The Leaning Tower of Pisa and Florence!

I feel like things never go as planned, but always end up turning out better than expected. I only have a few weekends left in Italy and I really want to make the most of them. I was planning to go to Florence with Emma and Diego this past weekend, but the people whose house we were planning to stay at fell through. :/ Emma decided to come to Bracciano Friday night to play beach volley and then, at least, we'd be together and could figure out what we wanted to do for the weekend. There was a little hitch in our plan when Emma somehow got on a train going the opposite direction of Bracciano (noticing a common thread with public transportation mishaps here?). I ended up playing beach and water volley. It was getting later, and I really didn't want to waste my weekend.

At 11pm, I called Emma and told her I still wanted to go to Florence this weekend and that I was coming to Rome as we spoke. I love the fact that Emma is always up for anything because she agreed before I had finished my explanation! Marcos drove me from Bracciano to a metro near his house in Rome, and I caught the last metro heading to Emma's. We got to bed around 2 and woke up at 5:10 the next morning so that we could catch the first metro to Termini (main train station) and then caught a train from there to Pisa. Regardless of the fact that we actually ran to the metro station, we still missed the first one, but caught the next ten minutes later. We are making quite a habit out of running everywhere we go; my gym workouts may have been lacking since I've been in Italy, but I try to make up for that by running to and through the metro and train stations! We caught the train to Pisa with time to spare, and by time, I mean 2 minutes...but that still counts, eh? We slept a little, ate, changed and got ready on the train—I won't go into detail, but it was actually pretty impressive.

6am on the train. Running on 4 hours of sleep. Not our best time of the day, but we were happy! :D

We got off the train in Pisa and a gypsy tried to rob me. Really?? Not going to let that happen again... Emma and I decided that we were going to take pictures of Pisa's other monuments, the less known ones. Well, that was a little bit difficult because there were only about two in the entire city... It didn't matter though, the Leaning Tower was amazing! It was crazy to stand in front of it, such a famous monument; it almost didn't seem real. Hence, we did the total touristy thing and just took tons of ridiculous pictures so that we could remember it. FYI: Taking pictures there is harder than it looks. Emma, however, apparently looked like she knew what she was doing though because an Asian family had her take pictures of their daughter for them!

Other Pisa Monument #1

#2

#3?? (For you broha--love you!)

In case you somehow missed the huge tower, a nice little sign

Oh and a couple failed attempts :) 

As we were leaving the tower, we got stopped by some street vendors selling watches—not an uncommon thing to happen in Italy. This guy, however, wasn't as concerned with selling his watches as he was with selling himself and professing his love to me—so random! His sales pitch, in a heavy African accent, was "I saw those eyes from a mile away! I don't care about the money—take it, take my clothes! Take my watches! Baby take me!" Needless to say, we took the watches for a steal of a price, and nothing else. Well, almost nothing else, him and his friends insisted that we take their number; and although I insisted that my phone was dead, he wrote his number down on a piece of paper, put it in my hand, and assured me he would take Emma and I to the best parties in Pisa that night. So...we left to Florence!

We made it our first order of business to get a hostel in Florence because, well, there were no random beaches there that we could have slept on like we did in Cinque Terre... We found a random hostel, crashed for an hour and a half, and then got up to enjoy the night life of Florence. Florence is definitely a town for shopping, but you could have a blast without spending a dime. It looks a little like Rome I suppose, but Florence just has a different feel. Rather than thousands of tourists waiting in line to see or get into specific monuments, everyone is just walking around, shopping, sitting and talking. Of course there are some must see sights in Florence, so we took a lot of pictures, but then there were also outdoor concerts going on and a ton of random musicians playing. The city just has a cool feel.

