Living Life Inspired: Oh Italy ...

Obviously, I didn't get on a computer much while I was gone! But that's okay - I was having far too much fun to even think about writing blogs!

I've been home for over a week now, and today is the first day that I've really had a chance to start to process my three-week holiday. It's hard to believe that just over one week ago I was wandering through the streets of Tallinn - and now here I am, back in Canada.

I don't even really know where to start. But I'll do my best to sum it all up - just be warned that this post will be long, and picture-heavy!

I flew out of BC in the early morning of Saturday, June 26th. Flights went well, and I arrived in hot, muggy Rome on Sunday morning. I was happy to meet up with the crew that I would be spending the next 3 weeks with - Adam, Brandon, Mason (all of whom I was at camp with last year), and new friends, Randal and Melissa. It was nice to have travel companions, as I have done a fair bit of travelling on my own the last couple years. Both travelling alone, and travelling in a group, have their positives and negatives - but this time, I was thankful to have some friends along to share in the fun times.

Rome is AMAZING!! I can't even tell you how many times I was blown away by the fact that 'hello, I'm walking down a street towards the Colosseum. The COLOSSEUM!' It's amazing to be in a place that has so much history right there, and you just walk among it. I would have loved to have seen Rome 'back in the day' - it's amazing now, but it would have been SO COOL to have seen the city in its prime. I tried to soak it all up, and pretty much walked around in a trance at everything that surrounded me. We only had a couple days in Rome, so we pretty much hit the highlights, and spent a lot of time just walking around the streets, seeing all there is to see.

The crew walking towards the Colosseum!

Day One was the Colosseum. So amazing! It's incredible to walk through, and to think of all that went on in there. I loved having the tour, and getting all the interesting little bits of history. After the Colosseum, we toured San Clemente church, in which you can go underneath the church and see remnants from several different archaeological eras. We enjoyed our first Italian meal together, gelato following supper, and then spent the rest of the evening wandering through the central part of Rome. There is so much to see in just walking - all the architecture is just beautiful. We found Trevi Fountain, and I made certain to throw in a Euro to ensure my return to Rome someday! We wandered around until late at night, making sure to get gelato at least once more! :) We also stumbled upon a free concert, complete with orchestra and choir, in one of the many churches. Thankfully, I never really jet-lagged, so I survived until late at night, including the trek on foot back to our hotel.

First glimpses of the Colosseum - loved it!

Inside the Colosseum

Hard to believe I'm actually standing in the Colosseum!

Trevi Fountain - making sure I get to return to Rome somday! :)

Such a beautiful building!

Day Two was the Vatican, which took up a good portion of the day. The Vatican is unreal - so much to see, to take in. It's all a bit extravagant for my tastes, but was absolutely worth seeing. My favourite part was the Sistine Chapel - I just stood there with my neck craned for several minutes, trying to take it all in. But the definite highlight of the Vatican was running into my good friend, Annie, and her husband, Ben, as we were heading around the outside at the end of our tour. I looked up, and had to do a double take on who I was seeing. I mean, seriously, what are the chances of running into a friend, in the middle of busy Rome, especially when I had no idea whatsoever that she was going to be there?! It was entirely random - but so fun!! After the Vatican, we did some more wandering around in central Rome, making our way to the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona, before settling into a lovely little restaurant for a delicious supper. After supper, more gelato was definitely in order, and we headed back to Trevi Fountain once more, before calling it a day.

St. Peters Basilica

Inside the Vatican

Inside St. Peters

The Spanish Steps

Top of the Spanish Steps

Piazza Navona

All of us eating a delicious supper
(L to R: Randal, Melissa, Adam, Mason, Brandon and me)

Trevi at night

The next day we took the train (a 4-hour ride) to Cinque Terre. We arrived in Riomaggiore, the first of the 5 towns. Upon our first glimpse of the town, all 6 of us were already coming up with a plan so that we could all come back and live here! :) We hiked the coastal trail through the second town, Manarola, and then after climbing 377 steps, we arrived in our tiny little town of Corniglia.

Beautiful Cinque Terre!

The view from the hotel room! :)

Streets of Corniglia

Our time in the Cinque Terre was very relaxed. We spent the days wandering through the towns, lying on the beach, hiking the trails between towns, and eating delicious food and of course, gelato! My favourite day there was our second day (and only full day). I hadn't slept much the night before, so I got up at 6, and walked down to the pier. I spent the next two hours, alone with God, my thoughts, and some music from my iPod. I couldn't help but be thankful, and full of peace, as I looked out at the still water and the beauty around me. It was exactly what I needed. Later, I spent the morning and early afternoon hiking the rest of the trails between towns. This part of the trail is more rugged than the portion we had done the day before, and is signifcantly longer (7km as opposed to 2km). I came first to Vernazza, and then eventually into Monterosso, and instantly fell in love with its beaches and lovely little streets. I knew I had to bring the rest of them here the next day! :) Once I took the train back to Corniglia, I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the pier, swimming, and exploring. After a late supper and gelato, we were going to venture out to another town, but the trains weren't running as frequently anymore, so we headed back into our quiet little Corniglia, and I spent some time reading on the roof of our hotel. I stayed up on the roof until 3 AM, talking, and enjoying the cool night breeze coming in off the water. Such a perfect day! :)

My view from the pier in Corniglia

Views from the hike from Corniglia to Vernazza and Monterosso

Vernazza

Absolutely breathtaking!

Coming into Monterosso from my hike

The next day we headed down to Monterosso and spent the day swimming, lying on the beach, and exploring the town. It was scorching hot - so we had to treat ourselves to gelato a time or two! :) Do you sense a theme - we ate A LOT of gelato! Anyways, after our day on the beach, we took a boat from Monterosso back to Riomaggiore. Seeing all the towns from the water was very cool! Once back in Riomaggiore, Adam and Randal took the opportunity to do some cliff-jumping. I considered it - but when it came right down to it, I just couldn't make myself do it! Maybe next time?! We caught the last train from Riomaggiore back to Rome, arriving there after midnight. Once we made it back to our hotel, we all had to repack our bags - and finally fell into bed at 2:30 AM, only to have the alarm go off at 4:30 AM. But it didn't really matter - our flights were taking us on to Tallinn - the real reason we were here in the first place!