Hello Friends,
I am now in Greece sitting on the balcony outside my hostel room listening to the night time sounds of Athens. In the sketchy area that I am in (near Omonia station) the sounds include yelling, bottles smashing, the faint call of a prostitute and the soft whir of sirens in the distance. I have had a great time in Athens so far, and am off to the Volcanic Island of Santorini tomorrow morning, so I should get started telling you about Italy!
(I need to work on my tan in Santorini!)
Where to begin? Well as you have all devotedly read my last blog I guess I can start in Cinque Terre. This was the day hike we did with no sleep after our 36 hour journey from Barcelona. The Cinque Terre is made up of 5 villages along the magnificent Italian Riviera that are all connected by train or foot path. We went to 4 out of the 5 villages, and enjoyed the cliff side views.
(Cinque Terre town)
(coastin)
After the hike I high tailed it back to Genoa because I had a train to catch to Milan so I could meet up with my cousin Steven. I made the train and was able to find my hostel, after a short freak out and watery eyed plead for a restaurant to call my hostel and tell them i was going to be there after midnight and to not lock me out. On the way I also managed to pick up two Aussies that had been aimlessly wandering the streets of Milan for 3 hours looking for Accommodation. They would have been lost without me...literally...Good deed for the day:check.
That night I slept like a baby and woke up well rested. Steven and I met near the train station that day and he took me around to some spots he liked in Milan and we got the most expensive espresso I had ever had. Most of the day was spent walking and talking and when we realized we were lost, we found a map and saw that we were basically where we needed to be. Such great sense of direction us Gouveia's have, thats's why I'm such a great traveler.
(Me and Steven...Italy has the most McDonalds out of any European country)
After saying goodbye to Steven and making him promise he would try his hardest to come to Canada soon, I met back up with Mel, and the two of us headed to Florence. Honestly, I was glad my travelling alone was done because it was quite stressful and a little scary at times. I was proud of myself for doing it though, and am sure I will do it again, but the first one was tough...but the lack of sleep may have also attributed to that.
In Florence we camped at this sweet site owned by Plus Camping. These campsites are located all over Italy. They give you a tent with beds in it and electricity and the whole thing basically cost 1 euro more then camping with your own tent, so we opted for their facilities. Oh and we also finally got to do some real laundry!!! Yes, to clean underwear!
Florence was beautious and while we were there there was a Gelato festival going on. I had about 8 cups in the span of 2.5 hours so was quite satisfied and engorged. My fave part of Florence was the church in the pic below and of course Michelangelo's David. Truly a masterpiece that I wasn't prepared for. The shear size of the statue is insane and then the detail and precision just mind boggling.....truly a must see!
(sunset in Florence)
Anywho, I really did enjoy Italy and am excited to hit up Venice on the way back from Greece. In Italy I didn't really feel as connected to my culture as I did in Portugal, but it was probably due to the touristicness (sp?) of the places I went. I will have to make it to Calabria on my next trip, and of course to Sicily as we had to forego a visit to the Sicilians we had met in Amsterdam due to time constraints.
That's all for now my loves, miss you all and I'll see you in less then a month!
Love an Kisses,
TaCaGo
After saying goodbye to Steven and making him promise he would try his hardest to come to Canada soon, I met back up with Mel, and the two of us headed to Florence. Honestly, I was glad my travelling alone was done because it was quite stressful and a little scary at times. I was proud of myself for doing it though, and am sure I will do it again, but the first one was tough...but the lack of sleep may have also attributed to that.
In Florence we camped at this sweet site owned by Plus Camping. These campsites are located all over Italy. They give you a tent with beds in it and electricity and the whole thing basically cost 1 euro more then camping with your own tent, so we opted for their facilities. Oh and we also finally got to do some real laundry!!! Yes, to clean underwear!
Florence was beautious and while we were there there was a Gelato festival going on. I had about 8 cups in the span of 2.5 hours so was quite satisfied and engorged. My fave part of Florence was the church in the pic below and of course Michelangelo's David. Truly a masterpiece that I wasn't prepared for. The shear size of the statue is insane and then the detail and precision just mind boggling.....truly a must see!
(yummy, not sick of it at all)
(Loved)
From Florence we headed to Rome and stayed for 4 nights. Saw the old city and lots of ruins!!!! We went to Palatine hill and of course to the Colosseum which was really cool. Only problem with Rome and Italy is that there are sooo many tourists! Probably why we found Italy to be a bit rude and felt like they didn't want us there...prob because they actually didn't want us there. The country must be sooo sick of tourists. Melody was put off because as she pointed out, the people want our money and that's it. We didn't feel like customer service was a strong point or that people who were performing for money were there to entertain, because they basically play a song and then put out their cup and don't smile or anything, it was quite off putting. Lot's of great accordion players though! I'm thinking of getting one for SidePonyNation!
From Florence we headed to Rome and stayed for 4 nights. Saw the old city and lots of ruins!!!! We went to Palatine hill and of course to the Colosseum which was really cool. Only problem with Rome and Italy is that there are sooo many tourists! Probably why we found Italy to be a bit rude and felt like they didn't want us there...prob because they actually didn't want us there. The country must be sooo sick of tourists. Melody was put off because as she pointed out, the people want our money and that's it. We didn't feel like customer service was a strong point or that people who were performing for money were there to entertain, because they basically play a song and then put out their cup and don't smile or anything, it was quite off putting. Lot's of great accordion players though! I'm thinking of getting one for SidePonyNation!
(Colossal!)
(I went to the Vatican and LOVED THE SISTINE CHAPEL....this is the roof...shhhh don't tell anyone!)
