LA SPEZIA, ITALY-
With the help of five alarms and the morning sunlight shining through the cracks of the shudders that covered the window we were out the door at 7am. We took a train from La Spezia to Cinque Terre and got there around 8am. For only 5 euro we were handed a map as well as an entrance ticket. After that we started our five-hour journey of hiking through narrow paths with absolutely breath taking scenery. It wasn't an easy hike by any means. There were a lot of steep hills and people coming at you from the opposite direction. Every time you passed someone they were out of breath. Despite the hard work it turned out to be one of my favorite things we did over spring break.
It was quite an accomplishment when we reached the beach for the first time. After that we took a nice nap and worked on our tan. It truly was paradise.
A couple hours later a few of us decided to hike a bit more. We walked over to this massive rock that for whatever reason reminded me of the Lion King, I’m not sure why. I only had my flip-flops with me, which was probably not the best idea to stay balanced and climb up a rock, but I managed. It was pretty scary looking down, but the picture turned out pretty sweet! Don’t you think?
FLORENCE, ITALY-
Before making our way to Florence we stopped in Pisa. It was an interesting place, but you really only need to stay there for a couple of hours.
Here are some classic tourist pics.
We got to Florence in the afternoon and it was my job to figure out where our apartment style “hostel” was. Thankfully, I spent the majority of the train ride there looking at maps and an Italian guidebook. The apartment had a lot of space but it was a bit dirty and had no electricity for a few hours. Along with that, there was had a lady next door to us that had a cat named Shadow who kept wanting to get into our apartment.
After we explored the city and ate dinner. When we were walking back from dinner I heard my name being called from across the street and it was Kim Willer! I couldn’t believe that I ran into her. It is exciting to run into people you know in general, but when it’s in a different country, that’s another story! Talk about being at the right place at the right time. She showed my friends and I her apartment that we had just passed only five second before she saw me.
The next day a few of us were hoping to go on a wine a bike tour but they were all full so we had to go the next day. Instead we went shopping at this huge market and ran into other Americans who also go to St. Mary’s in London. After that we waited in line and went up to the very top of the Duomo, it was absolutely beautiful.
The wine and bike tour was fabulous. The tour was put on by these two guys from Ireland that have lived in Italy for about 10 years. First we went to a castle and saw how wine and olive oil was made. After trying a sample of each we went on a 13-mile bike through Tuscany.
They took us to this cute family owned restaurant where we had salad, homemade Italian pasta, wine, and tiramisu for dessert. After eating that lunch I was glad we still had some biking left to do.
After the tour the diver dropped us off and we could get a few pictures before heading back to our apartment.
The next day we left Florence early and headed towards Perugia. We ended up getting off at the wrong stop so we had to wait for over an hour. After an hour train ride, an hour of waiting, another train ride, a half hour bus ride, and a two mile walk on gravel roads with what seemed like 50 pounds of luggage we finally made it to our hostel. To you I’m sure it sounds like our hostel was in the middle of nowhere (it kind of was, but on the bright side it had Internet, free breakfast, and there was a cute lounge).
ROME, ITALY-
We got up at 4am to catch the 6:15am train to Rome on the Saturday before Easter. We went and got the tickets I had reserved for Easter Mass at the Vatican. In order to get tickets I emailed my Mom who emailed the Priest at our church who contacted the bishop, who had a connection in Rome. I then emailed that person back in February and requested six tickets. Easy as that! Haha. After we got our tickets we went to the Trevi Fountain.
Because it was Easter weekend places were closing early and the lines were incredibly long. That meant that we had to choose. To either wait in line and go see the Vatican Museum and the 16th chapel, or go to the Coliseum. We ended up going the Coliseum because we knew we were coming back the fallowing day to St. Peter’s Square for Easter.
You know when you subconsciously make a list of all the things you want to see and do in your lifetime and some of those goals are easy to reach but the others if you do achieve them are usually always completely unexpected? It almost seems like a dream because it feels too good to be true and you can't believe what's happening is actually... happening.
That’s how I felt when I was able to celebrate Easter at St. Peter’s Square in Rome. At one point the Pope was only 20 feet away from me.
