Cinque Terre, Italy and first day in Cassis, France

Cinque Terre was amazing, and Cassis is.... funny.

So, we arrived in Monterosso, the fifth of the five terre's in Cinque Terre in the late afternoon on Monday after a long day of travel from Venice. The travel day on Monday included a train from Venice to Florence, change trains and travel from Florence to La Spezia, then from La Spezia we changed trains again to Monterosso.  It was a long, and hot day of travel so once we arrived to Hotel Punta Mesco in Monterosso, we were pretty deliberate in getting to the beach as soon as possible. On monday afternoon, early evening we sat on the beach and did some swimming before the sun went down. The water was so warm and the beach was pretty comfortable compared to the rocky beaches in Greece. From the beach at Monterosso, you can see all five towns! It's a pretty sweet view. Dinner on Monday night was amazing. We walked to the old part of town from our hotel to look for a place to eat and found Ristorante Ciak. We had this delicious ravioli and shrimp plate with a local red wine that was also very good.

Tuesday was a hiking day; an hour and a half hike from Monterosso to Vernazza (fourth town). I was thinking about doing a morning run before the hike, but I'm glad I didn't because it turned out to be a much more difficult hike than I was expecting (apparently I am a rookie hiker). There was a total of about 750 uphill stairs throughout the hike and a few other hills. Once we got to Vernazza, though, it was totally worth it. The view of Vernazza from the top of the hill from the hiking path was amazing. We sat on the beach in Vernazza for about 2 hours. I ended up falling asleep for like an hour, and woke up with my face in a pile of drool. I guess I was tired after the hike. So, after waking up from my coma, we walked through the center of Vernazza back to the train station to catch the train to the first town (Riomaggiore) to have lunch and see the town. We decided to go back to the first and second towns because Ellen had not been to the first or second town on her previous visits to Cinque Terre. After lunch in Riomaggiore, we walked the Via dell Amore' which is the path between the first and second (Manarola) towns. This path takes about 30 minutes but its a much easier path than the hike from Monterosso to Vernazza.  There was incredible views along the way, too. We then got some gelato and walked around Manarola for a bit before taking the boat back to Monterosso. Tuesday evening we had another delicious dinner (Spaghetti with clams) and walked around the town for a bit soaking up the last little bit of time we had in Cinque Terre.

We both agree that we would have liked to have some extra time in Cinque Terre because Cassis is a pretty difficult town to figure out. I will explain more after I explain our travel day yesterday. Yesterday (Wednesday) was a full day of travel. Our first train left Monterosso at 6:55 AM and we didn't get to our hotel in Cassis until 7:20 PM. Literally, the entire day was either spent on a train or waiting in the station for a train. Our travel day went like this: Train from Monterosso to Genoa. Change trains in Genoa and train to Vamigilia (sp?). Change trains in Vamigilia and train to Nice. Change trains in Nice, and train to Cannes. Change trains in Cannes, and train to Marseille. Change trains in Marseille and train to Cassis. Take a bus from he train station in Cassis to the city center in Cassis and walk 20 minutes uphill with our suitcases to our hotel. Finally, after an outrageously long day of travel we decided that we would treat ourselves to a nice dinner, but to find out, Cassis is a very upscale town and we had no choice but to have a nice/overpriced dinner. Cassis is a very small fishing town just outside of the French Riviera and I don't think much tourism happens around here. Not many people speak English, so communication is sometimes kind of difficult. All of the menu's are in French so we have to ask what everything is and getting waited on at the restaurants is like pulling teeth, it seems. I don't think they are being rude, I think the culture is just a little different here, and we seem to be having a hard time figuring out how things work. Anyway, the hotel has an infinity pool, which is really sweet so we are planning on sitting around that for the rest of the day today. Tomorrow we are planning on either hiking to a Calanque or taking a boat to one. If you want to know what a Calanque is, I suggest you google it because I don't feel like explaining :) Overall, Cassis is a pretty cool town but the language barrier seems to be the only thing holding us back. I'm sure if either of us knew any French, it would be much easier and more enjoyable.

