The Final Week

Well, this is being posted (and written) much longer than originally expected, but written nonetheless!  As most of you know, our final days were cut short–thanks easyJet, but more on that later.  Monday May 3, Katie’s parents arrived right on time after spending a few days “down south” in Sorrento and Capri.  They checked into Santa Chiara and we did some exploring.  At dinner, the cooks came out and had a standing ovation from all the students.  Everyone went out to Regiro’s one last time because all the Aggies on the group flight (which was most) had to be at the bus by 1 am.  Everyone said their goodbyes, and our RC, Jen, raised a toast (of 26 shots!) saying goodbye to our “friends from Texas.”

The next day we went to Pienza in the morning rain and fog.  The fog lifted and the rain stopped as we made our way through the small town (again).  We stopped into one of the cheese shops, and Mr. and Mrs. Bodolus bought a few of the famous pecorino cheeses.  There was a flower festival going on, so the squares had been transformed from the last time we saw them.  Sadly, the place with the word’s best lasagna we tried to make our way back to was closed–for another large group.  We made our way from Pienza to Siena.

Katie and I took her parents around one of our favorite cities as rain fell off and on.  They climbed the tower as we waited in the wet Campo down below.  We missed the duomo by a few minutes which was a big disappointment in addition to all the rain that made sun bathing on the slopes of our favorite square (il Campo) impossible, but we stuck around till Nonna Gina opened, for our last amazing meal there; we even ordered the Gnocchi twice (once for desert).  We made our way back to CF for the night; as crazy as it is watching cars in Italy, it is of course even crazier being in one!

We left CF the next morning for good bound for the Verazzano winery in the Chianti region south of Florence.  Fog again plagued us.  The winnery tour was very enjoyable, and the tasting was even better.  There were only 4 other people on the tour besides us.  We all polished off about 5 bottles of wine, but the Texans got the better “half.”  Just before we left, the fog rose affording us the view of the rolling hills of vineyards sloping away in every direction from the castle where we toured the cellars and missed the view for the fog.  In Florence, we did a walking tour from our hotel near Santa Maria Novella (the northern edge) south to the Arno river and the overview at Michelangelo park, and the next day, we took shelter from the rain inside the Duomo and then climbed it.  Being right under the frescoes as the top of the dome instead of 200 feet below them made the stories they tell really come to life.  The outside of the very top of the dome was absolutely packed.  After we descended, we took off for two nights in Cinque Terre.

We spent both the nights in Vernazzo because Katie and I liked it the most when we went a month before.  Rain continued to fall off and on, and all the trails were closed with the exception of the short Via della Amore, so we explored all the towns by train.  I had hopped, it would be sunnier, warmer, and calmer seas than when Katie and I were there a month ago so that I may swim, but it was all the opposite–the seas were violent, and churned up the water even more, we seemed to find even more friendly neighborhood cats though.

After our two nights, we made our way north to Switzerland which was about a 5 hour drive.  Fortunately, this is where we had some of the best weather of the last couple weeks.  Driving through the Alps was amazing, and the recent rains left us with so many huge towering waterfalls of all shapes and sizes that probably would not have been there without the rains.  The last leg of our journey was done by a small train ride over just a few miles as no cars are allowed in the dead end town of Zermatt, which sits in the shadow of Europe’s famous peak–the Matterhorn which is not the tallest point in the Alps, but the most recognizable.  The town is a ski town in winter and a hiking/biking town in summer–similiar to so many mountain towns we have here in the US, but I couldn’t help compare it with Telluride because of their both being a box canyon with one way in/out and how fancy and expensive everything is along with the size of the ski area.  We did an awesome 1.5 hour hike up around a thousand feet above the town to a 200 year old village with Swiss Alp views of the Matterhorn.  We quenched our thirst back at the bottom with a bottle from Verazzano, and our stomachs with some Swiss fondu.  We did a shorter hike in the crisp morning before leaving for Stressa mid-day.  Of course, once we crossed back into Italy, the rains returned dampening our views and spirits on Lake Maggiore.

