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Pisa

Today was a travel day. I left Cinque Terre in the morning, took the train to Pisa, visited Pisa, and took another train to Siena. Well, that was the plan anyway. In execution there were a few extra unadvertised transfers. Naturally every time I had to change trains or take a bus I needed to load all my things down and back up the sottopassagio onto a different platform. An exhausting day.

Now Pisa. I have to say I was very disappointed. All I wanted to do was stop over, see the iconic tower in person, spend a little time taking photos, and be on my way. It’s not really that easy. Most disappointing was that there was scaffolding on the tower. So not even good pictures. Second, there there were just loads of tourists. I mean there are always lots of tourists in Italy, but wow! Don’t they know how crappy it is? I mean I did, but I have a month to kill, so I figured why not? Also I guess I was just in a low mood from having a travel day after a week of beach days and Pisa sunk me further into it rather than pulled me out. I was still carrying lots of stuff even after I checked bags at the train station (45 minute walk away) so I opted not to pay to climb the tower. Maybe I’ll go back someday, but I’m going to call or something to be sure there is nothing covering the tower that day.

Good news: Siena looks beautiful. Just too tired to look at it much tonight.

[Edit] Link to Pisa Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100901Pisa#

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Leaving Cinque Terre

Everyone who came through my hostel / apartment was just staying for about 2 nights, and I was thinking maybe I planned too much time wanting to stay for a week. Now I can’t believe it is over already. I’m so glad I stayed that full week. I could probably stay a whole summer. I got to do the walk that everyone does from first town to last, and split it between two easy beach days. Did nothing but tan and swim a few days. Checked out some of the towns: I stayed in Riamaggore (5), visited Vernazza, (3) and visited and beached in Monterossa (1). I just walked through the other two.

The best part about staying for even a whole week was it felt so comfortable my last days. I couldn’t walk down the main street in Riamagiore with out running into someone I had met before. There was the nice boy at my favorite foccaciaria, the guy I did some of my hike with, the Canadian girl at the dress shop who fixed a dress I ripped (she moved here with her husband, who is from here), the guy who runs Cinque Terre Holiday, the other travelers in my apartment, or the Albanian guys I made friends with. So far no complaints about traveling by myself!

[Edit] Link to Le Cinque Terre Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100825CinqueTerre#

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Le Cinque Terre

First thing when I got here I was going to take a shower, but I got the better suggestion of going to the beach first. In Riomaggiore the beach is rocks, not sand, but it is still really nice. The water is warm and dark blue. People sun bath each on their own big flat rock or there is a pebble beach, too. There are two nice little coves that almost feel like swimming pools. The water is a clear dark blue. I can’t reach the bottom, but I can see it and there are no fish. I saw a group of people cliff diving during my swim, not too high, but I’m sure it seems higher when you jump. I might check that out before I go.

My first full day I woke up at 4 AM from jet lag and walked around Riomaggore taking pictures. I spent some time exploring Vernazza– Rick Steve’s favorite of the 5 towns. And I went to La Spezia to get my phone figured out at Vodaphone. Not much to see in La Spezia that I could tell.

I did the big 5-town hike the next day. Still naturally waking up early I was on the trail at 6 AM. I’m glad I was because that is the only time of day that it is pleasant here. I actually gave up at town 4 because that it the hardest part of the trail and I was getting hot and tired. During my walk I met a boy named Elton from Albania. He showed me around town later and I met up with him and his friends the next day.

My hostel is an apartment with 6 beds in it. The people here have been so nice! They are mostly people traveling like me, for months or with no end in sight. For a few nights I had 5 Australians!

I leave the day after tomorrow. My plans are to do that last bit of the hike, get a better feel for some of the other towns and be on my way.

[Edit] Link to Le Cinque Terre Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100825CinqueTerre#

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And I’m off!

Yesterday afternoon my mom dropped me off at Newark Liberty International. I flew to Stolkholm, where I had a two hour layover and was very confused about going through customs. I got by just following all the Italians, who luckily are always easy to spot. Overall I give SAS a positive review. I stopped at Vodaphone in the Milano Airport and bought their only Android phone, a Nexus One before getting a shuttle from the airport to Centrale station. From there I bought my ticket to Levanto no problem and transferred to the local train to Riomaggiore. I was counting on having my phone to direct me to my Hostel, but it wasn’t working. Luckily there are always plenty of people to ask and I found it easily enough. There is a little to be desired, lots of stairs, little water pressure, the internet is stolen from a neighbor, and it is super hot, but none of that is too bad. The girls in the room seem really nice.

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New Jersey!

Friday morning I left Boston for NJ. The bus was really delayed and I ended up late for Nicholas’s baptism. But I guess it was OK because Michelle apparently only got there 10 minutes before me. Uncle Bill had me do the first reading, the responsorial psalm, and help give communion. I never even take the wine, so that was exciting!

Sunday my mom had a BBQ / pool party. A lot of the family came. Unfortunately it rained all day. Still a great time! Everyone wished me well. I even got a few birthday gifts, since I’ll be gone for my 25th birthday. It’s going to be weird when I see everyone again in 3 months for Thanksgiving, when we would see each other again anyway, after having such epic goodbyes.

