I want to stay here forever!

April 24 2013 Stayed at a creepy hostel right on the main drag. They literally cleaned every part of the bathroom after anyone spent even a short second in there. It was a really nice place but so DEAD. We were the only people in our 6 bed room. They were really helpful and nice but just super creepy the way they stood at the main desk and waited for someone to use the bathroom. This day we did a little shopping ( I needed some decent shirts to wear since I really only brought t-shirts). Then we took a bus to a place on the coast called Opatija (Oh-pot-iya). It was a gorgeous day out and we pretty much just walked along the coast and spent some time with our feet in the water. This area of Croatia is known for their fish markets. The guy at our hostel suggested this place in Volosko (on the way back from Opatija to Rijeka) that ended up being so awesome! Of course we couldn’t read the menu but the lady working it (cooking AND serving) helped us out. To give you an idea – you pretty much walk in, choose the fresh fish that you want, and then she cooks it up and serves it to you. We got a big plate of a mix of things: fried and grilled calamari, some large fish (not sure what kind), and then a bunch of small little fix (also not sure). It was cooked up with some garlic and looked so cool. Very great traditional meal. Justin was definitely loving it. After our day trip to Opatija we took a long nap and then tried to do some physical activity. We ran from our hostel up to this monastery/church. It took us a bit to find it but with some help we eventually made it. The monastery and church were up on a hill so of course we had a lot of stairs to climb but this was okay since we were trying to get a workout in anyways. The view was beautiful from the time and we made it just around sunset. There was a cute little restaurant up top which would’ve been nice to enjoy a drink at but I think we were a little underdressed . Later that night – after showering and putting on some decent attire – we walked around to check out the night life. It was pretty dead since it was a week day and it’s not a very big city. We ran into a group of people that fortunately spoke English. We introduced ourselves and ended up going to a bar with them (we were the only people there!). One couple that was visiting Rijeka work at a hostel in Prague (we might run into them when we go there), another guy works for an American oil company in Jordan, and then the other two guys were from Rijeka. One of the Croatians was really funny because he could understand our English but he couldn’t speak it – interesting character. The next day the couple and the guy who works for the oil company (His name is Patrik) were coincidentally heading out to Zagreb…which was where we were headed! They told us they had just enough room and we planned to tag along with them in their travels the next day. A nice change from having to ride the train. April 25 2013 Grabbed some food in the morning and met with Patrik and the couple to head out to Zagreb. It was about an hour and a half car ride so it wasn’t too bad. Got to Zagreb…checked into our hostel and then walked around the city. Just like any other city there was a lot to see but it felt nice to break away from the more touristy areas and not feel like we are being pressured into eating/buying everything. Took a nap and then worked out in a park nearby. Justin had to get in his pull ups and push ups for the day . We found a club called Peppermint that the couple from earlier had suggested but again this city wasn’t very busy since it was a week day. [side note: earlier in the day we had the BEST ice cream ever]. We called it a night April 26 2013 Made an awesome breakfast in the morning. The only train leaving for Budapest was at 10 am. This was the most ridiculous travel day that we’ve had so far on this trip. 1. The train was late. 2. No seats in the train so we were all sitting on the ground with our luggages 3. Luckily we were with two Americans that could understand Croatian because they overheard that we had to get off the train close to the Hungary border and get onto a bus, and then after we entered the country we would get onto another train. 