The next morning Katie’s parents dropped us off at the nearby Milan airport on their way to Venice.  Katie and I were there quite early, and of course our 1:30 flight to Madrid was delayed an hour, and then 30 minutes and then another 15 minutes, then we finally started to pass through the ticket checker at the gate only to be stopped short of leaving the gate where some of us on one side of the security waited and the rest waited on the other side.  Tempers increased, and we were finally informed that easyJet did not know where the crew to our plane was.  This all was made more difficult for us not speaking Italian or Spanish, but some other irate passenger helped us out.  Eventually the flight was cancelled to no one’s surprise leaving everyone helpless because easyJet had no employees at the Milan airport, so everything has to be done over the internet of which there is none at the Milan airport.  After collecting our checked luggage, we evaluated our options and decided that the cost of getting to Spain in addition to possible foreseeable problems there with the volcano acting up and already shutting down Portugal airspace was too high, so we decided to cut our losses and explore ways to get home as soon as possible.  My Mom got our tickets transferred to a BA flight to London that evening, and the following morning we got on an AA triple 7 to cross the Atlantic, and arrived home early afternoon, so we have still Never been to Spain…and our “trip” ended somewhat surprising and abruptly, but we got back in time to see Jerry Jeff in Gruene–haha.

Since being home, we have eaten untold quantities of Mexican food, seen JJW from the 4th row in Gruene Hall, been to my buddy’s lake house in East Texas, been to College Station and ordered our Aggie Rings–Whoop!, I have run the Devil’s River of west Texas with my Dad, floated the Guadalupe, gone sailing out of Kemah with Katie’s parents and a pod of dolphins, and we are going to see Robert Earl Keen at home in Aggieland this Friday–Whoop!  It feels good to be home and doing such Texan things, but it was an amazing and eye opening experience, so thanks again to all who helped and followed along.

Thanks and Gig em’

Matthew and Katie

Arrivederci Castiglion Fiorentino

This weekend was our last in Castiglion, we all spent a lot of time together this weekend; we went to the carnival which is like a smaller version of St. Ann’s back in Coppell but has the most dangerous and most fun bumper cars of all time in addition to another ride that consist of a giant wheel platform with a bench encircling it but there are no seats/seat belts/requirements/rules, the platform spins, jolts, and rocks, so it is basically a game of see how long you can stand and not get hurt (one kid busted his eye open).  It was arguably one of the most fun rides I have ever been on, and it lasted nearly 10 minutes!  We went to Reggiro’s several nights; last night was a friend’s 21 birthday and everyone was out celebrating that and the end of our stay here.  Renaldo (the owner) was kind enough to let somebody hook up their mp3 player and the Aggie War Hymn rang out with the chorus of us Aggies singing, yelling and Sawin ’em Off one more time in Italy.  Our center wide exhibition was also last night, and it went very well.  Katie and I also went to Perugia just an hour away because we had extra train tickets, so we decided to use them to see a new place.

We also forgot to write about our Muster experience in Italy which for most of us could be our only chance to experience Muster on the other side of the world from Aggieland.  It was simple ceremony held at night in our courtyard with over 50 Aggies; we did a few yells and sang the war hymn, some words were spoken about Muster and We Bleed Maroon was played as candles were passed out and lit; everyone sang along, names were read and “here”s were called.  Our tight circle softly sang the Spirit of Aggieland and the lights were extinguished.  It was one of the most moving experiences I have had as an Aggie, and I think a lot of others could say the same.  I only have a short video clip (which I cannot post) and 2 pictures, but I kept my candle.

