La Bella Vita

When we think about memories, we don't necessarily remember everything that was happening in that moment. What stands out is how we felt.

Great memories are snapshots of time when we felt great.

When you feel full of love; of life; of beauty.

When you can feel the preciousness of humanity.

When you can feel the infiniteness of possibility.

These feelings encapsulate my week in Italy. Along with the feeling of a stomach full of gelato and spaghetti ;)

Just a disclaimer: it is absolutely impossible to articulate how incredible Italy was. There really are no words. But here's my attempt at conveying la bella vita:

Part I: London

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life!"

London Eye

View of London and Westminster from London Eye

Parliament

Matt and me in Trafalgar Square in London

We started our journey in London. We had a 24-hr layover, so we decided to take advantage and see the city. We bought tickets to a hop-on hop-off tour bus, because these seem to be the best ways to see big cities. It was incredible. The thing that stood out to me the most was the grandeur of everything. Everything just had a very royal feeling to it.  The architecture was stunning. I was particularly impressed by Parliament (which is why I posted about 800 pictures of it on facebook...) And one of my most favoritest parts of the day was the London Eye. You could see everything from there! I didn't realize how big London was until we were up above it. We had a very sophisticated meal of pizza hut before heading back to the airport. We ended up sleeping on the floor of the airport because our flight was too early to get a hostel for the night. That was an experience! Not only was it a comfy slab of concrete, I'm pretty sure they had the a/c or something. Needless to say, none of us really slept. Our alarm clock went off (meaning some airport worker with a British accent making us move) around 3:30 and we waited for our flight.


The flight into Bologna was amazing. We flew over the alps as the sun was rising and of course my camera was dead! The views were really breathtaking though. I tried showing everyone else in my group but most of them were drooling and snoring, so I decided not to wake them.

Part II: Bologna
"Bologna is celebrated for producing popes, painters, and sausage."

Even just random streets had amazing architecture!

Piazza Maggiore

Matthcu et Moi a Bologna!

When we arrived in Bologna, it was apparent that none of us spoke Italian. Even trying to buy  a bus ticket was a debacle. Eventually, we made it to Bed and Breakfast a Bologna and headed out to see our first Italian city! If you've ever heard of Bolognese Sauce or Pasta a la Bolognese, then you can probably guess what Bologna is known for: its delicious food! Especially tortellini, which I just had to try! Definitely one of the best things I've ever tasted. After our first authentic Italian meal, we decided to see some of the city. Bologna was really beautiful. It was everything I pictured Italy being like. Big archways and extravagant architecture with large, open squares and statues everywhere. One church in particular was just astonishing. Unfortunately, my camera wasn't charged so I didn't take any pictures, but they wouldn't have done it justice anyway. It was enormous! After exploring the all the large monuments and churches, we decided to stop for gelato. I was in love.
We actually ended up getting lost at some point and circling the entire circumference of the city before asking for directions to our hostel. Luckily we made it back, and just in time for some Pizza Margherita! Ok, we did do other things that just eat, but this was the best pizza I had ever had! Since we hadn't really slept in two days, Bologna was an early night. The next morning, we headed off for Florence! 

Part III: Florence
"You may have the universe if I may have Italy!"

A street artist's chalk drawing. Bellisima!

The ceiling of the Duomo! Bella!

Me and Christina on top of the Duomo. The view was amazing!

I miss Italian Cappuccinos!

The outside of the Duomo

We woke up early to catch the 700 train to Florence. Matthew and I went into the bathroom to brush our teeth, and when we returned the six other people in our group had left. We figured they were probably waiting downstairs, but nobody was there. We had been ditched. So Matt and I walked to the train station to find Christina waiting there, telling us that everyone else had left. We ran to catch the train, and made it, realizing that it might be the wrong train, since all the names were in Italian. So we got off, not wanting to get more lost, and went to go find tickets. We found the ticket machine, but didn't know the Italian name for Florence. There was Fiorenzoula and Firenze... but neither really sounded convincing. We went with Firenze and crossed our fingers. When the train pulled into "Firenze" Station, we were positive it was the wrong one. No way was this Florence. We got off the train and went to find informazioni when we saw our group at the station! We had made it!


