I just got back from fall break and thought it'd be the perfect time to update my blog, since I haven't in awhile! We had an absolutely wonderful time. It was very tiring but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world! :) Jessica's good friend Makenzie flew in from the States a few days before our break, so she got to experience Strasbourg for a little while before heading to Italy with us. She loved it! And we were so glad to have her with us throughout our journey :)
Day One (Saturday, October 19): After a pleasant day exploring Strasbourg, we finally packed and prepared for our voyage. We already had tickets booked to take an overnight train from Strasbourg straight through to Nice, France, and were looking forward to having an overnight train adventure just like in White Christmas. Unfortunately, we missed our train by a couple minutes, and had a stressful night trying and finally succeeding to rebook our tickets for the next day.
Day Two: With our extra time we got a good night's sleep and got up bright and early to make sure we were on time for our morning train! We arrived at the station an hour early and enjoyed relaxing in a cafe there with croissants and coffee before hopping on our train to Nice. Nearly 10 hours later, we arrived in Nice just as the sun was about to set. It was at this point that we realized we had never looked up directions from the station to our hostel! And even though France is covered in cafes, most do not have wifi, so we wandered a few minutes before asking someone where we could go. Thankfully there was a place across the street and we were able to look up directions and be on our way. Upon arriving at Hostel Meyerbeer, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hostel! It was extremely clean and nicely decorated, and the young lady at the front desk (who of course spoke multiple languages, including nearly perfect English) was very helpful. After settling in, we walked down the street to Rue des Anglais - the huge, brightly lit street running along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, only a 5-minute walk from our little hostel. We stopped at a restaurant and shared a pizza, and then spent an hour sitting together on the stone-covered beach, listening to the waves roll upon the shore.
Day Three: Because of missing our train, we unfortunately did not have as much time as we would have liked to enjoy and explore Nice. So we got up early in order to have some time to enjoy the beautiful city. Jessica and I decided to go for a dip in the chilly Mediterranean Sea, and we greatly enjoyed it! It was very cold so we didn't stay in much longer than 10 or 20 minutes, but it was an unforgettable experience. The water was so smooth and soft, and clear enough that we could just barely see our feet below us. Its deep jade-blue color was breathtaking as the glassy smooth sea reflected the little bit of sun that was peeking through the clouds in the overcast sky...Unforgettable. Completely unforgettable. After this swim and then sitting on the beach for awhile longer, we returned to our hostel, gathered our things, and headed to the train station to catch our next train to Cinque Terre, Italy.
This is where I must make a break, as the second half of our day was quite a different experience. Because we wanted to make the most of the time we had in each city, nearly all of our train tickets had us arriving at each new destination in the evening. After this night we realized that was perhaps not the best decision, but nonetheless we made do. I will explain. When we arrived at La Spezia Centrale, one of the train stations close to Cinque Terre (a set of five tiny Italian villages on the coast of the Mediterranean), it was already completely dark. We attempted to follow the directions the hostel had provided us, and found ourselves waiting at a somewhat sketchy bus stop for a ride up to our hostel. After a crazy and seemingly life-threatening ride through the unlit, dark streets up a windy mountain road (during which I was praying for the safety of our lives as our bus driver swung around each corner with reckless abandon), we (miraculously) arrived safely at our hostel in the tiny, 400-inhabitant mountain town of Biassa. After setting down our things, we walked down the street and had an amazing dinner at the only restaurant in town! Later that night at our hostel we met an Australian who had just graduated high school and was taking a year off before college to travel (freaking amazing. Why aren't Americans mature enough to do that?? Haha) as well as a group of three college guys from Montana who were traveling during their break just like us. They are doing a study abroad program where they study half the semester in Athens and half in Rome! So, SO boss!