The group leaves for Rome tonight at 1 am, and Katie’s parents should be arriving this afternoon.  We will spend the next 2 nights here, and we will explore Castiglion Fiorentino one last time, one or two Tuscan hill towns, Siena and a winery before leaving for Florence on Wednesday.  Thursday we will go to Cinque Terre for 2 days, and then on Saturday we will drive to Zermatt Switzerland and stay there Sat. night there so we can hike around the Alp’s famous Matterhorn on Sunday.  We will spend Sunday night back in Stressa Italy near the “lakes region” before Katie and I fly out Monday for 5 days in Spain and then return on May 15.  So this will probably be the last update since we will be travelling non-stop for the nearly 2 weeks, but we will still add our experiences over those 2 weeks when we get back home.

Thanks to all of you for reading along, commenting and sharing this experience with us, but there is still a little more to come…

See y’all at Anamias (I’ll be living there for a few days upon returning home) haha

Arrivederci, Matthew

San Gimignano, Siena and Rapolano

On Wednesday morning, we departed for our last class trip, an overnight to San Gimignano, Siena, and Rapolano.  This trip was the perfect getaway for us to relax and unwind after finishing our final studio projects.  About two weeks ago we had our midpoint review for our individual final projects, but due to the massive amount of requirements, an executive decision was made to form groups (with certain individuals who had the best projects at this point) to produce fewer projects with better results.  Many people, including me, had mixed feeling about this. On one hand, we had already done two group projects so to finish the semester with another would not be beneficial to our portfolios or individual improvement, yet on the other hand, with only two weeks left, there was far too much work for one person to complete.  The project incorporated our studies of the piazzas around town by removing an existing building to create a new piazza to be the center of an entertainment/arts district.  We designed the piazza itself (that had a hefty slope) and one of the buildings surrounding it.   

San Gimignano, the town of towers, is the epitome of a medieval Tuscan hill town with about 14 (of an original 80 or so) of its towers still standing.  Before city walls were developed, rich families built these towers into their homes for protection.  We visited the basilica and climbed the tallest tower (200ft).  This was probably the easiest tower climb we’ve done, with wide steel and concrete staircases and only about 230 steps.  At the top we had great views of the other towers and the medieval town below us.  We thought the large caged bell was going to ring at noon so we stuck around, but when it didn’t, Matthew stuck his arm in and started rocking the bell until it finally gave out one large “dong”.  After the tower, we had lunch at a R.S. recommended “cheap and cheery” restaurant where we ran into an aggie vet from class of ’72 with his wife and another aggie couple.  We had the white wine “Vernaccia di San Gimignano”, very tasty and sweet, and we finally got a margherita pizza with real basil leaves (we were starting to think that we’d only be able to have that once back in the US).  Lunch was descent but what really hit the spot was the grande world famous gelato we picked up at Gelateria di Piazza.  Matthew and I each got three different flavors and split-zubaione (made with egg, wine, and sugar that tasted like eggnog), grapefruit champagne, passionfruit, cinnamon, coconut and tiramisu-and all were extremely delicious.  We got back on the bus to go to Siena for the night. 

Once we got to Siena (only about 45 minutes away) we had a short walk to our hotel where we checked in and then had the rest of the afternoon/evening/night to ourselves.  Matthew and I decided to head to Il Campo to sit and sketch for a few hours.  I think we’d both agree this is our favorite piazza in Italy (and now we could experience it in the evening, a R.S. recommended activity).  We sat there for a few hours, until the sun set, then hit up a nearby grocery store for the usual wine and cheese snacks before dinner.  We met Dr. Wagner and the rest of our small group in the lobby at 8:30 to walk to Nona Gina’s (same place we ate last time in Siena, and recommend to anyone).  We walked through the Campo on our way and there were still several people out.  At Nona Giana’s we all had the cheese stuffed gnocchi with secret pesto sauce (and wanted more), and veal with a mustard spread.  Since it was Aubrie’s birthday, I snuck back into the kitchen to ask the waiter to bring out a tiramisu once we finished eating.  The waiter brought it out and we all sang “tanti aguri a te”, then each individually ordered a bowl.  Just like last time, they brought out complimentary grappa and amara (amaretto).  We were the last ones to leave the restaurant, around 10:30, so we headed back to the campo to hang out at a bar.  We ended up sitting outside this bar sharing stories and chatting (mainly with Dr. Wagner) until they started stacking chairs and putting our tables away (around 2:30). 