Firenze was definitely one of my favorite cities we visited. Like everywhere, the architecture was unbelievable. Everything had so much detail and was so beautiful. There were cobblestone streets, huge archways, big open squares, endless markets, tons of street artists and performers, the smell of cappuccino and gelato filling the streets. I was in heaven.


My favorite thing in all of Firenze was the Duomo. The duomo is an enormous Cathedral with a belltower, baptistry, choir area, and, of course, the dome. The Cathedral was amazing. It's one of Italy's largest churches and has the largest brick dome ever constructed.  The interior of the dome has a fresco painting of The Last Judgement. "The 24 Elders of Apoc. 4 was finished by Vasari before his death in 1574. Federico Zuccari and a number of collaborators, such as Domenico Cresti, finished the other portions: (from top to bottom) Choirs of Angels; Christ, Mary and Saints; Virtues, Gifts of the Holy Spirit and Beatitudes; and at the bottom of the cuppola: Capital Sins and Hell. These frescoes are considered Zuccari's greatest work."   The exterior is equally impressive, with painted marble panels. There are 44 stained glass windows, designed by Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Paolo Uccello and Andrea del Castagno.


After gazing at the interior de el duomo, we bought tickets to climb to the top, where there is an outdoor viewing area, which is about 300 feet high! The view was absolutely breathtaking.  It was a beautiful, clear sunny day and I felt on top of the world. There were orange rooftops that stretched for miles, with the rolling Tuscan hills in the background. I don't think I could forget the image if I tried.

Part IV: Pisa
"A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, 
from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see."

The Arno River that runs through Pisa

Torre di Pisa!

haha..

Cathedral of Pisa and The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Arno River at night

I was sad to leave Florence, but I could not wait to see Pisa! We dropped of our bags at the hostel and found the Walking Street, which was covered with shops and markets. We also went inside an impressive church, but after the Duomo it was hard to appreciate the other churches. We made it to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and found out you could climb it.. for 15 euro. It didn't seem worth it to us, so we decided to just walk around and explore Pisa a little. After leaving the Tower, there wasn't really any other tourist attractions, so we just enjoyed being in Italy. We went out for an authentic Italian dinner of spaghetti, of course. Next stop, La Spezia!

Part V: Cinque Terre
"The view was like a vision described in novels; 
a tiny town that hovered on jagged cliffs over sparkling blue water"

Manarola, the second town in the Cinque Terre

"Holy Shit, we're high!"

Vernazza, the fourth town in the Cinque Terre

The sun setting behind Monterosso

Monterosso, the last town (cinque!) of the Cinque Terre

When we had planned the hike to the Cinque Terre, I really had no idea of what to expect. I knew it wasn't a mountain, so I just assumed it was a bunch of trails or something. Wow, was I wrong. "Cinque Terre" literally means Five Lands, but it's more like five towns. We took a train into La Spezia where we dropped off our bags and headed for the Cinque Terre. There was a train into the first town, Riomaggiore, where I actually met some Bostonians!  They assured us that the Cinque Terre is definitely a hidden gem of Italy, and I couldn't wait to get there! We started on the "Via dell' Amore" or the Lover's Path, which was a walking path along the cliffs connecting two of the towns. Part of it was being renovated so we had to take a train to the second town, Manarola. Another breath-taking sea-cliff town, no big deal. Then we started for the third town, which looked like it was at the highest point of the hills. We had a map, but decided to just follow other hikers to the next town. Until we realized there were no other hikers, and we were lost. We came to a fork in the road, and decided to take the higher one. Yeahhh, bad idea.
This trail led us on the main road to somebody's driveway, at which point it told us to walk through the olive groves, which was about 4 ft wide, and we inched our way down to the trails in the woods. These trails were just slopes of rocky terrain that I must of slipped down at least 5 times. I was pretty much going down on my ass. After two hours of that ridiculous trail, we finally saw the third town! Except it wasn't the third town, it was the fouth, Vernazza. I have never been happier to see land! Apparently we had veered off the main path and had taken the difficult one. I would've never guessed!


