I’m writing this from my bed sipping on a cappuccino struggling to stay awake before I head out to a Sicilian Bakery for a school “field trip.”  This week claimed itself as the most exhilarating, exhausting, enjoyable week of my life.  The spontaneous adventures started a week ago today when my roommate, Amanda, and I decided to take a day trip to Tivoli, a small town outside Rome known for it’s gardens. The town with all it’s villas and gardens was beautiful and we had a lovely time picnicking while enjoying the stunning scenery of the valley below. Before we left, we stopped by a little garden center and picked up small pots of flowers to liven up our apartment and as a souvenir of our fun day. On Wednesday I had another art field trip to Ancient Roman Ruins, the Arc of Constantine, and to San Giovanni the first Church built in Rome. My mom will remember San Giovanni by the enormous statues of the 12 apostles lining the center of the church. Thursday morning my roommate Karen and I sat at the kitchen table discussing our plans for the weekend over chocolate croissants (my addiction second to coffee here) We both decided that we wanted to get out of Rome for the weekend in order to an experience a change in environment from our perpetual routine. As fate would have it, the Wi-Fi decided to cooperate and I was able to pull up a map of Italy, point my finger at a place with a large dot indicating a big city and said, “Let’s go here.” After confirming the city name (Bologna) and doing a quick Google search to insure the worthiness of the place, we looked up train departure times. Of course the next train, which was also the cheapest ticket, was leaving in 45 minutes. Karen quickly whipped out her Italian cellphone, called the number of the only hotel recommended by her guidebook in Bologna and reserved a room for two. We tossed our dirty dishes in the sink, flung a couple of outfits into a suitcase, jumbled together some cheese and meat sandwiches for lunch, guzzled down our milk (so that it wouldn’t spoil while we were gone) and were out the door within 20 minutes. We raced to the Metro station, Policinico. This time, we placed powerwalking aside in favor of a full on sprint in order to make our train time. We ended up running the ¾ miles to Policlinico, buying our tickets, and getting on the train in 17 minutes, all while weighed down by cumbersome suitcases, backpacks and purses.  Finally, we sat on the cushioned train seats, relieved and proud of our remarkable trek, awaiting departure. We sat across from each other, with our purses and coats on the seats adjacent (so that nobody else would sit near us) failing to realize that the train had seat reservations until we were kicked out of “our” seats by the person for whom the seats actually were meant for.  Begrudgingly, we left to find our actual seats, which were just as nice and 3 hours later we were in the charming city of Bologna.

Bologna, known for its “porticos” or arches creating tunnels met all my expectations (good food, pretty views, a couple historical sites) for a worthwhile city to visit. We arrived around 2p.m, and not wanting to waste a minute, dashed from the train station to our hotel (stopping only at McDonalds to get wifi so we could google maps our destination!) where we left our luggage and began our sightseeing. We walked around soaking in the high-class yet charming atmosphere so different from Rome. We went in and out of churches, through museums, and past important monuments pausing to take pictures. Important monuments of Bologna include; a leaning tower (actually leans more than the leaning tower of Pisa!), a castle, a dome, and miles and miles of porticos. Bologna also has the oldest University in the Western world, where doctors and apprentices performed the first human autopsies (thought of you Katie!). After a few hours of sightseeing we ventured back to our hotel to rest our weary feet before dinner. The hotel was very pleasant, safe, clean, and we had a beautiful view of the city and mountainside from our room. After a dinner of the famous Bologna Tortellini con cream, we wandered for a couple more hours until we found a gelateria. Once back at our hotel we again looked at the map of Italy and decided that we were too close to Milan not to visit it, and so we looked up train times for Milan. The train left at 11 A.M the following morning.

 While we had done most all the touristy things in Bologna, we had not yet done one of the highlighted attractions of the city- Visiting the ancient church called San Luca, positioned on the very top of the mountain, reachable by 3.8 kilometers of portico tunnels (longest portico in the world).  We concluded that we could not leave Bologna without completing this once in a lifetime opportunity, and so we set our alarms for 5:30 A.M in order to make the 6:30 AM bus to the bottom of the mountain. From here a tourist bus would take us to the church.