Thank god we didn't leave after Rome because as we made our way more south Italy got less expensive and friendlier! Our last stop was in Sorrento, a town on the Amalfi coast, beautiful views and hot weather. On the train there from Naples we met a young couple from Milton. They were backpacking too, and with an 11 month old son! They weren't new to the back packing scene, but they were taking on the new challenge of backpacking with their bundle of joy Levi. It was awesome talking to them as they were both super down to earth, seemed like good parents, and they gave us hope that having kids and settling down doesn't have to suck as much as I think it's going to. (Sorry to anyone who has settled down and had kids lol, but if it sucks it doesn't have to! ;)
The Canadian couple talked to us on the train because they saw that Mel and I both had Canadian flags on our bags. Now I got my Canadian flag luggage tag (thanks Tarah) because I thought that's what people did when they went backpacking; they repped their countries flag. I quickly found out that this was not the case, and that Canadians are THE ONLY ONES rocking their flag on their backpacks. I've even gotten some slack for it from an Aussie guy because I think people think were really trying to distinguish ourselves from Americans. Maybe it used to be about differentiation, but it's not about that anymore. Now I think it's more about pride and I really dig that it's a Canadian thing. Especially since were a country made up of immigrants, it's nice to know that so many different people and cultures can all come together and be welcomed and proud to represent themselves to the foreign world with the maple leaf! Man I love Canada, I love to travel, but I LOVE CANADA!
Thank god we didn't leave after Rome because as we made our way more south Italy got less expensive and friendlier! Our last stop was in Sorrento, a town on the Amalfi coast, beautiful views and hot weather. On the train there from Naples we met a young couple from Milton. They were backpacking too, and with an 11 month old son! They weren't new to the back packing scene, but they were taking on the new challenge of backpacking with their bundle of joy Levi. It was awesome talking to them as they were both super down to earth, seemed like good parents, and they gave us hope that having kids and settling down doesn't have to suck as much as I think it's going to. (Sorry to anyone who has settled down and had kids lol, but if it sucks it doesn't have to! ;)
The Canadian couple talked to us on the train because they saw that Mel and I both had Canadian flags on our bags. Now I got my Canadian flag luggage tag (thanks Tarah) because I thought that's what people did when they went backpacking; they repped their countries flag. I quickly found out that this was not the case, and that Canadians are THE ONLY ONES rocking their flag on their backpacks. I've even gotten some slack for it from an Aussie guy because I think people think were really trying to distinguish ourselves from Americans. Maybe it used to be about differentiation, but it's not about that anymore. Now I think it's more about pride and I really dig that it's a Canadian thing. Especially since were a country made up of immigrants, it's nice to know that so many different people and cultures can all come together and be welcomed and proud to represent themselves to the foreign world with the maple leaf! Man I love Canada, I love to travel, but I LOVE CANADA!
(Your Welcome)
I may love Canada, but the Italians love to sell trinkets! From Sorrento we went to Pompeii to see the ruins. It was really cool, because the city is soooo well preserved and is sooooo old. My fave part of the city was the brothel because there were intact frescoes of the "menu", so customers could just point at what they wanted and it would be provided...and doggy style was around in 79 AD...and yes of course I took pics. Pompeii was full of tourists and therefore full of people trying to sell you some type of jewelery, or statue or postcard or wooden penis with wings. North America get's a lot of slack for being such a consumerist society with ads everywhere and media coming at you from all angles trying to get you to watch a certain program, or buy a certain product. But over here you're hounded too, but by people constantly and annoyingly trying to get you to buy what they got. It's exhausting really, I mean I can't wait till I can look at a product in a store and not be hounded to buy it as soon as my gaze falls on the outer seam.
I may love Canada, but the Italians love to sell trinkets! From Sorrento we went to Pompeii to see the ruins. It was really cool, because the city is soooo well preserved and is sooooo old. My fave part of the city was the brothel because there were intact frescoes of the "menu", so customers could just point at what they wanted and it would be provided...and doggy style was around in 79 AD...and yes of course I took pics. Pompeii was full of tourists and therefore full of people trying to sell you some type of jewelery, or statue or postcard or wooden penis with wings. North America get's a lot of slack for being such a consumerist society with ads everywhere and media coming at you from all angles trying to get you to watch a certain program, or buy a certain product. But over here you're hounded too, but by people constantly and annoyingly trying to get you to buy what they got. It's exhausting really, I mean I can't wait till I can look at a product in a store and not be hounded to buy it as soon as my gaze falls on the outer seam.
(sunset in Florence)
Anywho, I really did enjoy Italy and am excited to hit up Venice on the way back from Greece. In Italy I didn't really feel as connected to my culture as I did in Portugal, but it was probably due to the touristicness (sp?) of the places I went. I will have to make it to Calabria on my next trip, and of course to Sicily as we had to forego a visit to the Sicilians we had met in Amsterdam due to time constraints.
That's all for now my loves, miss you all and I'll see you in less then a month!
Love an Kisses,
TaCaGo
Hey Tan, sounds like fun. I have a few things
ReplyDelete1. My mom has an accordian..they are hard to play but I'm up for anything
2. Keep repping that flag, if they hate they are just jell
3. wish I was ther
4. miss you
The only person who stays true to their word by posting while in Euro, love it Tan! Cant wait to see the big versions off all these pictures, the sunset one is my fav.
ReplyDeleteAgain, so jeal, keep having fun!
Lynn I am down for accordion!!!
ReplyDeleteI rep the flag all the time, especially on my comp ahhaha!
Wish u were beside me and I miss you!
Camo!!!!! Saw the best sunset of my life last night in Santorini, like sun was an orb and it went off the edge of the earth...I may have written another song while watching hahah!!
Love yall! Thanks for comments they make me happy!