The next morning we got up, checked out and headed back to the bus to go to Rapolano, natural thermal mineral baths outside of Siena.  When we entered the facility we were hit like a punch with the sulfur smell and instantly hoped it would go away or we would get used to it.  The place had several pools, a couple indoors and four or five outside, some warmer than others, but none “hot”.  It was such a beautiful day that spending five hours there didn’t seem like it would be a problem.  It was the most relaxing five hours we could have spent, especially with our projects finished and out of our minds. 

Katie

Sicily

Last weekend (the 22^nd) we went flew out of Rome to Palermo, Sicily.  We checked into our bed and breakfast late Thursday evening, and the owner Claudio met us with much enthusiasm as he checked us into the largest room we have had in Europe.  He gave us a brief history of his city for which his passion really showed, he spoke very good English!  He also pointed out 3 of his favorite places to eat; starving, we set out for one right around the corner from our place in the heart of Palermo.  We sampled the local staples of Caponata—a kind of warm salad of sautéed eggplant, artichokes and olives in a tomato sauce.  Our main course of a full squid stuffed with bread batter and then grilled was awesome.

The following morning, Claudio laid out breakfast for us which wasn’t much, but no Italian breakfast ever is.  We were confused by the green like honey like substance that was set before us, but to our surprise it was very sweet and creamy.  Claudio informed us it is Pistachio cream.  After breakfast we went out to explore Palermo.  The city is one of the most conquered in the world and therefore has so many varieties of architecture, but none seem to be related to the mainland.  Palermo feels like a different country, it may have more in common with North Africa than Italy.

While touring the famous Norman areas of Palermo, we stopped off for some Granita (invented in Sicily) and that is when the rain started falling.  After the shower passed, we kept moving, and then the sun even came out for the first time, so we decided to hurry back to the hotel to get bathing suits and head for Palermo’s playground beach at Mondello—a 20 minute bus ride away.

The sprawling beach was deserted with the exception of us and a handful of people.  The sun had retreated and wind had set in—the water was cold, and we were near chilly forcing ourselves to lay down in the sand; I didn’t even swim, but I would have if the sun was out.  We headed back to Palermo in disappointment hoping for better weather.  Our first day in Sicily really was like going out of the country.  Palermo is run down, trashed in shambles, but it is alive and it has this character that you cannot put your finger on, but it makes you see past all the trash on the street of the neglected city, and aside from that—Palermo does have its jewels.

We woke up early Saturday to rain for our 6 am bus west to Scapello on some of Sicily’s best shores.  When we got off the bus at 9:30 it was pouring down rain, and we considered hopping back on to go back to Palermo, but it pulled away and we were stuck without shelter; the town is nothing more than a few buildings clustered around a square.  We took brief shelter in the open bar, and as the rain lightened we ventured down the steep trail to the sea where it continued to be dreary, but even worse because of the beautiful clear Hawaiian like waters which were doing nothing more teasing us.  We found a small hidden cove which took us 10 minutes of boulder climbing to discover.  We spend the next few hours there sheltered from the wind and the rains would come and go.  I wanted to swim so bad, but getting out of the cold waters there would be no refuge.  I actually felt kind of homeless this day.  We got a bus back to nearby and much larger Castellemmare del Golfo where we had a hour layover before our bus back to Palermo.  We explored the town famous for its mafia connections.  It is the birthplace of some of America’s most powerful mob bosses, and at one point 1 in 4 men in the town had committed murder.  That said it was extremely charming and not only the cleanest town in Sicily, but one of the cleanest in Italy—probably from all the “dirty” money flowing through-haha.  When the bus did not come at the bus stop, we rechecked the schedule to see the small fine print Italian reading that the bus we planned on catching back to Palermo only runs May through August, and there were no more buses today.  We were devastated, but a bus driver nearby helped us out with his broken English, informing us that there was a 5:50 pm train leaving for Palermo at the station just outside of town where his bus was going, so that is what we ended up doing.