 I am so grateful to be able to see this beautiful world God created, He has blessed me so much. Keep praying for us as we travel!

Positano/Venice

Whats up

I am currently writing on our last night in Venice.  Since I wasn't able to update about Positano until now, I will write about Positano and Venice in one blog.  I am going to just start rambling and a lot of thoughts may be incomplete with spelling and grammar erros and its going to be long so bear with me...!

Positano was a very cool city. It literally sits on the side of a cliff and it is so beautiful to look at from the sea. The buildings are so colorful and the town is very friendly.  On the first day in Positano (which was by far the worst day yet), we planned to go to Pompeii in the morning and sit on the beach in the afternoon in Positano. In our minds it sounded like a great day but it turn out as we had planned haha. In order to get to Pompeii you have to catch a bus from Positano to Sorrento, then get on a train from Sorrento to Pompeii. So, to begin the day, we hiked about a half mile/3/4 of a mile up hill to wait for the bus to Sorrento--which was 55 minutes late. So, we waited in the hot sun for the first hour of our day following a not so enjoyable uphill hike haha. Finally, we catch the bus to Sorrento, which was about an hour of incredibly windy roads at the edge of 1000 foot cliffs. Naturally, I became quite sick, mainly because I am a poon but also because the roads were really windy. Sooooo... We get to Sorrento, about an hour late, and I feel like throwing up on the bus driver, and find out there is a railroad workers and road workers strike and there is literally no way to get to Pompeii.  We were both pretty disappointed, Ellen more so than myself, but it was pretty disappointing news.  After learning about the strike, we wandered around sorrento for an hour or so and we were back on our way to Positano, but not before getting some dramamine, so I didn't actually throw up everywhere. Annnnnd, we get back to Positano and finally get down to the beach (our hotel was about 400 steps up the cliff from the beach. It was kind of inconvenient but we had an incredible view of the Ionian Sea) and look for a place to eat lunch because by this time, we were both pretty hungry. It only gets better--we sit down at the first restaurant we see and order an average meal and on top of our average meal, I end up ordering a $9 can of Coke. haha then right at the end of lunch before we were going to try and relax on the beach, it starts to rain.  So, we decided to give up on the day and spend it hanging out on our balcony and just hang out, admiring the view and ordering pizza to the room.  Boom. First day in Positano done. The rest of the time in Positano really was great. The hotel wait staff was amazing and the people were so helpful and friendly. On the second day we took a morning trip to the town of Amalfi, which was not nearly as nice as Positano or Capri.  It did have, however a really neat Duomo. In the Duomo we got to see where Andrew, Jesus's first disciple was buried and some other really incredible Byzantine architecture. While in Amalfi, we also toured a paper mill. It sounds kind of boring and nerdy but this place was actually really cool. The factory was originally built shortly after Jesus's time on earth and all of the original equipment is still in the factory and they still use the same tools to make the paper. This paper factory actually produces the paper that the Vatican uses today for important documents or books they are writing which was pretty cool to learn.

Overall, Positano was a really cool place but I am not sure I would ever return there. Out of the 3 towns we visited on the Amalfi coast (Capri, Positano and Amalfi) Capri was by far my favorite! Btw the food in Italy is amazing, especially in Positano. Now for Venice!