4. Checking passports in the bus took FOREVER and it was so hot. 5. Two bums were chilling in the back of the bus (one with no arm) and boozing it up. 6. We met two guys from Washington that were studying in France (Nikita and Jonathon) 7. The trains were so old and crappy…plus EXTREMELY hot. 8. We had absolutely no idea what time we would arrive in Budapest After about 9 -10 hours of traveling we made it to Budapest and checked in to our hostel. Burritos for dinner – we wanted something quick since we were starving. Met some people in our hostel: a couple guys from Scotland and some girls from the states. This night we went to the third best bar in the world which was super cool (Simplasza? I think is how you spell it) – it’s called a ‘ruin bar’ because it use to be like an old dentist office/apartment buildings/any abandoned building really. Instead of tearing them down they recycled some of the left over things and turned them into sweet and artsy bars. We had a good time. Oh and I didn’t bring my ID because we usually don’t get carded in Europe but of course the guy carded me and wouldn’t let me in so we had to go back to the hostel to get my ID. We went to another sort of club after Simplasza with Tim and Frazer (Scottish and German guy from our hostel). On our way back to the hostel we ran into Nikita – the guy that we met earlier on the train. April 27 2013 Another awesome breakfast made by chef Justin. Hostel offered an activity called ‘caving’. Took us a while to get there – a lot of waiting around and changing buses. We finally got to the caves on the Buda side of Budapest. 100 km of caves that run through the hills of the Buda side. Our tour guide had been giving caving tours for 13 years but had been doing his own sort of caving for 18 years. He was a wild guy. We got dressed up in ‘caving’ suits since we would be crawling around and getting dirty. We also had to wear helmets with flashlights on top so we could venture around. It was a fun time. We were in a small group and met a guy named Scott from Scotland. It was about a 2.5 hour tour. When we were done with our caving experience Justin, Scott, and myself went to this burger place called Ring that someone had suggested. It took way too long to get our food and we were overly annoyed. The waitress gave us a free dessert since Justin complained to her that it was taking so long – so that was at least a plus. This night we planned to go to a big rave party type events in the Turkish baths. (Turkish baths are popular spa areas during the day…naturally heated which is cool). Since dinner took so long we missed our group from the hostel that was heading there and we were told that we might not be able to get in if we just show up. We went to the baths anyways and tried to get in. They were completely full but we could come back later when people had started to leave. We went back to the hostel for a bit and then returned to the baths around 1:30 and got in! It was like a ridiculous dance party in a large hot tub. It was quite an interesting experience that I don’t think we could get anywhere else in the world. We ran into Scott as well as Nikita and Jonathon. After a little while in the baths we went back to our hostel April 28 2013 Breakfast at the hostel. Toured some markets and then tried to find this tea house called “Sirius” where we were going to meet with Jonathon and Nikita. It was impossible to find. The place is not publicized at all. After going up and down the street at least 3 times we finally found it. It was the coolest tea house I’ve been in. Crazy rooms with cool pillows and lounge lofts. We enjoyed a pot of tea with Nikita and Jonathon while sharing some of our stories. Justin and I left to grab some lunch. Took a nap at a new hostel that we had checked in to. Went on a run to a park in the city. Saw some monuments, live outdoor music, castle, zoo, canoeing and wakeboard park, etc. For dinner we went to this restaurant that had computers built into the table in which you could place your order from. It looked like it was going to be really good but our food wasn’t that great. Since everything is on the computer, the waiters/waitresses really only bring you your food and bill. Wasn’t as good as we were expecting but oh well. Played pool in the hostel and had some absinthe shots (on fire) with this guy named Oliver. After that Justin and I went to another ruin bar across the street from our hostel called “Instant”. I had a really amazing gin drink – so refreshing. Pretty cool place. April 29 2013 2.5 hour walking tour. Unfortunately I forgot my camera but it was nice to see some different parts of the city and learn a little about the history. After the tour we had a traditional Hungarian meal. A chicken paprika dish and gualash. It was alright…nothing too special but at least we did it. Our train to Vienna left this afternoon and we are currently hanging out in our hostel. We ate dinner at a nice Austrian café/bar – I got a sausage dish and Justin got some schnitzel turkey thing. Decent little meal. Our hostel has wonderful suggestions for things to do so we are planning on taking advantage and getting as much out of Vienna as we can!!! Stayed tune for what’s to come…our trip is over halfway done and we are considering never coming home 

From Italy to Croatia!