We had dinner on Piazza Marina down near the Palermo water; this seems to be the place to be for dinner—the area was packed with people inside and out; we ate outside and had a true Sicilian piazza—packed with meat of course.  Just after leaving, the skies opened and it poured; without an umbrella, we just accepted the fact that we were going to be drenched by the time we fought our way with the scampering crowd back to our B&B.  A puppy dog faced dog we paid a moment of attention to followed us back for 10 minutes before becoming lost himself in the crowd.

The following morning we woke up to sun and heat—the way Palermo is supposed to be, just as it was time for us to leave; we said our goodbye’s to Claudio and spent an hour or so exploring the Arab quarter of town we had not yet seen before seeing nearby the Piazza Marina where we had dinner by daylight.  We discovered the second largest street in town was closed for a huge market which was a shock considering how much chaotic traffic typically moves down Via Roma, and as chaotic as traffic is in Italy, it is 10 times as extreme in Palermo.  The bus ride along the coast to the airport outside of town was almost depressing as we starred out to the sun baked beaches and water that we had missed, and the colossal amount of work that waited for us back in Castiglion Fiorentino to finish our massive final group projects by Wednesday morning at 7am, but Sicily took our minds away for a few days; although the weather hammered us.

Matthew

Montepulciano and Pienza

On Wednesday we took a bus to the town of Montepulciano, famous for it’s delicious wine (the wine we buy bulk actually comes from this area).  We visited the sanctuary of San Biagio, a renaissance style church with a Greek  cross plan.  We were only there for about an hour before we hopped back on the bus and headed to Pienza, the first example of the ideal renaissance city.  We took the scenic route (from where the bus dropped us off to the center of town) and got some amazing views of the Tuscan valley and surrounding hills in the distance.  We visited Palazzo Piccolomini, the first ever “planned” square surrounded by the town hall, the church, and the Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) summer residence palace.  We toured the palace and visited the garden, where we soaked up the sun and views until it was time for lunch.

Lunch was by far the best part of the day, with five courses, bottomless wine, and all on Texas A&M!  We started the meal off with pieces of bread loaded with an assortment of garlicy, mushroom toppings.  The next course was the ever famous, extremely cheesy lasagna; different from typical lasagna in that it was cheese based with no tomato sauce and little meat.  Paolo had told us it would be the best lasagna we’ve ever had, which is quite a statement and with that it even exceeded our expectations.  Even the RCs were saying that they came back to be RCs just for this very meal.  After the lasagna came three different meats; sausage, chicken and beef with a side salad and french fries.  Desert perfectly completed the meal with tasty tiramisu.  After lunch, and feeling very good on wine we sat outside in the main piazza and sketched.  Before we left we picked up some gelato to top off the already enormous ammount of food consumed at lunch.  We’ve developed four stomach compartments while living over here-wine (the largest), food, desert, and gelato.  On our way back to the bus we stopped in a local cheese market and purchased some of the oldest cheese I’ve ever seen.  The UTSA professors were raving about how good it was and if you can even find it in the US, how unbelievably expensive it is (they bought an entire wheel of the stuff).  We had ours the past couple couple of nights with wine and it was very good, like a combination of parmesan, sharp cheddar, and blu cheese.