I’ve spent the past week going through boxes taking out what I want and putting the rest away. I hoped to leave everything nice and neat, I’m mostly meeting that goal. I gave myself plenty of time to pack, thank goodness! I feel really good about what I have picked out to bring. I just hope the suitcase closes :)

[Edit] Link to New Jersey Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100817NJVisit

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The Sprint Home

Friday morning we left Walsenburg, CO and pretty much drove straight until we were all home (or I was at Alison’s). We each did one-tank-of-gas driving shifts through the next two days and nights. We only planned to stop for gas, breakfast, and dinner. However at 4,100 miles, we had a tire blow out in Western Pennsylvania. We had to go 100 miles to get new tiers after the spare was in place. We also dropped off some of my extra things at my parents, since we were driving right past. I got to Alison’s at about 3AM Sunday morning.

[Edit] Link to Road Trip Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100802RoadTrip#

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Great Sand Dunes National Park

This morning we packed up camp early to start the drive to Colorado. The few mosquitoes that were at the site yesterday (I wouldn’t have thought there would be any mosquitoes in the desert, but I also wouldn’t expect so much rain) appeared to have quadrupled overnight with the storm. That was pretty unpleasant. I think we drove practically right past Four Corners, but didn’t realize it until we were way past. We stopped for breakfast in a little town, something like Smiley Bakery. During the drive we crossed over the Rockies. The summit there was 10,800 feet.

In the early afternoon we reached our destination: Great Sand Dunes National Park. There the wind blows sand into these huge dunes. Seriously a lot of sand! We climbed to the top of the closest peak, which was 750 feet high in 45 minutes. It was pretty hard climbing that high in the sand, but really fun frolicking back down. The camp sites and cabins there were all full, so we went East a while before stopping in a little town off the highway. The hotels were all full here, too. Tourist season apparently, which is pretty weird if you could see where we are. We found a room eventually and got dinner at the Iron Horse. It was the perfect example of a nice restaurant in shitty town.

[Edit] Link to Road Trip Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100802RoadTrip#

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Canyonlands National Park

We packed up camp nice and early and headed into town. The car needed an oil change. So we dropped it off and walked to the Golden Stake Restaurant for an amazingly cheap breakfast. After, we drove to Canyonlands National Park. On the way we stopped at Hole in the Rock. It was a hole in the rock. You would really have to go there to understand. At Canyonlands we set up camp at a nice site, waited out the mid-day heat and a little rain shower. There is a shocking amount of rain here in the desert. Then we went on the Slickrock hike. It was 2.5 miles and took us about an hour. It was all on rock, really looked like the desert.

In the evening we came back to the site, grilled, drank, and hung out until it was dark. In the middle of the night it rained– poured actually. The lightening was really bright in the tents and the thunder was deafening in the canyon.

[Edit] Link to Road Trip Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100802RoadTrip#

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Arches National Park

This morning we left the Virginian Motel bright and early. Outside there were some bears; presumably rides for a local fair. We had breakfast across the street at the Moab Dinner—pretty good! That’s supposedly where all the locals go, and I might even believe it because the prices were really good.

Next we headed to Arches National Park. We saw a lot of arches and a lot of baby boomer tourists—from every country. We stopped at vista points and at hiking trails. We took a short walk around Balancing Rock. We took a 5-mile death hike from noon to 3 to Landscape Arch, Double O Arch, and the loop back. We had to do some decent hiking / climbing. One part in particular I was genuinely afraid I would fall and break my camera, if not my neck. Another part we had to scurry up a cliff face to avoid where the trail was flooded out.

After the Arches, we got an early dinner / late lunch at the Sidewinder Café (not sure on that name). Then we picked up some snacks for later at the grocery store and went looking for a camp ground. We ended up at Hal Canyon, which is really nice, basically camping at the bottom of a canyon right on the Colorado River. Only thing is we can’t have a camp fire, there was a little (very little) rain. That wasn’t too big a problem, the problem was it is really hot. We’re chilling out here for the night, drinking 3.2% Tecate and cheap California wine.

[Edit] Link to Road Trip Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100802RoadTrip#

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Hitting the road

Today we left Vegas and set off on our cross country trip. We finished our last packing and showers, checked out, and hit the road a little after 9am. I was too busy moving out of SF during the planning and am sitting in the back where the radio is too loud to hear the front, so I have no idea where we are heading. Every stop is a fun surprise!

Minutes out of Vegas the scenery is nothing but desert. We cut through the corner of Arizona, where we took some pictures at a scenic overlook. We also stopped at a few of those in Utah, they are really nice. Soon it started being a little green, not much though. We stopped in Beaver, Utah at the DFA Cheese Outlet; it was a little underwhelming. Along the way we saw a storm approaching. We were trying to keep ahead, but it eventually caught up. Besides the torrential down pour, it was pelting down hail. After Nick mentioned the possibility, I was genuinely scared the moon roof might break. It didn’t.

It was early evening by the time we reached our first planned stop: Moab. We lost an extra hour crossing time zones. Afraid of the storm that we eventually got ahead of, we skipped out on camping in favor of a $59 hotel room and dinner at the local brewery. There are a few weird local Utah drinking laws, but not as bad as we expected.

[Edit] Link to Road Trip Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100802RoadTrip#