April 18 2013 Thursday morning Justin and I both got in a little run around La Spezia. After packing up our stuff and checking out of our hotel, the Canadians, Justin, and myself went for another breakfast at the bar close by. We definitely cleaned that place out – I think you are only supposed to take one pastry but we decided to try a little bit of everything. Oops. From there we took a ferry to Portovenere. It was about a 10-15 minute ferry ride. Portovenere was another area on the coast with different places to eat and some sites to see (Castles and churches). The weather was perfect for hanging out by the coast and we snapped some good photos. Justin and I bought some pesto (a staple of this area in Italy) and also enjoyed a pizza with pesto on it. Nummy. Around 2:45 we headed back to La Spezia on the ferry and caught a train to Rome. Our Canadian friends, Megan and Katie, went to another, more in-land city in Italy. It was great to meet them. It was also nice to have other people to enjoy company with instead of just the two of us . We got to Rome maybe around 8 pm. While Justin was checking in I was just hanging around outside…looking at places to eat and what not. I surprisingly ran into this girl that we had shared a hostel with in Paris. Small world! We met her later for dinner (although she was a little late because she got lost). [her name was Nicole]. After sharing a 6 Euro liter of wine, the three of us decided to check out what was going on in the hostel. We conversed with some people who were also traveling and swapped some travel tips. April 19 2013 This day consisted of about 6 hours of walking. We wandered around Rome and eventually toured the Colliseum. The Colliseum was VERY cool to see. Justin and I indulged in a lot of pizza, pasta, gelato, and sandwiches. I can’t handle all the carbs and cheese. Ahhhhhhh. I’ll survive though. After eating a late lunch we were exhausted from walking around all day and decided it was time for a nap. Our nap was way longer than planned but it felt good to get some sleep since I’m still not feeling 100%. Friday night was another night spent in the hostel. We went with an English guy to some bar but it wasn’t anything really cool so we just called it a night. April 20 2013 This day we were determined to tour St. Peters Basilica and the Vatican Museum. We were supposed to meet my friend Martina (I met her at Winchester and she lives in Rome) but she ended up having some car troubles and couldn’t get to us in time. We snagged lunch at a place near the metro station (I had a carbonara with some wine and bruschetta and Justin had a salad). After that we went to check out how long the lines were at all of the tourist spots. Justin and I planned on doing a guided tour through the hostel (it was 35 euros) but we ended up changing our mind and decided not to spend the money. We almost regretted it later as we saw HUGE lines for the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel but everything actually worked out! We got in to St. Peters Basilica pretty quick – it was free which was great. And then we took a little break, walked around some more and went back to check out the line for the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel. Much to our surprise, the line was WAY DOWN!! We didn’t even really have to wait at all to get a ticket (student discount tickets are 8 euro which isn’t bad at all). It was extremely packed. We couldn’t believe it. But it was beautiful. It’s hard to even put words to it. Everything is so intricate, old, and detailed. There was so much to see. The Sistine Chapel isn’t until the very end – so kind of like the grand finale. It was interesting to me that they have a specific dresscode …you have to cover your knees and shoulders. And when you are in the Sistine chapel (which it’s completely packed with people) the security persons will ‘shush’ everyone every couple minutes. It’s supposed to be quiet since it is a holy place but most people can’t go without speaking. After another long day of touring around we took a little nap and did some planning for the week to come. We got ready but took longer than expected and didn’t get out of the hostel until around 9 or so. We wanted to walk around some different areas to see what they were like at night. We took the metro and ended up making it to the Spanish Steps. People were all over the place, enjoying themselves and some drinks. We grabbed a little bit of food and walked