Italian Romance

This week was spent with the most wonderful person... my boyfriend Peter. After not seeing each other for 4 months, I was very excited that he was able to fly to Rome to hang out with me for a week.

After leaving Greece and Katy on Friday night, I arrived at the Rome airport about 8:30 to find Peter waiting at the gate for me. It was a great moment as we made our way to each other and hugged. I don't think that I've ever been so happy to see someone in an airport before... I almost felt like I was on the TV! We found our way to our B&B(which the owner didn't speak a word of english- that was kinda fun), talked for hours and then fell asleep. It was great.

Saturday morning we made our way to Vatican city where we spent a good part of the day taking in the beautiful Basillica of St. Peter . It is absolutely huge and full of many beautiful pieces of art. We learned about it all from an audioguide that we rented. We also made it a priority to go to mass there which was a really cool experience. It was all in Italian, but even though you didn't understand what they were saying, you knew what was going on because of the routine of mass. We really enjoyed it a lot. Later that afternoon we made our way to the Collesum. The building itself is huge, and it is cool just to think that it is over 2000 yrs old! The plan was to watch the sunset there... but our plans were interrupted by a bunch of teenagers holding a parade to support the legalization of pot- not exactly the mood we were looking for. We grabbed a dinner of authentic Itialian pizza instead and made our way back to the B&B for a good nights rest.

Sunday morning we took a 4 hr train from Rome to Cinque terre where we would be spendning the next 4 days. Cinque Terre is a series of 5 small towns along the Italian coast. You can hike between the cities through vineyards, lemon trees and olive groves all while taking in great sea views and admiring the picturesque towns. When we arrive on Sunday, we checked into our appartment and then explored the town of Manerola where we were staying. We caught a beautiful sunset over the water while enjoying watching the wild ducks in the water and then made our way to a cute restaurant to eat some authentic pasta dishes. Peter was a bit more adventerous in his choice of pasta... for he chose the seafood pasta which came with a bunch of critters that still had eyes and tenticles. It was fun. We finished off dinner with a glass of sweet rasin wine that the area is known for.

Monday we decided to explore the cities by hiking from one to the next. We began at Manerola and worked our way to Corniglia, Veranza and Monterosso. The whole thing took us about 6 hours to complete (that includes a couple gelato stops along the way). The hiking was intense at times and we both got a good workout, but the views were absolutely amazing. The towns are situatied right on the edge of the cliff which then drops suddenly into the sea. It was a great day spent talking, hiking and enjoying the views. That night we cooked a pesto pasta for dinner and enjoyed another wonderful sunset.

Tuesday we deciede was our beach day. We first walked to Riamaggore, another city of Cinque Terre, and found ourselves a rock beach where we sat for a bit just listening to the waves crash against the shore. We also entertained ourselves by building a castle out of rocks. It was fun. When we were tired of sitting on hard rocks, we took the train from Riamaggore to Monterosso where there was a sand beach. The beach was nice, but the water was cold. That didn't stop us two crazies though, because we were splashing around in the water like a couple of kids. We took a bunch of goofy photos and just made each other laugh for the rest of the afternoon. Later we made our way back to Manerola where we sat by the water and listened to the waves crash while watching the sunset. It was very relaxing and peaceful. For dinner we made a wonderful red sauce pasta with a bunch of veggies. It was yummy! We topped off the day like any Italian would... with a bottle of wine.

Wednesday we set out to explore the towns a bit more and spent a good part of the day just winding in and out of the tiny streets of the beautiful towns while talking. I've decided that it doesn't actually matter what Peter and I are doing together... but as long as we are together, we are having fun. We laughed a good part of the day, just being goofy and hanging out. We got a sandwhich for lunch and ate it while listening to the waves, stopped at the Fanny Bazar, and then did some souvineer shopping. By the end of the day we found a grocery store, bought some bread, cheese and olives, and then sat by the water, talked and watched the sunset. It was another great, relaxing, fun day.

Thursday morning we were up early to catch our train back to Rome. It was sad to leave the tranquility of Cinque Terre behind, but we had a great train ride together as well. It is amazing how quickly a four hour ride can go when you are with someone that makes anything fun. We played the most intense game of uno ever... which Peter ended up winning- making him the supreme master and ruler of the universe :) When we arrived in Rome, we dropped off our bags and were off the the Collesum agian. We had been there before, but weren't able to go inside, so that was our goal. We went inside and checked it out, and then meandered through the Roman Forum. We wandered around the city for a couple hours checking out the other sites as well like the Pantheon and Trivi Fountain. We had an awesome dinner of spinich ravioli at a cute restaurant before going back to the hotel.

Friday morning was not nearly as exciting as the past week, because it had come time for Peter to make his way back home. His sister Megan is graduating college this weekend and he wanted to make it back in time to support her as she walked. So, off to the airport we went and it was another teary goodbye as I sent him off.

It was an amazing week full of laughter and fun.