After dreaming about it for years & years, I
finally got to go to Cinque Terre! I took a weekend trip to Florence and went
to Cinque Terre for a day from there. Almost all of my apartment mates went to
Florence the same weekend but they got their own Airbnb and I stayed with
Ellen! Hannah stayed with us too but we met up with my apartment mates so we all got
to see each other throughout the weekend. LETMEJUSTSAY: CINQUE TERRE IS
ABSOLUTELY, UNDENIABLY, PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL. It's been my favorite trip thus
far! Florence was pretty too but very very quiet and clean (which isn't really
a bad thing I guess LOL).
When we arrived Thursday night, I was so shocked at
how quiet and empty the streets were...Rome is so much more city-like and
bustling with people no matter what time of day. To be honest, I really liked
it at first so I was having second thoughts about switching my study
abroad city from Florence to Rome. But after a day, I realized Florence is too
suburban for me and I would've been so bored...I'm so glad I chose Rome! YAY.
In Florence, I visited the Duomo (I also went up the belltower), Ponte Vecchio,
Uffizi Gallery, Galleria dell'Accademia (it has the Statue of David),
& Piazza Michelangelo. My favorites were the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio.
For gelato, I got to try Gelateria Santa Trinita and their strawberry was
B O M B. I am a strawberry gelato FANATIC and I can confidently say it was
the best I've tried in Italy. I also got their black sesame seed flavor which is
saying a lot since I only get strawberry, raspberry, and
lemon. It was sooo gooood. Ellen and I also got to try the
famous paninis from All'Antico Vinaio and let me just say I'll never have
a panini that good ever again. IT WAS AMAZING. And for my last food feature...I
got to try florentine steak! Florence is known for their steak so I HAD to have
some while I was there. We went to L'osteria di Giovanni and I got the filet
mignon. I'm really not exaggerating but it was the best steak I've ever had.
They don't ask you a preference for how you like it cooked...they just make it
medium rare but it comes perfectly seasoned and delicious. It also came with
potatoes and tomatoes which were a huge plus. I would go back just for the
steak!!!
In Cinque Terre, I went to Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, &
Monterosso. We didn't get to go to Corniglia but honestly most of
the villages all look the same so it wasn't a big deal. On our way to
Manarola from Riomaggiore, my apartment mates, Ellen, and I
accidentally took the wrong train so we took a 1.5 hour detour...It was a
nightmare. We were just chillin' on the train waiting for our stop but it
wouldn't come up...then the ticket checker guy came and checked our tickets (I lost my Cinque Terre transportation ticket GG) and told us we were on
the wrong train. So it didn't even matter that I didn't have my ticket because none
of my friends' tickets were valid for the train we were on. So then, we each had to pay a fine of 7€, which is thankfully not bad at all. But one of my apartment mates thought he said 420€ per person (he said 42€ total), and she flipped and they started yelling at each other and causing a scene. EVERYONE in the train was looking at us. It was quite ridiculous LOL. When we finally got off, we
had to buy a new ticket back towards Cinque Terre and we ended up in
Monterosso. From there, we were supposed to look around and train it to Vernazza to make
our way back...but silly us...we ended up "accidentally" taking a 2
hour hike from Monterosso -> Vernazza. Like an actual hike in the mountains...It was hilarious. All of us
were dying...and I was the only one wearing straight up rubber flip flops. Everyone
else (except one girl who wore rainbows) wore sneakers...But the hike was really nice and I
actually enjoyed getting exercise but people were getting really cranky by the first 30 minutes (yes 1/4 of the hike). But 2 hours later we finally made it
and we all fell in love :-). For dinner, I got seafood pasta which was amaaazing.
I usually don't like cooked seafood but the pasta
was molto delicioso. Cinque Terre was like a dream...I really want to come back with my family someday!
My train ride back to Rome was on Monday morning. I at least had Hannah with me, but we were both miserable since we had to go straight to school. Note to self: never book a train/flight for Monday morning ever again.
PS. At the train station on the way to Cinque Terre, I was starving and caved in and bought McDonalds. I need french fries in my life!!! I ordered the quarter pounder meal but it was more like a 1/6 pounder -_-. The fries were good though o.o.
xoxo
