Category: Italy

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Milano

I’m just leaving Milano now for Rome. I had a wonderful time. It makes me so happy to go back there and find the city more or less how I left it. When I lived there four years ago, the saddest thing about leaving is I felt I would never be able to come back. I felt that what I loved about Milano was all the international friends I had made there and that those people would have moved on before I could ever return. Many of those people are gone now, but many are still there. In fact the ones that are still seem to be closer with each other than ever.

I stayed with Dan and his boyfriend, Eduardo (or Dado). Not only did they take me in but they made all the plans for my birthday. I got in late the 22nd, but we met some of Dan’s friends for a drink. The 23rd Dan had to work, but Dado and I had a lovely day in Milan. He made me breakfast then we met one of the girls from the night before and Nick, Dan’s old roommate who I met two years ago, for a delicious lunch. And had coffee after where Luc works. I knew Luc 4 years ago, though not well then since we did not have a solid language in common. In the evening Dado, Dan, and I helped a coworker of his with his new apartment and got pizza. Then we went to a club opening, Tropicana. No dieing my hair. A wonderful birthday!

I spent two more full days in Milan. It really is a wonderful city and so different from the little Tuscan towns I had visited before then. Those tiny centers live only on tourism and are surrounded by farms and vineyards. Milan is a self sufficient city where the tourists stay near the touristy parts (like a US city). I also got to eat very well being shown around by my local friends.

[Edit] Photos from Milano Visit:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100923Milano#

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My mysterious absence

When I met up with Steve and Chris, my trip took on a faster pace and there was no blogging. At the same time I was in Germany without internet on my phone and there was no twittering. I didn’t realize anyone besides my mom was reading along until I received so many messages wondering where I was. I’m on my way to Rome now. I’ve been writing. I’ll be back posting shortly.

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Cinque Terre, Second Time

I’m on my way out of Cinque Terre for the second time this trip. I’m so glad I went back, it was like getting more summer. I really liked having more warm beach time after my time in the Tuscan hills. This time I didn’t feel obligated to do any of the hikes, I just relaxed on the beach. I can’t believe how fast time goes by at Cinque Terre, it felt like I was in and out, not there for 5 days.

I hung out more with the Albanian guys I quickly mentioned in my other 5 Terre post. It was super fun going out with locals at night. I went to a birthday party one night for the first one I met, Elton, in La Spezia. It was really interesting how the language dynamic changes so easily. One minute I am the least able to communicate person in the room, add another English speaker, and I’m the translator. It’s both fascinating and exhausting.

Now I am on my way to Germany. It will take me a whole day in transit. I’m spending 2 nights in Berlin. Then meeting Steve and Chris from High School in Munich. After that it’s back to my old stomping grounds: Milano. Then to settle down in Rome. Pretty excited for all of it!

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

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Volterra

I spent four days in Volterra, though a bit of that up in my room or an internet cafe doing work. Lets hope that all works out and I can sustain this fabulous life of mine! That timing wasn’t an accident. I knew the work was coming in, and I knew Volterra was a town I wanted to visit that doesn’t take long to see the sights, that has an affordable hostel, but is hard to access.

So I won’t lie, one of the things that brought me here was the part this city plays in the Twilight books. When reading the books I assumed Volterra was a made up town. It sure sounds like a made up town where ancient Italian vampires would live. But when reading my trusty Rick Steves, I saw it listed as his favorite “Tuscan Hill Town”. I had given myself some time to explore the little Tuscan towns, so naturally I was going to stop here.

I was staying just outside the walled center, about a 15 minute walk. The area was once where all of Italy sent their crazy people. Eventually the Mayor said enough is enough and sent them all to their own towns. There were monks and nuns taking care of the crazy people, but they went elsewhere since they were no longer needed. My hostel was the monastery. It is actually very beautiful.

The city of Volterra itself, which means city of wind and rock, was once very important in the Etruscan Era. It was a key city in the Etruscan Dodecapolis (12 city league). The original city wall was much bigger then than it is today. There is still a standing door from that time, Porta all’Arco, dating from the 4th century BC. At some point the Romans came and concord and built some Roman things. There are ruins of a very distinctly Roman theater. After Florence took the city in 1472, they built the Madaci Fortress, which today is used as a maximum security prison.

The town itself is so small that even with it’s winding streets, I learned my way quickly. On my way in from Siena I made friends with an couple from Virginia. They were just staying the night, but we made friends for the long bus ride into town. I ran into them one night when we picked the same restaurant for dinner, they had extended their stay. Then another time at the grocery store, they had extended again. She was a huge Twilight fan, so it was fun to geek out about that.

I ate very well in Volterra. Best was that restaurant I mentioned above, Don Beta. They have course meals. So for 12 euro I had bruschetta, gnocchi, and beans. Those who know my eating habits know I’m not the biggest bean fan, but these were really good. There was a pizzeria I went to twice. Once I had a delicious slice with arugula all over it. The second time the pizza I picked was really different. The guy had no patience to explain how it was made, except that he uses chick pea flour. The pizza is just the dough, no toppings, and it tastes like potato. So delicious! There is also zuppa di volterra, which is a vegetable soup. I could have eaten this every day. It is really thick, there is no broth used, just yummy veggies.