 We easily found the bus station, but to our dismay the bus drove right past us!! Karen and I, being Karen and I, somehow thought our long legs could go as fast as a 12 wheeled bus and so we began to run after it. Refusing to give up the notion that we had missed the bus and thus our only opportunity to see San Luca and go to Milan we continued to chase after the bus, long after the smell of it’s exhaust had dispersed into the atmosphere. Dejected, we accepted defeat and began walking back to the bus stop to see if we could catch the next bus, which we did! 10 minutes into the bus ride, however, Karen looked up from her phone saying, “Kirsten I have news.”  I immediately guessed and Google maps confirmed, that we were indeed on the bus going the wrong way. Laughing at ourselves, we hopped off the bus at the next stop and hopped on a new one that we prayed would take us to the correct location. By now it was 8a.m, I had not yet had my morning coffee, and I began to see our plans for Milan fade away. Miraculously, the bus arrived at the foot of the mountain where a “Tourist Bus” was scheduled to arrive at 8:30 to take us all the way up the mountain to the church! After a quick cappuccino from a place directly across the bus stop, I once again began believing that perhaps our day could still unravel as planned. Funny, how a small cup of coffee can have such a big impact on your view of life!

The gorgeous scenery of the mountainside captivated our attention throughout the 20-minute bus ride. The bus dropped us off at the stunning, but deserted church (Strange nobody else wakes up at 5:30 for sightseeing!!;) where we climbed the remaining 50 meters of policos to the entrance of the church. Legend has it, 1500 years ago, an artist received a vision to paint the Virgin Mary with Saint Luca and then a church was built where the painting was placed.  Today each year, thousands of pilgrims hike the porticos sometimes barefoot to symbolize their humility and to express their gratitude to San Luca for providing rain for the city of Bologna during a time of drought.

We sat in awe inside and outside the church, snapping a few timed photos of ourselves, and walking around appreciating the natural beauty of our surroundings. We ended up back at our hotel by 10 A.M, where to our surprise a delicious buffet breakfast awaited us! We devoured croissants, special k chocolate cereal (a rarity here) shoved a few apples and pastries into our purses for later, guzzled two more cappuccinos and an espresso, and still made it to the train station by 10:45, where we purchased our tickets (firmly telling the gypsy trying to “help us” aka steal our change NO!) and we were off for Milano! 

Once at the elaborate, marble engraved Milan Central Train station, we decided to leave our luggage at the train station because one of the wheels of my suitcase had broken and we did not want to lug luggage through the elegant city of Milan. We took out necessities, like a toothbrush and contacts case put them into our purses and shoved our suitcases into lockers, where we would retrieve them the next day on our way out. Deciphering the metro system, we hopped on the yellow line for the Duomo, and ended up emerging right outside the Duomo!  The duomo is the most impressive architecture I have yet to see in Italy. The gothic structure captivates the eye, drawing you to keep staring at it for there is always something new to discover on the exterior of the white castle-like church.

After getting our purses checked (the policeman laughed at the toothbrush and deodorant inside my purse), we made our way inside the cool duomo. The cool temperature inside provided blessed relief to the sunny and hot Milan weather. Striking stain glass windows line the walls of the church, allowing splendid sunlight to enter the otherwise dark, almost spooky church. Dramatic differences between the Duomo and St. Peters exist, enhancing my appreciation for the unique, but equally beautiful churches. Where St. Peters is overwhelming, marble and gold, the Duomo is grey, made of stone, with splashes of color provided by the stain glass.

After the duomo we went to the shopping district of Milan, where snooty women and men alike dressed in their ostentatious outfits stuck up their noses at our “no name” jcrew sweaters and jeans. The pronounced differences between Milan and Naples are unreal, like two different worlds, related by force due only to territorial country lines.

The gleaming city of Milan contained no such thing as a cheap, take out pizza joint, opting instead for expensive restaurants where the elites sipped wine accompanied by their Chihuahua sitting on their laps. We went to the obligatory art museums in Milan and studied the art of various famous artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, which was neat. I very much enjoyed Milan and admired the beauty of the city, however, I could never study abroad there.

We left Milan on the 7:25 train for Cinque Terre. We arrived at Cinque Terre, planning on staying in Vernezzia, but we didn’t have hotel reservations so we hopped from hotel to hotel (hotels here are just locals who rent out rooms, we were sure only to go to the ones recommended by our guidebooks) until we found one with availability and a reasonable price.