over towards the Trevi fountain. We returned to the hostel to drop off our backpack and we eventually decided to go out to the University area with an Australian (Mark – he was 48 and quite the chatty Kathy) and an Argentinian (Martin). It was an interesting night. Unfortunately we didn’t find any cool clubs like we had intended but we did go in to a few places that were kind of neat. April 21 2013 Checked out of our hostel and on our way to Florence, Italy for one night! Crazy nice hostel in Florence. Swimming pool, Turkish bath, sauna, workout room, bar area/lounge. Justin and I found this place where we could make their own salad and sandwich for pretty cheap (student discount). After that we split up for a bit. I went to do some shopping and Justin did some sight-seeing. By the time I found the shopping area (it was a big area) it was time for me to meet Justin at the hostel. Florence has a lot of shops and the area I was in had a bunch of cool places. We might back at the hostel for a little workout and some sauna/pool time. We are getting sick of pizza/pasta and Indian food sounded like a great plan for dinner. We walked to an Indian restaurant that had really great reviews online but it wasn’t open. Fortunately we found another Indian place right down the street. The guy was nice enough to stay open for us. It was so delicious and I was extremely happy. After that we walked around to check out the night life and headed back to the hostel to do some more research. At the moment we are sitting on a train headed to Venice where we will spend the day and then catch a night train to Croatia. Our first night train ! April 22 2013 We rented bikes for an hour and gave ourselves a little tour around Florence. We went by the Michelangelo park but didn’t really see much (we would’ve had to go uphill and we weren’t really feeling it on bikes). After our short, fun bike ride (Florence is pretty!) we caught a train to Venice. When we got to Venice we realized that there was no night train to Croatia so plans changed and we had to book a hostel. We needed some alone time so we split up for a couple hours. Venice was a very interesting place. No streets or cars…just canals and rivers. Very cool. Unfortunately it started to downpour. My shoes were uncomfortably soaked. I had a margherita pizza for lunch and then a nutella crepe for dessert. Yummmmm. The hostel I found was very comfortable and welcoming. Venice is so hard to get around and it’s so easy to get lost but thank goodness for Justin’s good sense of direction. The guy working the hostel, Claudio, was an Italian guy that lived in the hostel and rented out rooms. He took me and Justin, some people from argentina, and a guy from Virginia (teaching English in France) out to a couple bars . It was really chill and fun to talk with everyone about their experiences. It’s crazy how many people we’ve met on this trip doing something similar to what we are. At the end of the night Claudio took us to a kebab place that was closing down but I guess he was really close with the guy so he opened up and made us some kebabs. It was awesome. Justin and I were both pretty hungry. Venice is known for its Murano glass so of course I got some souvenirs and gifts for friends back home. Quick trip but it was a good one April 23 2013 Got up had a little breakfast at the hostel and on our way to Trieste, Italy where we will take a bus to Rijeka, Croatia. ---- We are now in our hostel in Rijeka, Croatia. We had a decent bus ride and made it safely to our hostel. Very nice – we have a whole 6 bed room to ourselves. Woooot. We ate some Chinese for dinner which wasn’t the greatest but it filled me up. Grabbed a little frozen yogurt. Currency is strange here. 1 Us dollar is about 5.80 kn. It’s a little cheaper than other places but not as cheap as we were expecting. It’s okay though. We wandered around for a bit and saw some cool buildings but nothing crazy to make note of. Tomorrow we are heading to a place close by to spend some time on the beach. We might try to get really cheap last minute tickets to an opera tomorrow after our day on the coast but we will see. I will report back with more details about Croatia after we spend another night in Rijeka and then one night in Zagreb. Stay tuned in to hear about Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Poland, Berlin, and then Amsterdam! About halfway through our Europe travels! How exciting  Cheers

A LOT to catch up on!!!