Emma will hate me for this haha but it was my favorite picture of the trip :)

Emma and I met three guys from Romania: Eugene Grigoroiu, Bogdan Tomoiaga and Vlasin Livius (they couldn't pronounce my name either, so I didn't feel too bad about not being able to say theirs:). They were really friendly and more camera-happy than Emma and I (something that I didn't think was possible, but so nice because Emma and I actually have pictures together now!). We all ended up walking around the city that night and grabbing dinner at a legit Italian restaurant. Eugene, Bogdan and Vlasin were all engineers and spoke several languages; educated and very well cultured/traveled—something I respect very much. I feel so lucky to be here and to have the opportunity to constantly be meeting new and interesting people. Ya know, I'll probably never see those guys again, but it was still interesting to hear about their lives, to listen to them talk about their country, and to compare our cultures. Now if I ever go to Romania, I'll have some friends to call. :) I wish I could just spend the next 5 years of my life traveling the world and meeting people...while that probably isn't possible, I have definitely come down with the travel bug and can assure you that this is only the beginning of world travels!

how random that they have a University of Washington sticker on the door at a pizza place in Florence??

And a note with Gonzaga on it in the table

The next morning Emma and I got up bright and early—we've kind of fallen in love with being up before the rest of the world ever since Cinque Terre—and wanted to explore the city before the hustle and bustle of other tourists started. We walked all around Florence, attended part of a Catholic mass—which is one of the most beautiful things ever, ate gelato for lunch, and looked around various shops. As we were heading to the train station, we passed a leather shop; we said hi to the owner as we were passing by and he legitimately ended up running after us. He got our attention, complimented us on our beauty (guys in the States need to take notes), told me I had beautiful eyes, and insisted I meet his son. He called for his son, and was completely disappointed when he realized Marco (his son) wasn't working that day, but still invited us into his shop. He asked us how long we were staying in Florence and was distraught when I told him only a few more hours. He told me to come back next weekend, that Marco, “a beautiful, tall man who speaks five languages'”—would show me around Florence and that we could spend the next day at the beach together (haha). He assured Emma that Marco had a really good looking friend that would be perfect for her as well. We stayed in the shop for quite awhile talking to Ceaser (the store owner) and the other employees. It may have been my favorite part of the whole trip! They were some of the nicest people I have ever met, and were funny as heck. Site seeing is great, but meeting people is what I live for! Ceaser gave me his card and wrote down his son's name for me so that I could look him up on Facebook. Honestly, it's probably not going to happen, but it's still flattering and I think Ceaser is my new favorite person.  It never ceases to amaze me how kind and interesting people are, especially in Italy. I love the States, but I really wouldn't mind a few more months here...

Random guy that decided to jump in Emma's picture

K, so I'm taller than the average person in Italy, but really??

This man wants me to marry his son hahaha

It was sad to say goodbye to Florence, especially since our 4 hour train ride in the 99 degree weather had no air conditioning. Mamma mia! But I have a feeling that my last three weeks in Italy will be nothing short of amazing :)

Did I mention that I LOVE Rome??

.So much has been happening lately, I don't even know where to begin!

The night I got home from Cinque Terre, I walked into my house--attractive with my lack of sleep, showers and makeup--to find a couple beautiful people sitting at my kitchen table, a good looking American guy, Tom, and a pretty Argentine/American girl, Flor. They both actually go/went to BYU; Tom is studying at Cambridge for the summer and Flor has been living in France for the past year! I decided to head into Rome with them the next morning--they wanted to see some of the tourist sites and I needed to get my passport and pick up the money that my mom wired me. I got to the American Embassy around 1:30 to get my passport and had to wait until 2 to get in. The guards, in typical Italian fashion, were more than friendly--the first two I met offered to show me around Rome afterward, one offered to come to Bracciano and visit me, and a third suggested I meet him for drinks that night (haha). I was allowed inside the embassy, under 'emergency circumstances', went through security, and made my way up to American affairs where I was denied a passport because I didn't have cash on me (and they wouldn't let me pay with my parent's card number). In a crunch for time, I went down to pick up the money that was wired to me; however, I was informed that I couldn't get it without a passport. So there I was, lost for a solution--no passport without money, but no money without a passport. I went back to the embassy, explained my situation and they agreed to make me an alternative document that I could use to pick up the money, but then told me that I would have to come back the next morning to pick up my passport--which I did. Quite the hassle, but everyone was so nice, I actually think I might go back to visit again now because I've gotten to know so many of the employees! :)

