... and then there was Italy

ITALY!!!!!!

This is the big one guys. Six days, seven nights (one of which was on an airport floor) of non-stop adventure.  Limerick - Shannon - Stansted - Bologna - Florence - Pisa - La Spezia - Riomaggiore - Manarola - Corniglia - Vernazza - Monterosso - La Spezia - Pisa - Stansted - Shannon - Limerick.  WHEW! Did you follow all of that? Let me break it down for you....

Thursday night, the group left Limerick to fly into England for the night.  Adventures in the Shannon Airport? Check.  Whether it was ordering milk at the bar, or sneaking into the presidential suite, we made sure to leave our mark.  And then, Hello RyanAir!  I will never looking at flying the same again.  Basically, seats are a first come, first served basis, and the whole flight is spent with them trying to sell you drinks, food, lotto tickets, perfume, smokeless cigarettes, and countless other things.  Tacky? Yes, but cheap.

That night we landed late in England, and "camped out" on the airport floor.  Bahahaha... more like "froze" on the floor.  People around us had freaking blow-up mattresses... we laughed, until we realized how miserable sleeping on a cement floor can be.  Cold, uncomfortable, cement floor.  Yes, I know, you're saying to yourself "poor Allie".  But it's ok, I survived.  Check one more thing off of my bucket list!  Never sleeping on an airport floor again.

Our little home.

We flew early in the morning into Bologna, Italy... a smaller little city off the "regular" tourist path.  And we had our first tortellini!!! Mmmmmm.... nice bottle of wine and homemade italian tortellini... there's really nothing like it.  That afternoon, we perused the markets, smelling fresh flowers, sipping on cappuccinos, and tasting more than a day's share of gellato.  We MIGHT have gotter really lost at some point... that, or we were looking for an excuse to walk for hours and hours trying to find our way back to the hostel in a foreign country.  Either way, we had a grand time :)

Tortellini and White Wine... mmmmm

Gelato!!! ... This seemed to be a reoccuring pose in future pictures ...

That night, we went to the most amazing local pizzeria, where the owner, Bruno, was our personal waiter, and brought us some of the best wine in the house and more desserts than you can imagine!  Oh the tiramisu!!!! Makes me really miss Mambo's, for all you B-hammers out there.  WOW. 

Maybe the late night out wasn't the best idea... the next morning we were literally running to catch our train.  This is the point in the trip where we all started to hate trains.  Well, it wasn't the trains so much as it was our sheer inability as a group to ever make a train on time or go to the correct station or buy the right tickets.... let's just say it was a learning experience.

Florence was above and beyond any expectations I could have had for Italy.  Oh. My. God.  This place was gorgeous!!!  The rich history - dude, the rich FOOD - it was all too overwhelming in all the best ways.  Put THIS place on your bucket list.  I cannot say enough about it's stunning architecture, the booming markets, the stunning views, and the places/things to see.  This will make your jaw drop if it hasn't already -



Entrance into the church/duomo




Inside of the Duomo



The view after climbing 462 stairs to the top of the Duomo



The day in Florence was also Sean's 21st, so OF COURSE I needed a new dress for the occasion, and what an occassion it was.  Let's just say we're ALL glad Sean only turns 21 once :)

Pisa was our next stop, late the next morning.  After coming from Florence, the city of Pisa was definitely more low-key.  It was a good "intermission" in the trip.  Of course we saw the leaning tower (oh man does that thing really lean!) and explored the markets during the afternoon.  It was such a trip to see so many people perfecting what I like to call "The Leaning Tower Pose".  An entire field of tourists trying to come up with the next big pose that no one's seen before.  Hahaha... good luck with that.  There's only so much you can do with a falling building.  Still, it was very sureal to be standing there, in a place most people only see on postcards.



the streets of Pisa



Creative, right?

 Monday! ... Wow, Monday already???  Welcome to the climax of the trip.  The one thing that brought us to Italy in the first place.  The big event.  The Cinque Terre.  An all-day hike through five costal towns on the Mediterranean Sea.  If you're not impressed, you should be.  Check this out:

Riomaggiore: stop 1



Manarola and Riomaggiore in the distance




Standing in the Mediterranean

 Basically we took the train from Pisa to La Spezia, dropped our bags, and took a short train ride over to Riomaggiore: the first of the five towns.  In each town, you can wander the streets, buying keepsakes from local vendors, eating gelato or fresh italian pasta, and explore the local churches, parks, and museums.  And then you can take the trail over to the next town and repeat the process.  The hikes take you through vineyards, along the coast, and through local neighborhoods.  We went on everything from Lover's Lane (walked by many women in sky-high stilletos because it's just ooooooooooh soooooooooo romantic) to off-the-road, bushwhaking-esque trails that sent us tumbling down cliffsides.  I don't think there are numbers big enough to count the number of stairs we went up or down.  But what an adventure it was!!!  Off the top of my head, I can think of over 50 of you who would just DIE to do this.  So get out there and see it for yourself!  You only live once, and this was something worth seeing/doing.

As the trip wound down, so did we.  I'm pretty sure my body was screaming at me to get more sleep, drink more water, and slow down a little... but all I could hear was "can we have more gelato?" "Let's go out tonight!" and "mmmmm... can I have another cappuccino?"  By the end I was a walking, gelato-loving, pasta-eating zombie who knew less than five words in Italian.  It was worth it. 

And of course you have to know me well enough by now to know that I love lists on my blog, so here we go with the top ten of "Allie goes to Italy":
1. Lemon/Coconut gelato combo.  Best if served without the server's hair in it... as noted by the Aussie from Bondi Beach we met in Florence.
2. Traveling in a foreign country with 8 people and no cell phones is HARD.  Communication is HARD.
3. It never hurts to be a kid again. 

4. PB&J's stay good for at least 5 days.  I've proved it.
5. Buffalo mozzarella is awesome.
6. Italian wedding dress shopping is so much fun.  Don't worry... it wasn't for me.
7. I've officially seen more of David's "parts" than I care to count.  Hats, postcards, boxers, figurines, flags, shot glasses, aprons... you name it.  But in real life, oh my god... this is the stuff that makes it into art books, and here I am experiencing it!

8. Always keep your purse close to you.  We witnessed a real life mugging in Pisa and it was not the most comforting situation.  ... why is this even on my top ten?
9. Never fly with Andrea Ruge.... she'll take your lifevest and let you fend for yourself in an emergency if she doesn't like you.
10. If I ever met a wonderful Italian guy and lived here the rest of my life, I don't think I would be complaining.  Just saying. :)

You all have spent waaaaaaaaaay too much time listening to me rant about this by now, so get up off your seat, wipe that drool from your face (cuz I KNOW you're still thinking about that gelato), and go book your own tickets to Italy!!! You won't regret it!
Ciao bella!