(no subject)
oh good i have internet again b/c we're back in florence so
September 19:
kay GREAT DAY GREATEST DAY
we got up around 8:30 and I would’ve gotten a better nights’ sleep except Wells Fargo called me at 12:30 am wanting to know if my Italy purchases were fraudulent
but yes
got up at 8:30 and had a nice leisurely morning, went downstairs and got a lovely breakfast and then checked out
so we needed to get to Florence’s train station, S. Maria Novella, around noon to get our train tickets for 1. but okay we kinda realized that morning that we were so stupid to buy those garbage bags to function as rain ponchos when we had SEEN RAIN PONCHOS IN PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA THE DAY BEFORE and we didn’t buy them b/c ohhhhh they’re a size XL let’s look for them in size small
and when we couldn’t find any other rain ponchos did we go back and get those other ones??? NO WE WENT AND BOUGHT GARBAGE BAGS what the fuck
so this morning my mom and I were like why did we do that it was so stupid
and we decided to stop by Piazza Della Signoria to see if that one little street vendor still had rain ponchos
we take the bus into the city and get off and go to the street vendor. he looks at us and says “oh, it’s you”
my mom says, before I can stop her, THESE ARE THE ONLY PONCHOS IN THE CITY!!!!
mom how the fuck am I gonna haggle now
haggled him down to 7 euros which was a huge ripoff but we were just happy to have rain ponchos anyway. so we kinda meandered on over to S. Maria Novella only to see a street vendor directly in front of the train station selling ponchos. god damn it
anyway. S. Maria Novella was an absolute shitshow, but we got our little tickets from one of the automatic ticket stations without too much fuss and our train was there pretty early so we just kinda chilled out on the train. it left at 12:53 and got into Sardanza at 2. we got nervous switching trains because we were worried that we got on the wrong platform but there was al ovely New Zealand couple also going to the Cinque Terre on our same platform so we kinda felt better
train arrived and we got on and thank god it was the right train
(also I forgot but on the way to Sardanza sometime before (?) pisa we saw the biggest fucking mountains????)
anyway we got into riomaggiore and we started the trek to our hotel. it was like. straight up a hill. 15 minutes of climbing a hill. the hotel is LOVELY and our concierge was very adorable but holy shit it’s way far up. ofc this means the view is gorgeous so u take what u can get
okay so. this is where the adventure begins8~*~*~*~*
we got into our hotel around 5. it was raining (as the weather predicted). we look out on the balcony. it’s not that bad, I think. let’s walk to manarola (the next town over) to get dinner
surprise!!! the main pathway to manarola is closed b/c of a rockslide. the concierge suggests we take another way. she says this has “a stairway” and then “a gate”
we say okay let’s do that
start out and it is raining, we’ve got our ponchos on and our umbrellas out. we keep tyring to find this staircase that leads to the manarola path. eventually we find it but legit it looks like it leads to some dude’s GARDEN but we find it anyway. it’s a rocky path and very slippery. around 5 minutes in, I look to my right and see some graffiti.
572 stairs up, 602 stairs down
I feel nervous
SURPRISE!!!!! THIS PATH IS LITERALLY A STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. AND BY THAT I MEAN IT IS 572 STEPS STRAIGHT UP A FUCKING MOUNTAIN. WE CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN.
mom kept having to stop b/c she is a sixty year old woman but like…we fucking made it. we made it, in the pouring rain. up slippery rock steps.
around ¾ of the way up, we looked to the right (we were very far up the mountain) and saw this break in the clouds where the sun was shining through onto the ocean and I cannot even describe the beauty of it. I took a picture of it but like??? it couldn’t capture it. I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life. after that point it stopped raining, the path was still very slippery and the way down the mountain was treacherous, but we made it, and the views were absolutely stunning. again like…I keep saying it but I’ve never seen anything like it.
WE MADE IT TO MANAROLA!!!!!! AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER!!! my thighs were giving out by the end (and I’m in phenomenal shape) so like. how anyone does that trek is beyond me but who gives a fuck
we made it, in the rain.