After getting my passport, I realized that I didn't have a plan to meet back up with Tom and Flor, and they didn't have a phone...A+ planning, eh? I decided to go sit near the Colosseum, where they had mentioned they were going. No luck. Then my phone rang, I answered, and some lady replied speaking Italian 942 words per second. I told her that she had the wrong number without even trying to understand what she was saying. I decided to pay more attention to her (she kept talking, so it was either that or hang up), which was lucky because she ended up being Flor's aunt (Flor had used my phone earlier to call her); although I didn't know where Flor was at the moment, I was able to meet up with her and Tom when they were meeting up with her aunt. Bellisimo! We enjoyed some fruit juice, before seeing some of the most famous sites and eating some gelato.

Tom, Flor and I in front of the Trevi Fountain

Daniele, Tom, and I in front of the Roman Forum

My favorite gelato flavor.

Because I had to get my passport the next morning, I decided to stay in Rome that night at my friends, Fausto and Daniele's house which was, conveniently, where Tom and Flor were staying. Although I didn't bring any extra clothes, I ended up staying an extra night because I was having so much fun; so if you've noticed that everyone's clothes change in the pictures except mine, that's why.. :) We all toured Rome during the day and Fausto made us a delicious Italian dinner the first night. Flor spiced it up with some authentic Argentine cuisine the next night, and had us all rolling on the floor laughing when she told us about her obsession with Enrique Inglesias, mamma mia, I wish I had recorded it! It was a great couple of days, it doesn't even feel like anything negative (like getting my bag stolen...) even happened. It's amazing what some good friends and Roman magic can do to boost your mood!

Me (day 3 in same outfit), Tom, Flor, Fausto, Daniele

The last night Tom and Flor were in town, everyone wanted to see some of the Roman monuments at night, but after a draining couple of days, Tom and I were the only ones that ended up going. It was late, so the metros were closed and we decided to try our luck with a night bus. We found the correct one, N12, and squished in between the 927 sweaty men who were already on the bus (slight exaggeration). After 20 minutes of driving around in residential areas, we realized something wasn't right; Tom asked someone sitting near us and it turns out that we had gotten on the RIGHT bus, but in the WRONG direction, and spent an extra hour riding around and getting a tour of Rome's residential ghetto. :)  No complaints though, it was worth it. The monuments in Rome at night are absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We got to see the Trevi Fountain and Piazza Venezia (Tomb of the Unknown Soldier)! We also learned that gelato can be purchased around the clock, that you can walk down the middle of the street at night without getting hit, and that you should not worry about the creepy man who appears to be robbing the fruit stand by the Trevi, he actually lives there... Going on a week night ended up being really cool as well, most tourists are in bed preparing for the next day of sightseeing and most locals are in bed preparing for their next day at work or school. How many people get to feel like they have one of the busiest cities in the world to themselves??

So, basically I have zero complaints and only positive things to say. I live in an amazing place, I get to meet wonderful people, and I'm making memories that I'm sure I will tell stories about for the rest of my life. :)

Cinque Terre

Friday was a rough day, getting all my things stolen was one of the worst feelings ever, but I really didn't want to sulk in that feeling. Emma, who I was planning on going to Cinque Terre with offered to go a different weekend, and most people I’ve talked with assured me that I should take the trip, just later. Honestly though, the thought of just staying in Bracciano and having to think about what happened, when I can't actually do anything...is not a good one. I was dying to talk to my Mom because I knew exactly what advice she would give me and I just wanted that reassurance. So, I asked:

Me: Mom, should I still go to Cinque Terre?

Mom: Yes! Are you kidding me? Go!

Decision made. Emma was a doll—not only did she spot me the cash to pay for the train tickets; she brought me a new bag, since I'd lost mine, with all the girl essentials. Honestly, I've known her just a short time, but I already love that girl! How could I not? She's such a sweetheart. And we are both, randomly, really great friends with KJ Green (shout out! Te Voglio bene!). On Friday night, I went into Rome to listen to a man from the Olympic board speak; I saw Brother and Sister Krueger—the senior missionary couple in charge of the Rome GANS (YSA). I went over to sit by Sister Krueger because I was in serious need of a 'mom hug.' Afterwards I asked for a blessing from Brother Krueger and was able to talk to them both for 30 minutes or so. After that, everything just felt good. I truly do think that things happen for a reason, and while that was a tough trial to go through, I know I'll be better for it in the long run.