We met up with the rest of our group in Vernazza and, you guessed it, ate more gelato. Just what we needed after that hike! It was getting dark and the last leg of the hike was supposed to be the longest and the most strenuous, so we decided to get going to avoid being on a mountain top in the dark. The first quarter of the journey was all stairs. No wonder there were defibrillators along the trail. I was drenched in sweat. We finally got to the highest point, and the view was amazing. There were blue waters as far as the eye could see. I've never seen that color blue before! We continued on the last leg of the final trail, which was mostly down steps. Very very steep steps. My knees hated me. But the view was so incredible I didn't care. We finished the trail in about an hour, and arrived just before sunset at the last town.


Waves from the Mediterranean Sea were crashing along the cliff walls, and there were hundreds of tiny houses along the cliff egde painted all sorts of bright colors. We ran down to the beach and put our feet in the water. It was still warmer than the Atlantic in midsummer! The water was crystal clear! Clearer than the drinking water in Limerick...


It was getting dark so we took the train back to La Spezia where we stayed in the most wonderful hostel! Ensuite bathroom, starbucks coffee, towels, hairdryer! It was basically a hotel, and only 30 EUR a night! My head hit the pillow and I was out like a light.


Part VI: La Spezia
"Italy, and the spring, and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy!" 

La Spezia

Rolling hills, palm trees, blue skies.. need I say more?

Down by the bay 

An interesting church in La Spezia.. we tried to go in but it was closed

Our last day in Italy. I was dreading this day the whole week. I had fallen so in love with the country and never wanted to leave! After breakfast, we decided to just walk around and see what we came across. We walked through a park and came out to the water, where the Coast Guard was stationed along with dozens of sailboats and a couple yachts. It was beautiful! The sun was up, the sky was blue, the palm trees were waving in the wind; la bella vita.
A lot of places were closed for some reason, but La Spezia was a really beautiful place to just walk around. We found a market where some nuns were giving out Chocolate for Charity. It was probably the most delicious thing I've ever tasted AND it was for a good cause. Win win. Since our flight was out of Pisa, we said farewell to La Spezia and headed towards to airport. I could not believe that this was my life. That I was in Italy! That I had spent almost a week there! The entire trip, I had to keep reminding myself "Yes, you are really in Italy!"


Homeward Bound
"just click your heels three times.."

Pisa from the plane! Ciao!

Setting up camp on the airport floor...

We had some time to kill before heading to the airport, so we pretty much just walked around and, of course, enjoying our last gelato. Our flight to London was fine, until security. I went through the metal detector, wearing a teeshirt and sweatpants, and it went off. A lady came over and started searching me, and when she put the metal detector over my pants-area, it went off again. So I was taken into a tiny booth with a curtain for a "private search", apparently thinking I was hiding weapons in body cavities or something... but after finding nothing, the lady realized that it was there were metal rings on my sweatpants where the draw strings came out. Meanwhile, Christina's bag was being torn apart by security, trail mix flying through the air. We were eventually let into London, and prepared for another night of wonderful slumber on the floor of the Stansted airport.


Then we landed in Ireland, and we were home sweet home.


I had a truly incredible week. I saw things I never thought I would see in this lifetime.
 I learned the do's and don't of backpacking.
(Do pay the extra 5 euro for a private room with ensuite bathrooms! Do not wear sweatpants to the airport OR pack trail mix in easily-breakable bags!)


 Italy was amazing, but there's something comforting about the rolling green hills of the Emerald Isle.


Next weekend: Back to London :)


Ciao!