My friends and I got there at 7am and waited in line for two hours. When they finally were letting people in through security I used my height to my advantage and looked over the crowd to see what way we should go. We literally ran to the closest seating that was still available, which was about 100 feet away from where the Pope would sit. It was incredible and again something I never imagined would be possible.
The mass lasted for about two hours. All the people that were sitting were able to receive communion. At the end of the service the Pope said a blessing in every language. I lost count after 20 I wish I knew the exact total though.
NAPLES/ CAPRI-
At this point I was finally getting use to carrying all my stuff around. Naples was beautiful even though the town itself was known as having a lot of theft. But I managed to have nothing stolen from me! Mark and I were in a hostel with four other strangers. The other four girls we were traveling with were in a room right next to us. It made me appreciate private hostel room (sharing the room with only the people you know) because coming back around 10:30pm after dinner all the lights were out and everyone was sleeping so I had to get ready for bed in the dark. It was interesting.
The next morning we got on a ferry that took us to Capri at 7:30am. It took us about 80 minutes to get there.
When we arrived we looked for information about going to the blue grotto but it was closed. So instead, we bargained with a local who gave us a private tour of the island for 15 euro each. The boat ride was a lot of fun! I even got to steer at one point.
After that we took a shuttle up to the top of the island and headed toward the beach. Thankfully it was perfect beach weather. I honestly felt like I was again in some sort of tropical paradise there were two beach bars that made delicious margaritas.
It was my friend Kaitlin’s birthday that day too. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate ones 21st!
SPLIT, CROATIA-
The next I left the original group I was traveling with and went to Croatia with Colleen and a different Caitlin.
We took a five-hour train ride from Naples to Ancona, Italy. But first we had to switch trains in Rome. We were in first class on the way to Rome because that was all that was available. It was so funny seeing people dressed up in work clothes and getting a snack provided by Eurostar. I wasn’t use to that from previous traveling I had done the past two weeks. It was nice! However, our train to Rome was delayed and we ended up missing the train that would get us to Ancona with enough time to catch our overnight ferry. We were able to take another train to Ancona but we were still afraid that we would miss our ferry. On the ride there we ended up meeting an American couple that were traveling throughout Italy on their honeymoon. We also met a woman that was on a professional soccer team in Italy.
Colleen called the ferry company around 8pm because we were supposed to check in at 7:30 for departure at 9pm and we still weren’t there yet. They suggested we took a cab to collect our tickets, and told us that another cab will be waiting at the ticket office to take us to the dock. As soon as the train stopped we hurried off. A local tried to help us and it remind me of a scene from Titanic where an old man said to Leo and Kate’s characters “this way I’ll show you,” pointing straight. But they ran right passed him. Anyway, I’m getting side tracked but that is sort of what we did, but we thanked him anyway. We got a taxi that had strange techno music playing in the background. After we got our tickets, paid the driver, and then jumped in another taxi that was free because the ferry company provided it. We got to the dock at 8:50 and luckily made it just in time! If it had been 10 minutes later we would have had missed it.
The ferry reminded me of a 3-star cruise ship, it was fun because I never had been on a cruise before. We had dinner, walked around the boat and then went to bed it was a long day to say the least.
The next morning we got up at 6am and had breakfast. The sunrise was so beautiful! We got to Croatia at 7am. After being bothered by locals to come to stay with them at their hostel we finally made it to our own. It was kind of annoying because the kept coming up to us saying, “do you need a place to stay?” We told them no over and over again but it didn’t matter. One even followed us for five minutes as we were trying to find where our hostel was.
Anyway, later we explored the city and went to the local market and bought fresh fruit, bread, and cheese.
Our hostel was great! Everyone was so friendly we met a few people from America, one from Canada, and two others from Australia.
The next day we visited some Roman ruins.
On Saturday us and the Australians rented a car and visited some waterfalls and a beach that was supposedly ranked the 6th best beach in the world.
I was so happy we rented a car! Even though we got lost a couple times it was totally worth it, and a lot of fun!
The next morning Caitlin, Colleen, and I had to drive the car to the Croatian Airport and we made it with plenty of time to spare without getting lost. We had a connecting flight in Germany and we landed at Heathrow that afternoon.
I had so many wonderful memories on this spring break that I will never forget! But like always, I was happy to be back “home” in London.
-Britt
SHOUT OUT: EVERYONE back in the states I love you and miss you all! Be home soon. <3
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