When we arrived here on Friday I was really looking forward to seeing the city because I had heard to much about it and my Grandparents had been here before as well so I was really looking forward to seeing it.  I was definitely not disappointed.  This city really is amazing. The first afternoon we arrived in Venice we just wandered the streets taking pictures and had some dinner.  Our hotel is like 50 yards from Piazza San Marco, so compared to Positano we are extremely conveniently located.  The first full day in Venice was very busy, but we got a ton accomplished. The morning started with a tour of the Basilica San Marco which was another incredible church. The inside was so beautiful and everything was either real gold or painted gold which lit up the entire building. It was really a cool thing to see from the inside.  Which inside the Basilica, we visited the treasury which had Peter's leg and Jacob's skull (kind of weird, I know, but it was still really cool to see them and be so close to them.) Also, this is the burial of Mark.  After visiting the Basilica, we went to the top of the bell tower in Piazza San Marco to get a view of Venice. It was freezing and super windy up there so we didnt last long but we got a really good view of the whole city. It's pretty amazing to think this city is practically build on 18 islands just really close together--thats why they have so many little canals and ponte's.  After the bell tower visit we went to Murano to get some glass and eat lunch. Ellen was able to find some hand made Murano glass that she has been talking about getting this whole trip. Apparently Murano glass is one of the nicest glass manufacturers in the world.  We also go to watch one of the glass blowers do a demonstration which was really cool to see too. Thennnn we took a walking tour of the Doge's palace back in Venice.  The Doge was a political leader that lead in Venice up until like the early 1800's or something like that and the first was in like the 800's.? It was a really neat place, with a ton of history. We saw where the Doge's lived throughout the years and got to see where major political events took place.  We also go to take a tour of the dungeon which was in the basement of the palace which was pretty eery but cool.  The Doge's palace served basically the same purpose as the White House does today for America. Each new elected Doge would occupy the palace with their family until someone took over for them.  After the Doge's palace tour we found a restaurant that was showing the Barca, Man U game and had dinner and watched the game.

Today, we went to this beach island right off of the main part of Venice called Lido. Its a super long, skinny island with sandy beaches.  It was a very interesting place with thousands and thousands of people.  I got way too much sun today but it was a good relaxing day on the beach. Annnnnd I got to swim in the Adriatic Sea! After the beach we just sort of hung out, got lost without a map in the middle on Venice which was pretty fun (haha) and then we had the best meal in Italy thus far. We also ran into Jake Perry and his girlfriend today-so randomly! (Jake is a kid I went to hs and played soccer with) He and his girlfriend came walking out of a shop and I had to do about the biggest double take I have ever done to make sure I wasnt about to like a fool haha. It was so random but it was good to catch up with him even for a little bit.

I would have to say my biggest disappointment with Venice is the service people in this city. They seem to intolerable to people asking any sort of question and were generally very rude when answering. And they are so pushy at the restaurants (besides the place we ate at tonight, which was great). I was under the impression that Venetians especially are very patient at restaurants and you can literally have your table all night if you want, but that was not our experience at all. Anyway, I think Venice is a wonderful city, with tons of culture, which I enjoyed the most--even the rude locals are a part of this culture and I enjoyed learning about this new city.

Tomorrow we are off to Cinque Terre! I am so excited to return there. 2 summers ago when we came here with school we were only able to spend a day there so I am very excited to be able to spend 2 nights there. It is an incredible place--probably the most anticipated destination for me so far! Anyway, thats all for now, ill update in Cinque Terre!

Last day in Capri and first day in Positano, Italy

These few days in Capri have been great. This is such a beautiful island and the people here are very friendly. Everything is so green here, it makes hiking, though uphill, a little more enjoyable in the heat. Yesterday was our first/only full day on the island and we really made it a full day. It started with a Blue Grotto visit (the little cave with the bright blue water) and after the blue grotto we took a boat tour around the island to see the coastline. Again, this island is incredible. The cliffs were amazingly high and the water was amazingly blue haha. On the boat tour around the island we were able to stop and visit a few more grottos along the cliffs which were also very sweet--we saw the green grotto, the coral grotto, and the white grotto. We also went beneath the 'arc of love' haha. It is like a natural arc off the coast that you can drive the boat through. While on the tour we saw Georgio Armani's house which was probably 1 of the 100 he owns. After the tour we went on the freaking hike of a lifetime. We hiked up the northeast part of the island to a place called the Villa Jovis. This place was the hang out spot for Emperor Vesuvius during his reign as the king. There were incredible views of the island and also the Amalfi coast off in the distance.  After that we hiked down to the 'Arco Natural' which was another natural arc that was at the top of the cliff side. There are pictures on facebook of it for those of you who wanna see the pics. After the Arco Natural, we hiked down what seemed like a million steps and then walked along the coastline on the paths back towards the hotel. This part of the hike was by far the best and most picturesque. There were new pics to take literally after every turn we took. This morning I thought it would be a good idea to run up the windy from the port below our hotel. It turns out if you ever want to attempt suicide, running uphill for a mile would probably be a success. Today we took a bus over the the other side of the Isle of Capri to a place called Anacapri, pretty creative, I know. In Anacapri we took a chairlift up to the top of Mount Solero, which is the tallest 'mountain' on the island, it is about 600 meters high so like 2,000 feet? The view from the top of the mountain was really sweet. the water is so blue it was really difficult to tell where the water ended and the sky began which was pretty cool. Today we are taking a Hydrofoil to Positano, which is like 40 minutes from Capri. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Pompeii which should be pretty interesting/cool to see.