This blog is extremely long as I've been trying to keep up on writing down what we've been doing with ourselves the past week or so.Some of it is summed up but it gives you at least an idea of where we've been and what we've been doing! We are currently in Rome and loving it. I'm kind of sick at the moment (I caught it from some Canadian girl that we stayed with in Cinque Terre, Italy). Tomorrow we are heading to Florence...after that Venice...and then off to Croatia. Good luck reading this!!! Hope it's semi-interesting. Madrid April 8 2013 Madrid Round II. Spain is the one country that I have actually visited in Europe previous to this trip. In my junior year of high school I spent 10 days in Madrid – half of the time with a host family and the other half with my Spanish class. It’s been many years but I surprisingly remember some of the sites. Before we left for Spain we packed up all of my things, left Winchester, and headed to London to check out Jay’s new place in Notting Hill. I can’t believe how fast the semester went. Just unbelievable. Our weekend was very eventful – filled with a lot of eating and drinking. Justin and I had to cross off some places on our list of suggestions from friends and family back in the States. Our chiropractor and his wife suggested a wine bar called ‘Gordon’s’. To give you a mental image---- it was dark and gutted out like a cave. Candlelight, wine, cheese – very interesting, but very good. Of course we all got a bottle of red wine to share. From there we went to this hotel that Justin’s uncle demanded we get Gin and Tonics at. You could tell by all of the nice cars parked on the street that this wasn’t the backpackers budget area of town . It was great though. Good time to talk with Jay and get some ideas for how to make the most out of our travels. The weekend ended with a dinner at Jay’s favorite place – Electric. On Monday morning Justin and I made our way to London Luton to fly out to Madrid. Our flight went well and we made it to our hotel without any major issues. Our hotel was extremely nice…very clean with many resources to enjoy the city of Madrid. We ventured around and ended up on “Gran via” – a popular and famous area in Madrid. From there we headed to Puerta del Sol (Translation: gate to the sun) which is in the center of the city. Very tourist area but busy and cool to see. From there we went to La Plaza Mayor. This is a square area with apartments, restaurants, and shops around the perimeter. Our free tour guide later gave us some information about this area but without being there this information may not be too exciting for you. That night we went out to eat and, of course, not being able to understand the waiter (neither of us can speak Spanish very well - it’s been a long time since either of us has taken a Spanish class, but we made out okay), we ended up ordering this stew of bull intestines. Once I found out what it was (using the little Spanish I know to ask the waiter)….I couldn’t eat it anymore. Recovering vegetarian problems. We found this awesome market afterwards that had all different kinds of food and drinks but of course after that I kind of lost my appetite. Justin and I took it easy on Monday night so that we could get up early on Tuesday to go for a run. We found a park in Madrid and took some pictures along the way. Most hostels offer free walking tours which, in my experience thus far, are very beneficial. So following our run we went on a 2 ½ hour walking tour with a guy named Pablo. He wasn’t originally from Madrid, somewhere in South America, but he had lived in Madrid for over 8 years and had given around 1300 tours – so he knew his stuff. The sun was shining, the weather was tolerable. It went well. We kind of struggled finding something to eat for lunch because we were in a hurry to catch a train to Segovia so our meal wasn’t the greatest but whatever . We survived. Trying to communicate with people that can’t speak any English is not the most entertaining thing ever but after some struggles in the train station we were on our way to Segovia to see my exchange student that lived with my family for half a year in high school. Victor and his sister Paula picked us up from the train station and showed us an amazing 2 days in Segovia. Segovia April 9-11 -hotel across from their apartment in the city’s center -went out for some tapas and then took a drive.. Saw the aquaduct and cathedral at night. -hung out in a park -It was Victor’s birthday. Went out for some drinks and stayed at a club until 4 am. April 10 -Went to La Granja. Got some groceries and ate outside. Gorgeous sunny day. Walked around this awesome park. The view of the mountains -attempted to ride some horses but didn’t make it in time. -more driving tours from Victor and his sister Paula. Ate lunch at this mall. -victor went to class and Paula