"Why not go to Italy?"

One day I woke up and thought to myself, "Why not go to Italy?" At that moment I decided to plan a trip to Europe... with Italy as the focus. My friend Emily Hardman and I spent two weeks in Croatia, Italy, and Greece and had the time of our lives... its hard to condense two weeks of bliss into a blog entry, but I'll do the best I can to keep it short and sweet. As Maria Von Trapp would say, "Let's start at the very beginning...."

My first stop was actually in Paris, France as can be seen in the picture to the left. I had a 12 hour layover in Paris before meeting my friend in Croatia. Naturally, I left the airport and saw the sights. I won't lie. I was a little nervous about Paris. Everyone I spoke to told me how rude the french people are... Even my french co-worker confirmed this. I was positive I would get lost, not find my way back to the airport and miss my flight to Croatia. Thankfully, this was not the case. I did my best to speak the little french I had learned, from Rick-Steve's pocket guide, to the locals and graciously they always responded in English.

I hit up the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, San Chapelle, and the Arc de Triomphe. No, I didn't go to the top of the Eiffel tower (too many people and I was hot and tired); yes, there are scary gargoyles on Notre Dame Cathedral; walking through San Chapelle was like being inside a jewelry box, and the Arc De Triomphe needs an elevator. I climbed all 234 plus stairs to enjoy the view from the top. Seeing as that was my last stop of the day, I had my suitcases in hand, and I had been up for over 24 hours straight I was a little tired to say the least. But the view was amazing and was worth the climb... and I even made it back to the airport with time to spare!

I landed in Zagreb, Croatia around 10:00 PM and collected the second stamp in my passport of the day. We stayed in a cute little hostel (barely big enough for two twin beds) in the heart of old town Zagreb. In the morning we grabbed breakfast at an open air market and enjoyed the quaint shops and cobble stone roads. From there we hopped on a bus and drove through some of the most beautiful country side I have ever seen, landing us in Pula, Croatia 3 hours later. The next morning we got on the local bus that took us to the beach. On this particular bus ride I had my first cultural experience if you will. My friend Emily had her feet propped up on the seat in front of her. Apparently, not a good idea (even though the bus was nearly empty). An older gentleman walked by, rolled up his newspaper, and while yelling in Croatian hit Emily with his rolled up newspaper; with his wife glaring at me all the while. Emily couldn't help but laugh. I wanted to yell at the guy. Looking back, it was pretty darn funny.

We made it to the beach a short 15 minutes later... not your typical beach. You didn't pull up a nice spot of sand to sit on... it was more like pick a rock that looks relatively smooth and pop a squat! When you wanted to take a dip you just jumped off the rocks into the water. It was different than anything I had ever seen. We met a few nice people our age from Germany and the Czech Republic and enjoyed spending the day with them. I did some cliff jumping which was a blast (minus the sting when I hit the water of course). The highest cliff I jumped from was 40 feet high. The water was just amazing. Crystal clear, perfectly blue, fish swimming around you etc etc. I loved every minute and was sad when the day rolled to an end. We ate at McDonald's that night. Let me tell you, I have NEVER been so happy to eat at a McDonald's in all my life. It was so nice to have french fries instead of pizza or some kind of pasta. It was the best ever... even despite the fact that I had to pay for each individual packet of ketchup with my meal. That was my last cultural experience of the day.

The next morning we hopped on a ferry and headed for Venice, Italy where we collected stamp number 3 for our passports. Venice is just like the movies make it out to be. I felt like I was in a scene from the Italian Job or something. Venice was hands down my favorite city in Italy. Water is so calming to me so naturally I loved all the canals and charming gondolas... although at $120 a pop we enjoyed them from the side walk. After a few days in Venice we got on a train and went to La Spezia, where we hiked the Cinque Terre. Let me tell you it was no small miracle that we even made it to La Spezia. Rail Europe needs to get their facts straight. We were only supposed to have ONE (key word ONE) connection on that train ride. We'll just say it was more like 4 trains, a bus ride, and 8 hours later... at one point as we were driving through the mountains of Italy in the middle of NOWHERE. I thought for sure the bus driver was going to dump us all on the side of the road and steal our passports. Thankfully he didn't, and we eventually arrived at our hotel. Yet another cultural experience that Emily and I laugh about now. PS. I quickly learned that people don't speak English in small town Italy... I had been so spoiled up to that point.

