Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Banana Grams, Pizza, and Wine- Fall Break Adventures in Italy

Hello everyone!

Its been quite a hectic past couple of weeks, which is why this blog post is so delayed. I have a lot of updates about my new living and teaching situation, but that will come in a separate post. First things first- Fall Break! Me and 5 of my friends- Hilary, Kate, Becka, Caroline, and Molly, jetted off to Italy on October 26th for 8 days. We had an absolutely perfect vacation. We were able to find tickets for 50 dollars that flew us into Naples. However, we basically just used that to get us into Italy- we only stayed for one night because, as our friend Jenn had described it Naples really is the "armpit of Italy." It was dirty, crowded, and we held onto our belongings for dear life because pick pocketers there are skilled and ruthless. We navigated our way through the city and found our hostel, which was surprisingly really nice. It was located behind this charming old red church and had about 50 vespas parked out front. It was clean, the staff was nice, and most importantly gave us great recommendations on where to get amazing pizza. If we got anything out of Naples, it was GOOD pizza.

The following morning we headed out early for our first "real" destination- Rome! It was my second time traveling here, and while it still wasn't my favorite, I did enjoy it MUCH more the second time around. I knew what to expect, and the group of girls I traveled with this time around was much more ideal. We did all the touristy sites, but it seemed much more relaxed. We casually stumbled upon the Colosseum at night, and looked around the outside on our own, instead of taking a long expensive tour. I enjoyed it so much more. Another interesting aspect of Rome was that I had an errand to run- getting my phone fixed. My iPhone decided to disconnect from WiFi permanently. Since Budapest doesn't have an official Apple Store, the guy at the retail store said, "Take it to Rome! They replace for free!" What he failed to mention was that the Apple store in Rome is actually an hour outside the city center. Kate and I boarded a hot, dirty bus for and traveled forever to a mall in the middle of nowhere. Luckily it wasn't in vain...the Italian man that helped me out understood my situation, and when he heard I came all the way to Hungary to have my problem fixed, he moved me WAY up in his line of appointments and gave me a brand new phone right away. Kate and I grabbed some yummy gelato and boarded the bus back to meet our friends. That same night happened to be our friend Becka's birthday and we treated her to an authentic Italian meal. Our friend Caroline found an adorable restaurant at the end of a brick alley in the middle of a square. We had the most amazing meal of our lives, ending with the most AMAZING tiramisu I have ever tasted. We watched fire dancers perform in the square and had a band of men playing guitars and accordions serenaded Becka with "Happy Birthday."                                                                                                                           
Our Authentic Italian Meal- Happy 23rd, Becka!
 While we had an amazing last night in Rome, we decided we were ready to get to Florence as early as possible the next morning. What we failed to do, however, was look up the train schedule the night before. Our friend discovered the next morning that the cheapest train that would get us to Florence at a decent hour left in exactly half an hour. We were all still in pajamas, had absolutely nothing packed, but somehow thought we could still make it. Long story short we did...but only after a lot of stress, a lot of running and a lot of wondering if our friend Hilary was actually on the train as it pulled away.

When all 6 of us miraculously arrived in Florence safe and sound, we stepped off the train and were immediately mesmerized by the city. It is so quaint, so charming, and everyone is extremely friendly. While Budapest is an amazing city, Hungarians are typically quite pessimistic and smiles from strangers are few and far between. It was nice to get a little bit of that in Florence. On top of all of this, our hostel was amazing! We had our own room, and the hostel had a rooftop bar with a beautiful panoramic view of the city.

View from the rooftop of our hostel at sunset
There was also a POOL and a SAUNA! After a long day of stressing and a long past few days of walking around Rome, we were in heaven. We were so happy to spend the evening wandering and exploring the city with no agenda at all. We wandered through the markets, gawking at all the handmade leather goods, and stumbled upon the Duomo, the famous church in Florence. This place had the most insane, intricate architecture I have ever seen. None of us could stop looking at it, and even laid down on the ground to look up and gaze at it from a new perspective. We all giggled as we were lying down on the cold cement, taking in the moment and fully enjoying the moment we were in.