showed us around Segovia. Took us to the castle and some other touristy areas. Gorgeous views everywhere. She took a lot of pictures of us . Met their mom outside of her shop on the main street -Met up with Victor after his class. Tapas and drinks again for dinner. Their friend joined us. Justin and I had a disgusting salad with mayo and ketchup for dressing. April 11 Victor took us to the grocery store and then the train station. Helped us get a ticket. Headed for Barcelona! Got into Barcelona around 5 pm. Had some troubles getting to our hostel but we eventually found it : Kabul Backpackers Hostel. The sun was shining and the streets were packed. Checked into our hostel and did some wandering around the city. We stumbled upon this little bar that had a free mini buffet with the purchase of a drink. Best Sangrias ever! Pretty easy going night. Got some rest so that we could be rested up for the next day. April 12 -Went running around the city. Parc Guell – saw all of the Gaudi (Antonio Gaudi- architect) style buildings. Parc Guell was incredible. People trying to sell you stuff all over the city. Ran to the Segrada Familia but unfortunately we didn’t tour it. -Found this incredible market with tons of different meats, fish, sweets, fruit, etc. Had paella and a chicken kebab.. -Rested on the beach in the afternoon. Did some shopping. Went out for dinner with a girl we met in our hostel from Canada. Enjoyed some tapas, paella, and sangria. -Pub Crawl with the hostel. Shot bar: shots on fire, topped with whipped cream, crazy names (maybe 100 or so different choices of shots) went to a more relaxed pub . Back to the hostel for their happy hour at midnight. Played drinking games with people from the US and Australia. Met a guy from Hawaii named Kevin – crazy dude that went to Berkley and is traveling for 5 months. Took a taxi with an Australian to a club. Stayed out until after 4 am. Snagged some food from some guy trying to sell to drunk tourists. April 13, 2013 Went to the beach and hung out. Drank a cider and beer. Deli meat. Had greek food for lunch and then some macadamia nut gelato. Grabbed our stuff from the hostel and headed to the train station. Off to Montpellier France to visit Justin’s friend from the States. That night we went to a little café to listen to some live music and meet some of Megan’s friends. She went back home while we checked in to our hostel and walked around to see the night life. Montpellier was a cool area. It didn’t feel as touristy as the big cities and it gave us a feel for the French life. April 14 2013 Stayed in a sketchy hostel in Montpellier. All guys dorm but Justin and I shared a bed. Got up by 6:30 am to watch the sunrise with Justin’s friend Megan and her French mate Christian. Returned to the hostel for breakfast and to check out. Megan bought us some chocolate breakfast pastry and made some tea. We charged up all of our devices and then she gave us a tour around Montpellier. In remembrance of English cuisine, Indian was the Food of choice for lunch. Everything else was closed on a Sunday anyways. Megan taught us how to ‘slack line’ in a pretty area by the university campus. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed this challenging and unfamiliar activity. The train station brought about some other typical traveler issues but we ended up getting a train to Marseille where we stopped for dinner at a stand near the train station. It’s fine trying to communicate with French folk who can’t speak any English. Some people get a kick out of it…especially this guy making our ‘esalope baguette’. Following this pit stop we hopped back on the tren to our destination of Nice! It was a beautiful, sunny day in Montpellier so we can only hope for the same tomorrow in Nice! -got in to Nice after 11. Way later than expected but it worked out. (Train on a Sunday was all filled up so we couldn’t get a ticket out of Montpellier until the afternoon) April 15 2013 -Nice hostel. All girls room + Justin. Nice breakfast of granola, cereal, breads, spreads and tea  better than any other hostel we’ve had (breakfast wise). Memory foam pillows and decent kitchen/cookware. Promoted all sorts of activities like sailing, diving, canyoning. During breakfast we spoke with a German guy who worked at the hostel. He told us to head to ‘Eze Village’ and ‘Monaco’ for the day. It only cost 1 euro to take the train to these two places and he mentioned that they were beautiful. Showed us some pictures. Tried to catch a bus to ‘Eze Village’ but failed horribly. We were at the wrong stop and we ended up waiting around for over an hour…maybe even close to two hours. Once we finally got on the right train we headed up the mountain to get to this Village. It was so beautiful on top of the mountain. The village was an interesting little area. Little brick streets winding around