Amalfi & Cinque Terre

After Ischia I took a very dangerous bus ride to Atrani on the Amalfi coast where I met up with Maya and Hillary (friends from Santa Cruz)!

We spent two days in Atrani and Amalfi enjoying the beautiful sights and wonderful eats of southern Italy.

Maya and Hil at dinner on our first night.

After two nights in Amalfi we headed up to Cinque Terre in Nothern Italy. Unfortunately our train was an hour late arriving in Rome so we missed our connection to La Spezia. This meant we were stranded in Rome for the night. Luckily one of the hostels I stayed at previously was right near the train station and had beds available. Stopping in Rome turned out to be a blessing in disguise because neither Maya nor Hillary had been there before. As I had spent a week there, I was able to give them a mini night tour of the city. The next day we hopped on a very early train and made it to Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre.

Manorola- the second town.

Cinque Terre (pronounced Cheen-kwa tair-uh) literally means 'Five Lands'. In Cinque Terre National Park there are 5 towns along the coastline connected by a coast trail. You can take trains between the towns, but the more beautiful, more rewarding way to see them is to hike along the 9km trail through them. So that's what we did! We were extremely lucky to hike on an overcast day because it was hot! The hike took us 5 hours including a 1 hour break in the 4th town where we enjoyed some pesto pizza.






The hike was very hilly but worth the incredible views of the coastline. At the end of the hike we rewarded ourselves with a beer and some appetizers at our favorite restaurant (with our favorite blue-eyed waiter) in the nothern-most town of Monterosso.



After 5 amazing days together I had to say goodbye to Maya and Hillary. They made their way to Switzerland and I to England. It was an incredible week together and I am so thankful we were able to meet up. Being with the girls made my last 4 months feel like a dream. Now that they're gone, I feel like being with them was a dream! Traveling life is so different from everyday life and being with friends from home, living normal lives (aka working) reminded me just how crazy a journey I am on, and how lucky and glad I am to have the opportunity to see so many amazing sights and meet so many amazing people.
But I miss you all sooooo much! I can't wait to see you in December. Muah!

pictures! http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2885088017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Rome & Ischia

After almost a month in Croatia I deflated my raft and flew back to Italy. I went to Rome where I met up with Alli! (friend from Santa Monica for those of you who don't know who I'm referring to). Alli and her friend Kylie had been traveling throughout Europe for a few weeks and our paths met in Rome... as we learned on our tour of the Vatican.. all roads lead to Rome! Alli and I toured the Vatican City including St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel! It was beautiful! Sadly we only had one day and two nights together before Alli and Kylie flew back to the states... to real life.

Alli and I in the Vatican City

I spent a week in Rome seeing all the sights. It amazed me to see buildings sooo old. I can't believe they were able to build such amazing structures so long ago with none of the resources we have today.

One night in Rome I was caught in a torrential down pour. It began right as I got to Trevi Fountain- a 30 minute walk from my hostel. I hopped into a pizza joint to grab some dinner and hopefully wait out the worst of it. When it became clear that the storm was not going to let up anytime soon I asked for a trash bag. The owners of the pizzeria were extremely rude when serving all their rain drenched customers (including me), but when they watched me poke holes in the trash bag they were delighted. It seems that nobody in Italy has ever thought of using a trash bag as a poncho. Everyone in the pizzeria applaued when I put the bag on and everyone I passed on the streets stared, pointed and exclaimed about my ingenious idea. Eventually I made it home... drenched and cold.
After Rome I spent a few days on the island of Ischia. After 4 months of travelling, I experienced my first illness (I blame the rainstorm in Rome). Wasn't so bad, just a cold.
Sunset on Ischia

The island of Ischia is off the coast of Naples and it is where the Italians go for vacation. It is covered in natural thermal hot springs. The first night I went out to dinner with 3 girls from Paris and a girl from London. We had a lovely dinner and became good friends.
The next day the 5 of us went to a beach with natural hot springs. It was amazing to swim in the ocean, lie on the rocks, and sit in the thermal pools. We rubbed the volcanic rock soil on our faces for a free facial. The rest of my time on Ischia was more or less just going to different beaches with Masha from London and soaking up the sun with the crazy Italian tourists.
Looking down on the thermal pools