The Cinque Terre is magnificently beautiful. We hiked 7 miles through the mountains right along a cliff line that over looks the Mediterranean Sea. Along the hike are 5 villages that you passed through. Some of them appeared as though they were literally clinging to the cliffs. This hike made the 234 stair climb up the Arc De Triomphe look like a cake walk. We enjoyed a few different beaches here. Again... more rocks. Not much sand. It was starting to grow on me. Who needs sand anyway? The water was just as clean and clear as the water in Croatia. It was like a day out of my perfect life.

Florence was our next pit stop via Pisa. You have no option but to connect in Pisa on the way to Florence. Naturally we took advantage of this. We got off the train, walked to the leaning tower, took a few pictures documenting that we were actually there, and then got right back on the train. We arrived in Florence around 200PM. We were both so tired by that point that we went to sleep for three hours straight! We had an awesome view from our hotel room... as is seen to the right. One of my favorite moments happened next... oh happy day! We were so fortunate to finally find a MEXICAN food restaurant. Enough with the pasta and pizza already! We were needing some variety. We always got a kick out of the looks people gave us when we asked if there was a Mexican restaurant in town. But we finally prevailed and ate at the only one in Florence. Don't get me wrong... Italian food is my favorite. But you can only eat so much of it. Thank heaven for salty chips and fajitas. Florence is a beautiful city. Of course we enjoyed all of the famous sites including Michelangelo's "David." And to continue the theme of hiking and climbing... I made it all the way to the top of the bell tower (414 steps total). At least this time I was well rested and my bags were at the hotel. The view was breath taking and the highlight of my time in Florence.

Our last stop in Italy was Rome... It was here that I actually felt the NEED to watch my back. Pick-pockets everywhere. We hit up the Vatican, which included the Sistine Chapel, Saint Peter's Basilica, the Coliseum, the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. My favorite part of Rome was the Trevi fountain and the Sistine Chapel. It was really hard to get a photo of Michelangelo's famous paintings with all the guards yelling at you every two minutes... but Emily and I were successful in the end due to her creativity. How could I forget to mention the best part of our entire trip up to this point? Can you say gelato? It's everywhere and we had at least 2 per day. So tasty.

From Rome we caught a flight to Athens, Greece... where we didn't get a fourth stamp in our passports. Greece is a part of the EU. Consequently, we didn't have to go through immigration. I was real sad about that. But I wasn't disappointed by Athens in general. It's a spectacular city. Surprisingly, I enjoyed Greek food the best hands down. I had fresh orange juice daily. It literally tasted like I was drinking an orange. It's the only way I can describe it. It was so good. We hiked around the many temples to the various Greek gods... which of course included the Parthenon.

Our next and final morning we took a ferry to a little island called Agina. Once we arrived at the beach (which actually consisted of sand this time), I kept thinking to myself, "This isn't real." It was like something out of a magazine. You know, the kind of magazine pictures that you assume are altered by computer imaging because they can't possibly be that beautiful in reality. It was so picturesque and surreal. I'll let the photos do the talking from here. I found a star fish in the sea. It was pink. So pretty. Here's a funny story for you. We ate lunch at the little cafe that was literally on the beach right next to our beach chairs. I ordered the "small fried fish," assuming that I was getting fish and chips. I was so wrong and wanted to hurl when the waiter placed 20 "small fried fish," head, tail, and all right in front of me. There wasn't enough ketchup and water that could get that fish down me. I stuck to the fries! Ha ha.

And that my friends is the end my trip in a nut shell. I realize this was a long blog entry and for that my apologies. But I could have written novels more. The new cultures, the people, the food, the views, the train rides, everything was a blast and was worth every minute of time and money spent. I would do it again in a heart beat. So if you ever find yourself thinking, "Why not go to Italy?" take my advice and GO!