ps. this island is infested with these enormous bugs that looks like a mega bee. or like a 10 bees all stuck together and they sound like helicopters when they fly by. its gross. haha

End of Greece, Beginning of Italy

So, this morning was our last bit of time in Greece. It had been a long, but interesting week. All in all, I loved Santorini, it was incredible and I want to go back there some day. Athens, on the other hand, I didn't love. Overall, it was a decent city, but I probably will not return there. We got to see all of the historical sites while we were there like the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum, Delphi, and all of the ancient greek ruins that surround the city, and all of those things were great.  The Acropolis museum was really incredible. They had so many ancient sculptures from like the 5th and 6th century BC.  I felt like all of the history was overwhelming at times, just so long ago and so much history to keep track of in that place! I think my favorite part about Greece was all of the animals roaming the streets. There were literally cats and dogs everywhere. They were all so friendly and very well-fed. Im not sure if i mentioned this in other posts, but the city has little dog and cat feeding trays throughout the city to keep all the animals fed; they must like having them around too!  I am so very grateful and happy I was able to visit that city, but I am also very excited to return to Italy. Today we caught an afternoon flight to Naples from Athens (first flight to leave on time for us this trip :)) and then we got on a bus that took us to the port (Molo Beverello marina) to get on a 'hydrofil' to take us to Capri, where I currently am.  The hydrofil is like a very fast ferry, it cuts the transit time in more than half.  Naples was a very disappointing city. There was literally garbage everywhere you looked. We were waiting to get on the bus at the train station after validating our Eurail passes for future training and there were people literally buying what seemed like garbage from one another. It was very sad to watch. The people here seem very polite and helpful, just like in Greece.  Capri is a beautiful island as well.  It is so green here and it seems very authentic Italian.  Tomorrow we are planning a Blue Grotta tour and a small walking excursion of the island.  I will be putting pics us either today or tomorrow! Love you all!

Santorini Con't

Santorini is an absolutely amazing island.  The people here are so great, so welcoming and friendly.  Today we took the volcano and island excursion to see more of the archipelago (Santorini is actually 5 islands in total. Before the volcano erupted, the island was a circle and the blast caused the island to sink, which turned it into multiple islands.) The volcano was so-so, its hard to appreciate a volcano like this one when you can hike up to st. helens a few hours from home.  It was a great experience, but nothing like mt st helens.  After the volcano excursion, we took the boat to the northern tip of the island to watch this sunset. This part of the island was my favorite, by far. the buildings were all so beautiful and it seemed like I took 100 pictures while we were there. We sat and had our 'greek siesta'. Our tour guide to Delphi told us that the greeks have a similar rest period as do the hispanics following their late lunch. So from about 4-6, we sat looking at the blue Aegean sea with the beautiful white buildings in the foreground. The view was absolutely stunning. After that, we started walking more towards the northern end of the island to catch the sunset. It so happens that we found a perfect seat, with a perfect view of the sunset at a restaurant. so far, this was my favorite part of the trip. The view was completely inexplicable. Watching the sun set the way it did tonight at this magnificent setting reminds me of how amazing and powerful God truly is. The setting sun was a reminder of His power, for sure; just truly a once in a lifetime experience. I have taken a ton of pictures the last two days here in Santorini so be sure to check them out on fb! Tomorrow we are going to a few of the beaches on the opposite side of the island since it is supposed to be perfect weather. Please continue to pray for Ellen and I as we travel, and I will keep updating as much as I can!