with cute shops and restaurants. We made it to the ‘Cactus garden’ Which had a student discount rate. The 2.50 euro was worth the beautiful view. We took a lot of pictures because it was so pretty. Such a great sunny day as well. Of course we didn’t have any sunscreen because it was so expensive at any of the stores. We completely sucked at figuring out the bus station so we ended up missing the next bus to Monaco but eventually we made it. We were just going to head back to Nice but we would’ve had to wait even longer for a bus and we figured we may as well stop in Monaco. Monaco is surprisingly a country. The smallest I’m pretty sure. Very wealthy country as could be noticed from all the expensive cars and HUGE yachts. The port was amazing. Justin was of course extremely interested in this since he lives on a lake and drives boats for his summer job. It was incredible. We looked at a place that sold yachts…some of them over 60 million euros. Ouch. After checking out the port we headed back to Nice once we found the bus stop. I was completely exhausted from our day walking around in the sun but we stopped to get some groceries for dinner and then worked out in the miniscule workout area in the hostel. For dinner we made salmon, escalope (which we can’t decide if we think it was turkey or chicken), salads, sweet potatoes, and mixed mushrooms, zucchini, and broccoli. This amazing creation along with a bottle of wine less than 2 euros made me feel right at home. I loved it. After dinner we did some research for where we were going to head next….We’ve been kind of doing it on the fly. But we met two Canadian girls in the hostel and decided to head to Cinque Terre, Italy with them. One of the girls was sick so she did some research and found a 4 bedroom apartment type place for us to spend the night in. I headed to bed after doing our hostel research and Justin walked around Nice for a little while to check out the nightlife. April 16 2013 We got up around 7:45 to finish the rest of our eggs that we had purchased the day before, munched on some free granola, and slammed some English breakfast tea (can’t get over my love for tea). We then met the two Canadian girls, Megan and Katie, to head to the train station in order to get to Cinque Terre. We are currently on the train now about an hour away from our final destination. After Cinque Terre Justin and I will be spending the weekend in Rome! Can’t wait to see what Italy has to offer  Got to Cinque Terre after 2 train changes around 5 pm. Great hostel! We stayed in a 3 bed (4 person) room in a place right by the train station. Both pairs split off and wandered the city for a little bit before we met for dinner. Justin and I walked down the main streets, went to the water, and found a supermarket to buy a few things. For dinner we ate a HUGE, cheap meal. Justin and I shared a vegetarian pizza and a gnocchi dish. It was so cheesy and filling we thought we were going to explode. After dinner Justin and I walked around to see the night life before heading to sleep. We stumbled upon this bar where a bunch of people were salsa dancing. I met this guy while Justin was in the bathroom and he told me that they had all been taking a salsa dancing class and were now practicing. Free food was offered to us which was very interesting and we found out that this guy owned a gelato store in Monterosso (one of the 5 towns in Cinque Terre). We promised we’d stop by! April 17 2013 The hostel we stayed in gave us free breakfast passes for this place right down the street. We had morning pastries and some tea before we left for Cinque Terre. It was pretty good but we still felt like crap from our huge dinner the night before. We got to cinque terre maybe around 11. It was a gorgeous day and we were excited to take the “love path” from city to city…but UNFORTUNATELY we soon found out that the path was closed and we had to take the train instead. It was still a great day wandering through all 5 of the cities ( Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza , and Monterosso). Pretty much just gorgeous views of the water and little shops to check out. We found a little deli type place and had an extremely cheap lunch. Salami with cheese and then some carrots and fruit. It was the best salami I’ve ever had….that’s saying a lot because I don’t even really like to eat meat. We found the gelato shop that the guy from the salsa dancing place told me about and he gave me and Justin free gelato! It was so awesome. Highlight of my day. I got lemon and nutella gelato…Justin got chocolate chip and pistachio. Yummy. It was so great. We made it back to La Spezia where our hostel was located and now we are preparing to get some dinner. It’s been a long day of walking around and I’m pretty sunburnt. Can’t wait for some dinner…hopefully it’s not as filling as last night!