Katie

Cortona

We visited Cortona this past Wednesday.  The town is just 5 miles south of here up a lot higher on a hillside than our town.  We started our trip at the Church of Santa Maria della Grazie which is just halfway up the hill to the town.  The renaisance church was built more as a temple on the spot of a Madonna painted on a wall that was said to produce miracles centuries ago.  The orginial Madonna is on the altar of the church.  The church was built on the geometric principle of the golden mean ratio with is 1:1.618…This is a geometric realization of the harmonics of music, and thus greates an amazing acoustical wonder.  Paulo demonstrated first.  He then pointed to me of 45 people and asked me to hold a note while he held a note a step up.  You only need to make the sound for a moment, but the notes ring out as if you are belting them out till your face turns blue.  I do not have much interest in Opera, but it would be quite something to here one in this building.

From there, our bus took us the rest of the way up thankfully where we met our guide born and raised in Cortona; however, the first thing he told us that he is proud to say his wife is from DALLAS, TX–a chorus of Whoops followed.  He described the historical importance of Cortona as a major power in Tuscany and their rival and inferior neighbors of Umbria.  Standing on the 19th century promenade a the base of town just outside the city walls provides a commanding view over the border just to the south that divides Tuscany and Umbria; we could see a piece of Lake Trasimeno, and a silouted peninsula jutting out that was Castiglione del Lago where we visited several weeks ago.  The valley in between is where it is believed that the Romans were ambushed by the famous armies of Hannible and suffered 15,000 dead.

We walked into the city wall; Cortona is where a lot of Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed and has wildly increaed its popularity as a tourist destination; however, it is a perfect example of a Tuscan Hilltop town with its entire city wall still standing.  We listened to our guide in the town square which has been a part of the city since Roman times, evidenced by Roman walls and foundations under the ground.  We went to the Etruscan museum to see some of these Roman ruins along with Etruscan ruins which were from B.C.  It has now been confirmed that Cortona has been around since 7th century B.C., and was a major center during Etruscan times.  Ruins are still being excavated all around the surrounding area of Cortona, and all the artifacts are brought to the museum under the present day city including one of the three Etruscan documents found in the world–written right to left on bronze; the language has is pre Latin but has hints of latin and has been transcribed as a contract.  The contract is now broken litterally.  Katie and I had lunch at an awesome little pizzeria; and the pizza with balls of spinich and ricotta was one of the best we have had.  Back with the group, we set out to the church of Santa Margherita named after that famous drink as Dr. Wagner said; we were all excited beacuse we of course figured we would be able to get one inside-haha! But, it was closed.  We made the short jump to the fort, also closed, on edge of the city walls at the top of town; the view wasn’t closed.

We had a 20 minute hike over the other side of the hill and down into a secluded rivine with towering pines and a rushing creek; we were entering an original Fransican monestary founded by Francis of Assisi 800 years ago and still active with seven monks.  It was the most peaceful place I have come by in Italy; although we joked that all the monks were up the hill a little ways floating down the creek in tubes trying to keep their wine out of the water as they approach the “chute” that ran through the monestary.  One of the monks gave us a “behind the scenes” tour that not many people get to take.  When we left he gave every single person CD’s–professionaly produced of his “monk Chrisitan rock.”  He used to be a rock muscian before becoming a monk and the elders insited he continued his passion.  It took us about 45 minutes to hike down the hill to the bus; all along a primitve trail.  It was an enjoyable hike, but downright hot; I am glad we didn’t have to walk up the hill.