Even though I have been to Cinque Terre before, I enjoyed my second experience of the 5 little ancient towns, a couple miles apart from another and nestled in the mountainside by the sea. The first day, we ran the rigorous 1.5 hour trail (55 min running) to Monterosso, the neighboring town where we rewarded ourselves by jumping into the frigid ocean (it was about 64 degrees but sunny) We swam around until our bodies were numb, and then we laid out on the beach for a couple hours before exploring Monterosso, getting gelato (from the same place Brian, Elisabeth, Phillip and I got it from twice a day when we were here!) and hiking back to Vernezzia. We showered, wandered the small town (by small, I mean one 200 meter long street) filled with locals chatting in the streets. Eventually we settled in at a lovely restaurant on the harbor where we enjoyed delicious (and fresh!) seafood and unlimited bread baked by the bakery across the street. We even asked for a refill of bread after we had finished our dinner!!!!

After dinner we headed back to our room in order to get my Rick Steve’s Guidebook because he had recommended a Sicilian bakery for dessert. We never did make it to the bakery as we collapsed immediately into bed and were asleep before it was 9 o clock. We awoke after a full 12 hours of sleep, refreshed and prepared for a day of arduous hiking between the towns. We hiked the mountainous terrain, which would be miserable except for the stunning view below. Between two of the towns the seaside trail was closed, so while others ran for the train station to reach the next town, we went on the alternative route, which consisted of climbing all the way up the mountain and then all the way back down the mountain. At one point my legs were shaking uncontrollably from exhaustion and my severe fear of heights! (Dad you would NOT have liked the 1-foot wide trail overlooking a cliff that led straight to the ocean!!!) I told Karen the story of how in Yellowstone my dad literally drove 8 mph for 3 hours when we went through the mountains. While hiking and enjoying the gorgeous scenery, we both noted that while we can appreciate the art inside museums, we prefer observing and smelling in real life the wildflowers that artists try so hard to imitate on canvas. Eventually after 4 hours of hiking we made it to the final town where we found a large rock, pleasantly warm from the bright sun, where we laid out for an hour. There is nothing quite as peaceful as sitting by the ocean listening to the waves smash into the cliffs. We opted to take the train back, only because we didn’t have time to hike AND make our 6:15P.M train. Once back at Vernezzia we went to our hotel to collect our luggage that the owners had kindly stored for us. We rang and rang their doorbell to no avail. We sat by the door for 5 minutes watching the local children throw confetti and battle with yugio cards before ringing the door again. Eventually, a local of Vernezzia approached us and offered to call the owners of the hotel who answered and said they would not be back for an hour. By now it was 5:30! We looked up new train times and discovered we would have to take the 12 A.M night train back to Rome, meanwhile find something to do in a town that is deader than dead after 7p.m.

We ended up going back to that restaurant where we pleaded with the waiter to let us just order bread and the house wine. He remembered us from last night as “the bread girls” (Where does it all go???) sat us at our table and then brought out baskets of bread, wine, and appetizers! They must have felt sorry for us (Of course we had to tell them our sob story and the gigantic, broken, red suitcase I dragged in might of helped to (think Clifford the big red dog)) because they only charged us for the wine. After dragging out every bite of bread, we left the restaurant practically with the cook as he turned off the lights. We waited for an hour or so at the train station and then hopped on the local train that was supposed to take us to the main train station, La Spezia, where we would connect for Rome. It ended being a repeat of Bologna as the train went in the opposite direction of La Spezia.  Also, we hadn’t purchased tickets because it was supposed to be just a two-stop ride and we figured the chances of the lazy conductors checking were slim. You can imagine our surprise when the conductor walked up to us asking for tickets. Confidently, we reached into our purses and handed him our now invalid train tickets from earlier in the day. He looked at them, handed them back to us. We smiled and asked him how we could get to La Spezia. He pulled out his i-phone, checked new train times for us and told us exactly what stop to get off at so that we could get to La Spezia. He then proceeded to ask for our tickets again so that he could write on them a validation note, letting the other conductors know we were “ok” to be on the new train. After the conductor left, and we were safely on the correct train, I joked that he had validated our invalid tickets, because it is only with an excellent sense of humor that you get through situations where everything goes wrong. Finally at 1a.m we were on the uncomfortable night train where I sat wide awake and clutching my purse. My iPhone had died on the first day and I had forgotten my charger, so I had no music and nothing but my bitter thoughts cursing the hotel owners for not being there for entertainment during the 5 hour train ride.

We arrived in Rome at 6 A.M and thankfully arrived back at our apartment, grateful for a fun, safe trip. I brushed my teeth and washed my face as if I was settling in for a long nights sleep. In reality we had class at 9A.M, which we showed up to showered, smiling, and ready for another giorna bella! (beautiful day!)