Admiring the Duomo from the ground :)
That night in Florence we made friends with just about everyone, including a lady at a wine store who showered us with free samples, and two Albanian men selling gelato. When we told them we were from Budapest, they replied with "aaahh, köszönöm!" The first people we had come across who knew a Hungarian word...and they were from Albania. 

For dinner both nights in Florence, we took advantage of "apertivo." Its an Italian thing where you order a cocktail for 8 or 9 euros and then have access to an unlimited buffet of food. Yes please. Our plates were piled high both nights, and we went back for 3rd and 4ths. We were pretty sure it was not supposed to be treated like actual dinner...we also didn't care.  

Our evenings were spent like 80 year old women... Hilary made a last minute decision to pack banana grams in our very limited luggage space. I would say it ended up being our single most valuable possession on our trip. We spent every night drinking wine and/or lemoncello in our hostel and playing endless heated games of banana grams. We even added a new rule: winner had to make a sentence using all of their words. It always ended in laughs. I wouldn't have changed a thing about our old lady nights in Italy. 

True English Teachers- Complete Word Nerds

While we were sad to leave Florence, we were extremely excited about our next destination- Cinque Terre! It is an area along the coast and is made up of 5 little villages. We stayed in Vernazza, one of the smallest, and I honestly don't know when I have ever seen so many colors in my life! The houses are built right into the mountainside and each one is a different color. They have umbrellas in the main square that are vibrant shades of orange and yellow and blue. If you hike up a ways you can see all the colors reflecting off the turquoise water. We couldn't believe how beautiful it was. We stayed in an adorable little house, literally 20 steps from the beach. It had a loft, fresh towels, and big beds. We spent the night exploring the town, enjoying meals filled with the city's signature pesto, and looking up at the stars- something we have not been able to do in quite some time living in a big city.
Beautiful Vernazza!

 On our first full day in Cinque Terre, we got up early to go hiking over to one of the other cities. We went on a beautiful walk above Vernazza, through the mountains, and back down to the beaches of Monterosso. We had some amazing views and saw a lot of people farming and tending to vineyards along the mountainside. Again, we all had to take a moment to pinch ourselves and realize that we weren't dreaming. When we arrived in Monterosso we immediately changed into our swim suits and went swimming in the cold clear water. Since Hungary is essentially land locked, it felt amazing just to be in a body of water. It was so salt that we didn't even have to tread water- we just floated along, talking and laughing. We enjoyed some time in the sun and lying around on the beach before grabbing lunch and heading back to our quaint little house in Vernazza. The next day was spent exploring and doing some more little mini hikes. Kate discovered a great lookout up near a cemetery, and Hilary and I walked up to enjoy the view. I also spent some time writing in my journal and writing some postcards on the rocks near the water. All the cliffs and the smell of salty breezes reminded me of Palos Verdes and, as lucky as I felt to be in the moment, it did make me a little homesick.

Late Friday night we hopped on a 4 HOUR train to Milan to begin our long journey back to Budapest. Since our flight was early on Sunday, we decided not to book a hostel for Saturday night and simply stay out all night in Milan. This plan quickly deteriorated for several reasons: 1) We thought we could store our bags in the train station. It was closed. 2) Milan right outside the train station was sketchy and we had no idea where to find a decent place to go out. 3) Milan is the fashion capitol of the world and we were wearing old wrinkly clothes that had been shoved in vacuum bags for 8 days. Our night in Milan was spent in a Chinese/Italian fusion restaurant and trying not to fall asleep in the sketchy train station for fear of being robbed. Don't worry Mom. I'm alive.

While we were EXAHUSTED from staying up all night- especially since we had gone to bed every night at around 10, we all came back agreeing that it had been a successful and amazing trip. I am so fortunate to have met some amazing friends here who made such great travel companions. Now, the next chapter of my life in Hungary is beginning with a recent move to Budapest and I couldn't be more excited! Ciao for now!

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