Matthew

Cinque Terre and Pisa

For Easter weekend we visited Cinque Terre National Park.  We figured with the extra day off (Monday) that this would be the perfect getaway place for an extended weekend to just explore and relax.  We left early Friday morning to start making our way to the string of towns located on the West coast.  We arrived in Riomaggiore (the first of the five towns) around noon and as we got off the train we were only steps from the cliffs and waves pounding the rocks below us.  We checked into our little room, up some ridiculously steep, code breaking stairs-it was like rock climbing, a wonder how they even got the furniture into our room.  After setting in we picked up some delicious slices of focaccia pizza, a four cheese and a pesto.  Local specialties include this focaccia bread, anchovies, original pesto, and vino from the region.  With our lunch in hand we started the walk to the next town over, called Manarola, connected by a cliff hugging trail with incredible views.  Part of the trail is called Via dell ‘Amore, a famous spot where lovers close locks on railings and toss the keys to the water below (we’ve found it to be a huge fad in Italy, anywhere there’s alot of water, you’ll see locks).  After only about twenty minutes we were in the next town on the water.  We walked around the cliffs and got some amazing views and pictures of the entire town and it’s cove.  It was a really nice, sunny day and several people were laying out on the rocks but no swimmers, I think the water was a bit rough and still too cold.  We walked away from the water, deeper into the town where we visited the wine museum and learned all about the famous white wine and sciacchetra (a sweet, strong white desert wine) of the region.  Next, we let Rick Steeves guide us up to the town square with a tower and church, then around along the terraced hillside where a local displays wooden holliday figures on the hill.  Some figures remain year round and are lit up at night time.  We visited the seaside cemetary and had more amazing views of the town.  Apparently if no one is paying for a body to be in there they “recycle” after about a generation, moving the unclaimed bones to a communal grave.  On our way out of town we picked up some gelato and started back to Riomaggiore.  Once back on Via dell ‘Amore, we secured our padlock that displayed our names and “Amore Eterno” (yeah, cheesy, I know) on a nearby railing and threw the keys to the water below us.  For some reason the lock came with three keys so I kept one to put in my journal-not quite sure if that’s cheating or what.  When we were back in town we went down to the water and explored the marina then layed out on the rocky local beach for a while.  On our way back to our room we picked up some pre-dinner snacks consitsing of cheese and wine.  For dinner we ate at a nearby restaurant, and as we waited for a table we watched and listened as an Easter procession made its way down the street.  We ordered a seafood platter (containing anchovies that we tried for the first and last time), pesto and a bottle of white wine-all specialties of the region (check). 

When we woke up on Saturday morning I realized I was missing my wallet with my Euros, all of my bank cards, and my ID in it.  I knew it had to be in the restaurant from the night before, so immediately we went over and asked if anything was found, but the painful answer was no.  Of course this had to be the one weekend that I travelled without the copies of everything, so instantly my only thought was to call my parents.  I left a message on the machine even though it was 3:30 in the morning for them.  I gave the restaurant the cell phone number and my name in case anything came up but without internet or cheap calls I figured my parents would be in a much better situation to take action even if it would be five hours later.  After getting a small snack for breakfast we started our walk through Manarola on to the third town, the only one located high above the water, Corniglia.  Once we saw the overly packed town bus to the top, we decided to just climb the steps up to town.  About 400 steps later (good thing we’ve been climbing towers and such) we were in the town square.  The town was small but still very beautiful with its brightly colored buildings hugging the terraces and cliffs.  We found a small restaurant that RS (Rick Steeves) recommended and split a HUGE plate of tagliatelle frutti di mare-fruit of the sea.  We used our hands to peel the large prawns and shrimp (disposing of their heads and shells in the small tableside trash bag that came with the meal), scrape the meat out of mussels and clams and whatever else needed to be done.  Putting the pasta on our plates sounded like rocks and shells rolling in with the waves at the beach.  It was alot of work, but it was delisious-a little spicy and extremely filling.  After lunch we forced yummy gelato into our bellies and walked through town to a scenic overlook.  From the terrace, up and down the coast, we could see the other towns in the distance , their buildings hugging the rocks so as not to be let out to sea.  We left Corniglia and started the hike back to Manarola and on through to Riomaggiore.  Once we got back I had some things to deal with regaurding my missing cards.  I squared everything up at the park office (internet spot) and all the weight was lifted from my shoulders.  Bank of America said I would recieve my new cards at Santa Chiara within two weeks, and I’m holding them to it.  For dinner we hiked up the hill, above town to a very nice restaurant where we split lobster ravioli and pesto dishes.  Afterwards, we ventured to the nightlife “hot spot” in town and actually ran into two guys from UTSA (we didn’t know their names but recognized them from the program at Santa Chiara).  With the exception of my lost goods, this day was an amazing way to spend our one and a half year anniversary together. 

