[13] Rome, Italy
As it seems, all roads lead to Rome, and so here I am. Since I have last updated, I have visited Genoa, the Cinque Terra, and Firenze (Florence, for those of you outside of Rome). My efforts to get to Genoa were very mangled, and since the train to Genoa from Paris was cancelled, I took many very indirect trains to get there. First I took a TVG (Train Vitesse Géant? I don't know) from Paris Gare de l'Est via Mulhouse (and a few other small towns) to Basel in Switzerland. I changed some £ I had left over from Scotland in to CHF, Swiss Francs (roughly the equivalent of the Canadian $) so that I could buy dinner, and really delicious Swiss Chocolates. Sorry, there are none left.
Then I booked onto a night train from Basel to Florence. The train ride was good until Bern, because I had a six person compartment to myself. Then an American family from Dallas boarded the train. There were two children, a boy and girl (18 and 21) and the girl's friend, and the mother. The girls were so incredibly annoying, complaining about everything from free breakfast (I did not have to wander around Florence trying to find something) to the heat of the compartment (that is what happens when you sleep fully clothed, and don't drink enough water). The brother did not complain, and seemed embarrassed to be travelling with them. I was too, but then again, I was not a member of the family. The mother had a lot of questions (many people not travelling alone themselves are surprised I am travelling alone!) about my trip, but generally tolerated her daughters princess-ness.
From Florence I took a train to Pisa, then transferred onto an IC from Pisa to Genoa. ICs stop in nearly all cities in between, and there are many cities in between. When I arrived in Genoa, I took the bus to the hostel and got settled there. The HI hostel is at the end of bus #40, at the top of a long winding road uphill. It has a beautiful view of the harbour. I spend the following day exploring the labyrinth that is Genoa, and bought some pants/capris that are also now too big (will need to buy an Italian leather belt maybe) and a skirt at H&M, and a tank top at Promod. The city of Genoa is beautiful, and there are many picturesque sites down many roads that are as narrow as rabbit burrows.
The next day I took the train to Riomaggiore, where I started to hike the Cinque Terra. The Cinque Terra is a UNESCO world heritage site spread out between five fishing villages. It takes about6 hours to hike continuously between each villages (it is up and down, up and down, along a high and cliff-filled coast lin). I did not finish the hike from Vernazzo to Montorosso, as it was late, and the rain was getting bad. There were a lot of rocky "beaches" along the way pack with tourists in two pieces, or wearing board shorts.
PHOTOS:
1. View of my seat and compartment on the train from Paris to Mulhouse; 2. View from my hostel room in Genoa. It's a beautiful blue day; 3. View from road in Genoa (it actually over looks the city, and I'm not quite how it works). Can you see the moped?; 4. Coastline trail of Cinque Terra; 5. Cat from Cinque Terra hike; 6. View of Vernazza on Cinque Terra hike at sunset and after a huge storm; 7. Duomo in Firenze; 8. Shopping in Firenze with friends from Greece; 9. First Aid officials in Firenze outside the Ufuzzi gallery; 10. View of Forum Romanum (near the Rostra); 11. Flavian Ampitheatre, aka the Colosseum; 12. Roman soldier speaking in sign language to a tourist near the Colosseum Metro stop.
Then I booked onto a night train from Basel to Florence. The train ride was good until Bern, because I had a six person compartment to myself. Then an American family from Dallas boarded the train. There were two children, a boy and girl (18 and 21) and the girl's friend, and the mother. The girls were so incredibly annoying, complaining about everything from free breakfast (I did not have to wander around Florence trying to find something) to the heat of the compartment (that is what happens when you sleep fully clothed, and don't drink enough water). The brother did not complain, and seemed embarrassed to be travelling with them. I was too, but then again, I was not a member of the family. The mother had a lot of questions (many people not travelling alone themselves are surprised I am travelling alone!) about my trip, but generally tolerated her daughters princess-ness.
From Florence I took a train to Pisa, then transferred onto an IC from Pisa to Genoa. ICs stop in nearly all cities in between, and there are many cities in between. When I arrived in Genoa, I took the bus to the hostel and got settled there. The HI hostel is at the end of bus #40, at the top of a long winding road uphill. It has a beautiful view of the harbour. I spend the following day exploring the labyrinth that is Genoa, and bought some pants/capris that are also now too big (will need to buy an Italian leather belt maybe) and a skirt at H&M, and a tank top at Promod. The city of Genoa is beautiful, and there are many picturesque sites down many roads that are as narrow as rabbit burrows.
The next day I took the train to Riomaggiore, where I started to hike the Cinque Terra. The Cinque Terra is a UNESCO world heritage site spread out between five fishing villages. It takes about6 hours to hike continuously between each villages (it is up and down, up and down, along a high and cliff-filled coast lin). I did not finish the hike from Vernazzo to Montorosso, as it was late, and the rain was getting bad. There were a lot of rocky "beaches" along the way pack with tourists in two pieces, or wearing board shorts.
PHOTOS:
1. View of my seat and compartment on the train from Paris to Mulhouse; 2. View from my hostel room in Genoa. It's a beautiful blue day; 3. View from road in Genoa (it actually over looks the city, and I'm not quite how it works). Can you see the moped?; 4. Coastline trail of Cinque Terra; 5. Cat from Cinque Terra hike; 6. View of Vernazza on Cinque Terra hike at sunset and after a huge storm; 7. Duomo in Firenze; 8. Shopping in Firenze with friends from Greece; 9. First Aid officials in Firenze outside the Ufuzzi gallery; 10. View of Forum Romanum (near the Rostra); 11. Flavian Ampitheatre, aka the Colosseum; 12. Roman soldier speaking in sign language to a tourist near the Colosseum Metro stop.