we stopped at a little place in manarola for dinner and honest to jesus it was the best dinner I’ve ever had. local wine (from manarola), lasagna (best food I’ve ever had, ever ever ever…melt in your mouth) and steak, and then a strawberry custard tart. god it was so fucking good and then they gave us limoncello shots with our bill
took the train back home b/c it was late and dark and we were tired. now we’re in our hotel room all tuckered out but
it was the most fun day
god it was so good
tomorrow is our scheduled boat tour…we’ll see what happens :)
September 19:
kay GREAT DAY GREATEST DAY
we got up around 8:30 and I would’ve gotten a better nights’ sleep except Wells Fargo called me at 12:30 am wanting to know if my Italy purchases were fraudulent
but yes
got up at 8:30 and had a nice leisurely morning, went downstairs and got a lovely breakfast and then checked out
so we needed to get to Florence’s train station, S. Maria Novella, around noon to get our train tickets for 1. but okay we kinda realized that morning that we were so stupid to buy those garbage bags to function as rain ponchos when we had SEEN RAIN PONCHOS IN PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA THE DAY BEFORE and we didn’t buy them b/c ohhhhh they’re a size XL let’s look for them in size small
and when we couldn’t find any other rain ponchos did we go back and get those other ones??? NO WE WENT AND BOUGHT GARBAGE BAGS what the fuck
so this morning my mom and I were like why did we do that it was so stupid
and we decided to stop by Piazza Della Signoria to see if that one little street vendor still had rain ponchos
we take the bus into the city and get off and go to the street vendor. he looks at us and says “oh, it’s you”
my mom says, before I can stop her, THESE ARE THE ONLY PONCHOS IN THE CITY!!!!
mom how the fuck am I gonna haggle now
haggled him down to 7 euros which was a huge ripoff but we were just happy to have rain ponchos anyway. so we kinda meandered on over to S. Maria Novella only to see a street vendor directly in front of the train station selling ponchos. god damn it
anyway. S. Maria Novella was an absolute shitshow, but we got our little tickets from one of the automatic ticket stations without too much fuss and our train was there pretty early so we just kinda chilled out on the train. it left at 12:53 and got into Sardanza at 2. we got nervous switching trains because we were worried that we got on the wrong platform but there was al ovely New Zealand couple also going to the Cinque Terre on our same platform so we kinda felt better
train arrived and we got on and thank god it was the right train
(also I forgot but on the way to Sardanza sometime before (?) pisa we saw the biggest fucking mountains????)
anyway we got into riomaggiore and we started the trek to our hotel. it was like. straight up a hill. 15 minutes of climbing a hill. the hotel is LOVELY and our concierge was very adorable but holy shit it’s way far up. ofc this means the view is gorgeous so u take what u can get
okay so. this is where the adventure begins8~*~*~*~*
we got into our hotel around 5. it was raining (as the weather predicted). we look out on the balcony. it’s not that bad, I think. let’s walk to manarola (the next town over) to get dinner
surprise!!! the main pathway to manarola is closed b/c of a rockslide. the concierge suggests we take another way. she says this has “a stairway” and then “a gate”
we say okay let’s do that
start out and it is raining, we’ve got our ponchos on and our umbrellas out. we keep tyring to find this staircase that leads to the manarola path. eventually we find it but legit it looks like it leads to some dude’s GARDEN but we find it anyway. it’s a rocky path and very slippery. around 5 minutes in, I look to my right and see some graffiti.
572 stairs up, 602 stairs down
I feel nervous
SURPRISE!!!!! THIS PATH IS LITERALLY A STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. AND BY THAT I MEAN IT IS 572 STEPS STRAIGHT UP A FUCKING MOUNTAIN. WE CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN.
mom kept having to stop b/c she is a sixty year old woman but like…we fucking made it. we made it, in the pouring rain. up slippery rock steps.
around ¾ of the way up, we looked to the right (we were very far up the mountain) and saw this break in the clouds where the sun was shining through onto the ocean and I cannot even describe the beauty of it. I took a picture of it but like??? it couldn’t capture it. I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life. after that point it stopped raining, the path was still very slippery and the way down the mountain was treacherous, but we made it, and the views were absolutely stunning. again like…I keep saying it but I’ve never seen anything like it.
WE MADE IT TO MANAROLA!!!!!! AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER!!! my thighs were giving out by the end (and I’m in phenomenal shape) so like. how anyone does that trek is beyond me but who gives a fuck
we made it, in the rain.
we stopped at a little place in manarola for dinner and honest to jesus it was the best dinner I’ve ever had. local wine (from manarola), lasagna (best food I’ve ever had, ever ever ever…melt in your mouth) and steak, and then a strawberry custard tart. god it was so fucking good and then they gave us limoncello shots with our bill
took the train back home b/c it was late and dark and we were tired. now we’re in our hotel room all tuckered out but
it was the most fun day
god it was so good
tomorrow is our scheduled boat tour…we’ll see what happens :)