And now I’m on the road again, reversing my way back North. I’m even stopping in Cinque Terra again because I liked it so much and I want more beach time. I was going to stop in Elba, but it is actually pretty big and it seems like you need a car or motorbike to get around there. After that, Zurich, then Octoberfest!

[Edit] Link to Volterra Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100906Volterra#

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Leaving Siena

Since I didn’t feel well I took an extra day to have a low key pack up day on the 5th. I did laundry and packed most of my things. Did the last thing I needed to do in Siena: go to the best Gelateria. Koko kabana gelato was recommended to me by Fabio, like everything else. It was pretty amazing!

On my way back from enjoying said gelato, I heard some drums. Then coming at me in the narrow street was basically a parade. Young men were all dressed up in medieval garb with either flags or drums. And on the sides were women with scarves matching the flags. The procession goes by for quite a while and there were more people with scarves at the back. I asked a group of young girls what that was all about. Side note, young girls speak quickly and are hard to understand in any language. The gist that I got was that they are all from neighborhood [animal we don’t know the word for] and they are visiting all the other neighborhoods today with their drums and flags. What I couldn’t figure out, was if it was friendly or taunting. Either way, quite the sight!

Monday morning I packed up, sent a small package home to lighten my load, and hit the road. I walked about 10 minutes. Took a bus to Colle. A shuttle to another bus stop in Colle. A bus to Volterra. And then walked about 20 minutes to my hostel. I’m glad I am not trying to fit these towns into a 2 week trip and I can stay put after all the effort to get to these obscure places.

Volterra looks pretty small, but I still think any place is worth a few days. Also I don’t feel well, I have work to do, so I might as well stay here where there is a 17 euro hostel! My hostel is a converted monastery. It is about a 10 minute walk outside of town, but it is really nice!

[Edit] Link to Siena Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100902Siena#

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San Gimignano

Today I took a day trip to San Gimingnano. It is quite the tourist trap, small but famous for it’s beauty and still-standing towers, 14 of the original 60. My man, Rick Steves says “In the 13th century, back in the days of Romeo and Juliet, feuding noble families ran the towns. They’d periodically battle things out from the protection of their respective family towers. Pointy skylines like San Gimignano’s were the norm in medieval Tuscany.”

I walked around the town, checked out some panoramas, climbed up the one open tower, and had a nice lunch in the square. I was fortunate enough to be there on a good day “11′ Anniversario stada del vino Vernaccia di San Gimingnano”. As far as I can tell something happened 11 years ago– freedom from something, I guess– and now they are having a Vernaccia wine festival this day. There were several tables, maybe 10. Each with one or two different farms / wine makers. They each gave me a tasting or two, and their tastings are very generous. I had much more wine than I needed that afternoon. Then the local restaurants had exhibitions, and each gave samples of dishes. Only one was not vegetarian. Woo! I wish I had the food first and I could have asked about how they were made. As it was, it didn’t occur to me. I was also in a rush to eat and catch my bus, or so I thought. It turned out I had an extra hour, so I got to see the traditional games. A band came out in traditional garb. Then men fought with swards and shields. It was pretty awesome!

When I got home I felt pretty awful. Not from the wine, though I’m sure that didn’t help, turns out I had a 102′ fever. Decided to have a low key day in Siena tomorrow instead of going to Rapolano Terme, like I had planned.

[Edit] Link to San Gimignano Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100904SanGimignano#

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Siena

When I first arrived in Siena I just crashed. I then took two full days to explore the city and it’s sights. The first day I got one of the tourist packages and did the Church, the Panorama, and a museum. The church was really quite something, all white and black marble. There is stone artwork in the floors. They keep them covered most of the year to preserve it, so I was there at a good time when it was uncovered. I also walked around getting a feel for the city. Checked out the center square: Il Campo or “the field” called so because it was once the field right outside the original walls.

Siena is divided into regions. Each one has a flag, with two colors and a mascot animal. The one you are born is is the one you belong to forever. Then twice a year there is a great horse race where each region has one rider. It’s a really big deal. My hostel is already booked for it next August. As you walk around, you know which area you are in because there are flags and pained lanterns along the street.

My second day I took a walk around the old fort. You can walk around the walls. I then went to one of the churches. They have a relic of Saint Caterina da Siena, her head. Her actual head in a little glass box. In the afternoon I made plans for the next few days. In the evening I went to this awesome bar, Key Largo, right on il Campo. They sell beers for a normal price, like 3 euro, and you can drink them on the balcony and watch everyone in the square drinking for way too much. It wasn’t even crowed. Tourists must not know about it, and the students were still away for summer.

[Edit] Link to Siena Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/kaitlyn.hanrahan/20100902Siena#

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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#