Emma and I decided to stay at our friends, Fausto and Daniele's, apartment in Rome on Friday night because it was closer to the main train station. We wanted to get a good night sleep, which didn't happen because the bus we wanted to never came. We decided to try our luck with hitch hiking (haha) and got a taker. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, when the man saw that we were with two other guys, he revoked is offer (creeper!). We took a taxi instead.

Emma and I couldn't find Fausto and Daniele’s apartment or get a hold of them, so found ourselves knocking on a couple random doors. We felt bad because it was past midnight and realized, after a pant-less man opened his door, that we would rather wait on the stairs of the building and eat pasta until Fausto arrived home and could just direct us to his apartment. We got up Saturday morning, after 3 hours of sleep, took a wrong turn to Termini and ended up running to the train station and barely catching our train. That didn't matter though, we were on our way and happy! If you haven't heard of Cinque Terre, its 5 tiny and beautiful cities on the coast of Italy—an absolute must see if you ever make it to Italy. My Uncle Dan—who is well traveled—recently got a hold of me just to make sure I didn't miss the opportunity to visit Cinque Terre; I couldn’t ignore his advice! Emma and I took a train to La Spezzia Centrale and then hopped on one to the last city: Monterosso. We had been going through a long serious of tunnels when suddenly there was a break, where everyone caught our first, split second glimpse of the view. At that moment, as if on cue, everyone let out a gasp! It was more beautiful than anything I've ever seen in real life and gone before I could take it in. The perfect preview to a magical trip!

Monterosso

We decided to visit the furthest city first. We got off the train, saw a beach, but wanted to explore the city first. Somehow, we made our way up to a little residential area—which was beautiful—before heading down to enjoy the beach and seeing Ken Barbie (seriously, we saw his illegitimately twin who was way pretty than either of us. We steered clear ;). Emma and I walked around the rest of the city, Emma bought a dress and we decided to go to the next town and come back to Monterosso later for a big concert/party/bonfire. I feel like I can't do the trip justice in words, so get ready for lots of pictures!

Vernazza

Getting to Vernazza ended up being quite the challenge; somehow we got on a train that took us all the way back to La Spezzia Centrale—don't ask me how—but eventually made or way there. The first thing we did was eat: pasta and pizza with Pesto—which was actually invented in Cinque Terre. Oh my word, I wish I’d taken a picture, but I was too caught up in the enjoyment of the moment and it didn't cross my mind. We got to sit outside and eat, overlooking the beautiful ocean, surrounded by beautiful buildings. Cinque Terre really is like nothing I've ever seen before; when I say the towns are tiny, I'm not exaggerating—they're beautifully preserved and picturesque. They seem to be somewhat unaffected by the fast pace of the modern world. Going to Cinque Terre isn't about seeing as many monuments or museums as possible, it's about slowing life down, enjoying the moment, eating great food, and taking pleasure in the simplicity and beauty of life. There was a beautiful cemetery at the top of town; you have to make quite the hike to get there, but it’s worth it—a few of the grave markers said "Benvenuto" which means 'Welcome,' I thought there was just something very poetic about it.

benvenuto = welcome; quite poetic

Back to Monterosso

So, Emma and I were quite tired, but still wanted to take a hike that day (you can hike between all the cities!). We wanted to take a power nap or something on some big rocks, but ended up hoping to find a spot on the trail to rest instead—which we didn't, not exactly. The hike wasn't bad, but we may or may not have been wearing swim suits, dresses and sandals (you really can't judge me on this one though, my shoes were in my bag that had been stolen), which made it a bit more difficult. There were so many different kinds of stair cases, trails and little narrow passages—it took quite some time, but I can't even being to describe how beautiful everything was! We got to watch the sun go down, explore a house that had been destroyed by recent flooding, and even took a 'bath' in the 'Fountain of Youth' which was under a beautiful little waterfall. You honestly cannot blink your eyes in Cinque Terre without opening them to something new and beautiful.