Santorini

We have finally made it to santorini! This place is really incredible. Make sure to look through the photo album on facebook to check out all the pics.  Tomorrow we are taking a ferry ride out to a volcano that erupted like 4000 years ago that apparently changed the shape of Europe, pretty interesting. Then we will go swimming in the volcanic hotsprings. after the hotsprings the ferry ride takes us to the northern tip of the island where we will be able to see an incredible sunset (apparently). I seriously love this place, definitely more than athens and I think more than any other European destination I have been thus far.  this city in on a hill in the middle of the island with a ton of little shops and restaurants. It seems like everywhere you turn there is another picture to be taken.  We took a plane over here from athens, about a 30 minute flight--which seemed like 30 seconds compared to the 9.5 hr flight we took from philly. Yesterday we went to Delphi, which was the site of the oracle for the greeks during the 450s bc. It was absolutely incredible to see the ruins and touch the stone.  again, look in the fb album for all the pics of delphi! Traveling has been a ton of fun and an absolute blessing. I am definitely missing home but this is an experience of a lifetime!

First day in Europe...

We finally made it to Athens afternoon around 12.  After doing some quick math, I am currently writing this blog after 30 sleepless hours. That's right, 30. We are both so exhausted but nevertheless we had an incredible day.

The reason why we didn't make it to Athens so late is because we had some travel delays in Chicago on Saturday afternoon, (surprise, surprise!! :)) The delays actually worked in our favor in the end. We were forced to stay an extra night in the states on saturday night then catch a direct flight from Philadelphia to Athens yesterday afternoon. Since we had a morning and early afternoon in Philly, we decided to see the Liberty Bell, Independence hall and all that fun US history stuff--we also went to the Rocky Balboa steps at the art museum! After all that we went to the Reading market (a really cool indoor market) and I had an authentic Philly Cheesesteak.  After the morning and early afternoon in Philly we finally took off for our 9:30 hour flight to athens. After the long and uncomfortable trip were finally made it to the hotel this morning around 11:45. Our first exploration of Athens began shortly after that. Today we got to see some truly amazing things. We hiked up to the top of the Acropolis, saw the parthenon (which was unfortunately under construction) had amazing views from the top of the parthenon of all of Athens.  By the way, Athens in by far the largest city I have ever seen. For as far as you can see, in all directions there are while buildings! All of them seem to be so randomly placed with no organization whatsoever.  It is a very unique and beautiful city from the top of the Acropolis. We then went into town to finish our walking city tour and found a really authentic Greek neighborhood to sit and have a drink and relax. These people are so friendly and laid back, everyone seems to be moving slowly and taking their time with everything, its a very refreshing feeling in a big, foreign city.  Anyway, today was an amazing experience being able to see of the historical artifacts, I was and still am in awe of how amazing the Greeks were with their building skills!

Tomorrow we are taking a trip to Delphi to see the Oracle. I don't know much about it so I need to do some research before tomorrow morniing. After the day tour to Delphi, which takes about 12 hours, we are going to have dinner in the nice dining neighborhood of Athens and see the Olympic stadium before dark. (Btw, it gets dark at like 9:00 here, it's pretty strange but I love it.) and once it turns dark we are planning on watching the parthenon light up! Apparently its a beautiful scene.

The weather here is perfect. Its like a dry heat, like southern california, rather than the muggy heat of chicago. (when Chicago decide to have heat :)

Anyways, I need to get some rest, I am exhausted and we have another big day tomorrow! I will try and put a few pics up tomorrow! Love you all!

Casey