Italian Adventures!

I'm finally back from my 12 day tour of Italy and because there's just so much to talk about I'm going to make TWO posts.

Cinque Terre

Happy faces packing for our hike

We started our journey in Cinque Terre, an area on the north west coast of Italy with 5 small fishing towns connected by trains and hiking trails. It was absolutely amazing. Our first night was spent in Levanto, the city just north of Cinque Terre where we were really excited to try our hand at camping. Though it seemed like a good idea at the time, I'm not sure its an experience I want to repeat. Though we did borrow a tent from a friend, we only had two sleeping bags for four people. I don't know how good your math is, but even with two measly fleece blankets, all that really adds up to is: not quite warm enough. Clearly we didn't think that one all the way through until it was too late, but the good news is that it was only for one night, and we did enjoy chatting and giggling late into the night about the ridiculous the situation.

After a great night of sleep in the tent we hiked into the first town in Cinque Terre: Monterosso. It was an amazing three hour hike with beautiful views of the Italian coast. Though the terrain was rather rugged and we had packs that must have weighed 1000 pounds, it was probably one of my favorite experiences of the whole trip and now I have beastly leg muscles.

Up the stairs we go!

We stayed in Riomaggiore, the southern most town of Cinque Terre. We spent our days hiking up the hilly trails, visiting all the towns, and relaxing on the rocky coast.

Before heading to Rome we spent the night in La Spezia, a cute little town, but not a tourist destination. There was great shopping and this delicious frozen yogurt place. We only stayed one night, but went to the yogurt place twice for a melted dark chocolate and strawberry covered treat. From La Spezia we were off to Rome!