By the time we got back to Monterosso, it was pretty late and a concert—with African singers/performers and a huge bonfire—had already started. We were sweaty as heck and not looking our cutest, but apparently good enough to catch the attention of a couple South African travelers (fyi: they were white), who offered us a place to stay about 30 seconds after meeting them. Now, we actually hadn't found a hostel or hotel yet (we liked the idea of ambiguity and sleeping on the beach was already a bucket list item). They guys seemed nice and we planned to meet up later, but—not wanting to make any other dumb decisions—we bailed on them. This, in retrospect, probably wasn’t the smartest idea considering the town is tiny! They saw us a bit later and John Luke started apologizing, while Davide (Davey) stood back looking grumpy.

John Luke: I am so sorry we didn't find you, we were waiting there for a long time—I don't know how we didn't see you...

Me: (playing it off, as if we hadn't actually ditched them purposefully) Don't even worry about it! You are fine!

After hanging around the city, meeting new people (including a BYU alumni—he was wearing a BYU shirt, so I had to go introduce myself:), talking to some old women and several groups of people our age, we still didn't have a place to stay. We probably should have looked into a hostel earlier, but because we hadn’t and because we didn't want to stay with the random South African guys we'd just met, we did the next most obvious thing: we found a place by the bonfire, laid ourselves in the sand, and tried to get some shut-eye. Easier said than done thanks to some annoying drunk college kids… John Luke ended up bringing us down some blankets and staying the night with us on the beach—it was pretty tender, and definitely one of my top memories from the trip. He told us all about South Africa, how he had been 2 meters from a huge elephant the week prior, and about all of the wild animals he'd seen. That is my next travel destination! Anyhow, it got colder as the night went on, so when we finally woke up, we were basically in the ash of the bonfire (which had gone down during the night in attempt to get warmer). We only slept a couple hours, and goodness knows we must have been a sight to see: two girls, still wearing our dresses, covered in a mix of dirt (from the hike), sand and ash. It was barely past 5 when we woke up, so we got an early start to our day. It was incredible to explore at that time, when the only other people out were the local fisherman. We caught a train and spent the rest of the day exploring the last three villages.

A house destroyed by a recent flood

So I decided to climb up and explore :)

the African Concert

After 2 hours of sleep on the beach by the bonfire

Bucket list check! Slept on the beach, and in Cinque Terre nonetheless!

Corniglia

We somehow avoided the 365 stairs by walking up a windy road; we saw 3 Porsches on the way—I’d definitely say that most people living in Cinque Terre aren't doing too bad financially. I honestly think I might be able to stay there forever—it's a slower way of life, but it is unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced (I feel like I say things like this a lot, but it’s always true). If you get a chance to go, don't hesitate.

Manarola

Emma and I got breakfast and then, because it was Sunday, found a little cathedral and spent about an hour there having our own little spiritual uplift. Honestly, when my bag was stolen, I felt sick—I always expect the best of people and having that happen made me lose some faith in that belief, but now, it's been restored! There have been so many good and kind people that have been there for me—family, friends, new acquaintances and even strangers. Like my blessing said, I have truly been able to find the divine and extraordinary in the negative and the ordinary.

Tiomaggiore

Emma and I were dead tired by the time we made it to the 5th and final town, but that didn't stop us. We spent our time there exploring the city, lying out on enormous rocks overlooking the ocean, talking to random people and eating gelato.

It was sad to say goodbye to Cinque Terre, that may be why we decided to double the time of our return trip… We somehow purchased train tickets to Roma Aurelia. If any of you were wondering, ROMA AURELIA is not VALLE AURELIA—which is the where I needed to be to catch the train back to Bracciano. We found ourselves waiting hours for a train that actually doesn't come on Sunday, caught a random bus instead, and then another to get us to a metro station. I ran to catch my train, which was leaving in 6 minutes. It just so happened that 3 of the 4 escalators in the train station were not working, so I legitimately sprinted from the metro, up 3 HUGE flights of stairs, as I tried to remind myself that I competed at state in high school track. I spent 6 of my past 64 hours sleeping, but couldn't be happier. La Dolce Vita!