Day Four: After getting up early, we took a short ride in the hostel's shuttle down to Riomaggiore, the first of the five towns of Cinque Terre. After an interesting hike down the very steep town roads, we made it to the shore and enjoyed taking pictures and simply looking out at the beautiful view of the deep blue Mediterranean. We then enjoyed a coffee and pastry at a cafe where we bumped into all four of our new hostel buddies, and we all hopped on the train together, which Makenzie, Jessica and I rode for two or three minutes before hopping off at the next of the five towns, Manarola. (Side note: If you Google Cinque Terre, the most common image you'll see is a view of this town. It was absolutely beautiful and exactly like the pictures.) The train dropped us off not far from the hiking path, which we took outside of the city, turning around to see the breathtaking view that is so popular for photos. After snapping quite a few shots, we continued down the trail until we found ourselves once again at the shore of the Mediterranean. We sat there for awhile before returning back to town, where we bought a few souvenirs and then waited for the bus to take us back to our hostel. This bus driver was much kinder with our lives than the one the night before. Haha. We then took a train to Venice, arriving there at 11 PM (and this time we had booked a hostel right next to the train station so that we wouldn't have to worry about experiencing anything crazy in the dark again. haha. It was significantly more expensive but worth it for the safety factor). Venice was still alive with activity at this time of night, which was so fun to see, even though we were quite exhausted. We went straight to our hostel and upon arriving at our room, were shocked as to why it was called a hostel and not a hotel. Our room was incredibly nice and also private, so that was a very nice surprise. Makenzie, who traveled throughout Europe for an entire month back in May, assured us that we were not experiencing true hostel life with any of the hostels at which we had stayed up until that point. We were blessed. :)
Day Five: We enjoyed finally having the chance to have a slow morning, eating breakfast at our so-called "hostel" and then getting on the waterbus to head to Burano, a neighboring island filled with adorable colorful houses! If you Google it, I can assure you that they are just as colorful as the pictures show. We wandered around the town, looking in the many cute shops that were scattered along the streets, and enjoyed a super delicious pizza and coffee at a restaurant right next to one of the most picturesque spots of Burano (can I just take a moment to say that Italian coffee is literally the best coffee I have ever tasted?). An adorable little Italian man came by and sung a few songs with his guitar to all of us tourists eating at this spot, and behind him we saw the stereotypical Italian woman leaning out her second-floor window to hang wet clothes out to dry. It was exactly as you'd imagine it. We then returned to the main island and to our hostel to figure out what we wanted to do for the evening, Makenzie and Jessica deciding to explore St. Mark's Square and me deciding to attend a small classical strings concert. Upon arriving at the small, beautiful church where the concert was to be held, I was escorted to the front row where there was one seat available. Because the church was so small and there were so many seats packed in the small space, up close and personal is an understatement as to how close I was to the musicians. It was awesome. :D As the talented string players proceeded to play Vivaldi, Bach, and Mendelssohn, I was transported to a state of complete happiness - pure, unadulterated contentedness at sitting in a beautiful old church in the middle of Venice, Italy, listening to classics that had perhaps been composed in that very city many years ago. It was amazing, and easily the highlight of my entire trip, along with the dip in the Mediterranean :)
Day Six: This morning we decided to explore the main area of Venice, going back to St. Mark's Square in the daylight and entering the breathtaking St. Mark's Basilica, a Byzantine-style church which is one of the few of its kind on this side of Europe, whose intricately designed golden mosaic ceiling took hundreds of years to create. It was incredible. We then chased pigeons out in the square, and enjoyed delicious coffee at one of the restaurants there, where we were served by a classy bow-tied waiter who told us to call him "James Bond." Venice was undeniably as romantic, mysterious, and beautiful as everyone claims it to be. I wish we could have had more time there. Its intrigue and romance truly infiltrated the entire city.
After our pause de café with "James Bond," we headed back to the train station with our things to visit the last town of our journey, Verona. We arrived in the late afternoon and again were astounded at the hotel-like quality of our hostel, admiring the cabin-like wooden ceiling and the cute balcony which was right outside the windows of our bedroom. Jessica and I then wandered around the streets near our hostel looking for a place to eat, and landing at a hip, chill-techno-music-playing restaurant where you merely bought a drink and then payed 3 euros for a buffet of delicious food. It was a brilliant deal and we enjoyed our meal very much. Then we all laid low for the evening, watching The Count of Monte Cristo and going to bed early. The next day we walked to the Arena, a Colosseum-like structure in town which is considered to be one of the best preserved structures of its kind, built in AD 30 and now used for many opera and dramatic performances on a regular basis. We then walked to the courtyard where Juliet's Balcony is located, and I toured the inside of the home as well. Then we all walked down the street and stopped at an outdoor market, buying a cup of fresh fruit and sitting at a restaurant to eat delicious Italian pasta. After our long week of running from place to place, we decided to have a laid-back evening again, picking up a pizza to share and eating it in our room while watching Pride & Prejudice (only the best movie ever). It was a nice, relaxing end to our journey.
Day Seven (Saturday, October 26): Our last moments in Italy! We all woke up early and walked with our things to the Verona train station, taking a train through the breathtaking Alps (my first time seeing a true, snow-tipped mountain range) and having a short stopover in Bale, Switzerland. During our stopover we of course had to step outside of the train station to take a picture, and to be able to say we'd officially been in Switzerland. Then we each bought some super delicious Swiss chocolates before getting on the last leg of our journey back to Strasbourg (8 hours on the train in all). On this last portion we didn't have assigned seats, so we merely hopped on the last car and settled ourselves in, only to find out one stop away from Strasbourg that we had sat in First Class (our tickets were for Second). Thankfully, just as I was pulling out cash to pay the difference, the ticketmaster let us go, and we didn't have to pay after all! But we did stand out in the corridor between the cars for the last 15 minutes till we got to Strasbourg. Haha.
All in all, it was an unforgettable, magnificent journey! Italy is truly beautiful and I would love to return some day. It's cool to say I've been in Verona, but I probably wouldn't return there. However, I'd love to go back to magical Cinque Terre to explore the other three villages, and Venice is definitely calling my name already as well!! Truly an absolutely amazing trip.
Thanks for actually reading this far! I hope you were entertained and get to live vicariously through my photos and blog posts! Check out my album on Facebook to see all of the images from my trip.
Bisous!
Que Dieu vous bénisse,
Marie
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