Spezia Centrale, Milan, Ventimiglia and Nice!
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