On Sunday we got up and “checked out” by leaving the keys on the table, and made our last trip down the highly dangerous cliff-stairs.  I checked the restaurant where I left my wallet once more, but still nothing had come up.  We got to the train station and hopped on a train just before it pulled out, but instead of taking us to Corniglia so we could hike the trail to Vernazza, it took us straight through to the last town, Monterosso.  It turned out alright though because we explored Monterosso, and opened up time on Monday.  This town had two parts, the old part and the new part, and we explored the old, less touristy section.  This is the largest town, the only flat one and the only one with a large sandy beach.  We saw an Easter mass going on in a nearby church and hiked up to an old monestary.  After visiting a couple shops we were on our way to Vernazza.  The section of trail between these two towns is the most difficult and with my laptop in my already overly stuffed backpack, we stopped often to catch our breaths on the uphill portion.  We climbed up what seemed to be an unneccasary hill, seeing as Vernazza is also located down on the water.  At some points we couldn’t see the water but it was still a beautiful hike.  After about an hour and a half we were greeted with stunning views of the town and its breakwater below us.  We found our room, a little hike above the town square, with a balcony and incedible views of town and the water.  We ditched our backpacks and went back down to the water for lunch.  We sat outside under brightly colored umbrellas and shared a tasty pizza and you guessed it, more pesto.  After lunch we grabbed some snack for later (more cheese and wine), and headed back to our room for a nap.  My two hour nap hit the spot, especially since the previous two nights were rough with a furniture making/moving company doing business during all hours.  We couldn’t ever figure out what was going on or whether the noise was coming in from the ceiling, floor, walls, or just everywhere.  When we got up we enjoyed the Vino della Cinque Terre and some local cheese while we watched Seinfeld.  For dinner we went to a small place on the square and split more pesto.  For desert we swung in a small bar and tried a glass of the Sciacchetra and wished we had an entire bottle. 

Monday morning we woke up and ransacked the free condiments/snacks at our place and created a picnic that we enjoyed on the balcony with not a single cloud in the sky.  Our easter cake, crackers with jam and nutella, and instant coffee hit the spot.  We packed up and took one last trip down to the water and up to the castle tower between the town and the water.  Atop the tower we had stunning 360 degree views of the entire town and the water.  Because it was such a beautiful day we decided to stop in Pisa on our way back to Castiglion.  From La Spezia we took the only train that was leaving within the next two hours, a Eurostar Inner City bound for Rome but stopping in Pisa, which we didn’t have tickets for.  The ticket checker let us purchase cheap tickets on board which worked out nicely.  When we got off in Pisa Matthew realized that he left his cowboy hat on the train (going with little stops to Rome).  We went to the office and after about 45 minutes, what we believe was the nicest TrenItalia employee, made arrangements to have the hat handed off at the next stop to someone that would hand it to the next train coming back to Pisa; and sure enough she returned it to us within three hours later.  As all of this hat commotion was going on, we took a bus to the Field of Miracles to see the leaning tower.  The tower was incredible, almost fake looking.  The place was packed with people and almost everyone was “propping” up the tower with their hands, posing for pictures.  Matthew and I got ours in then picked up some sandwiches to eat on the grass.  Dark clouds were slowly rolling in and provided a nice background contrasting with the white tower.  Luckily we weren’t there long enough to get rained on but i’m sure some people did.  We didn’t have enough time to visit the Duomo or the Baptistry but we were glad we got to see the tower.  We picked up a leaning shot glass and a statue then caught a taxi back to the train station where we picked up Matthew’s hat and hopped on the last train that would get us all the way back to Castiglion in time for dinner-what a day!

Katie