Mediterranean

I just got home from my first guided trip, it was a small group trip with G Adventures. I won't go too much into the details about G Adventures or the group, but rather tell you about the places I visited.

I started out in Rome arriving the day before the tour, so I had about a day and a half alone in Rome before meeting the group and our guide. Rome is such an interesting city, and I feel you will find cool buildings and nice views just about everywhere. I started with a walk on my own to see the Spanish steps and Trevi fountain, before heading towards the Colosseum for my first guided tour in Rome. I love this fountain, it is so beautiful, but with this walk happening mid day there were just SO many people there. I didn't really feel like I could enjoy it. Close to the Colosseum I met up with my guide from Walks of Italy, I booked two such tours in Rome. We were shown the Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum and then Colosseum.

The roman history is so interesting and I'm really glad I booked a tour for this, even if the guide was a tad too excited and kept saying things like it was all sensational, even the 10th time she repeated it. I didn't know how resent the finding of the Roman Forum was and found it very interesting that it was only excavated a little over a hundred years ago and that they had to tear down newer buildings that had been buildt on top of the forum. And as I'm sure most of you know the Colosseum, which is not what the Romans called it, has a rather gruesome history, and walking around in a place with so much death, now with mingling tourists is quite strange. After my tour I needed a quick change of clothes as it was a really hot day, and I had at this point been walking around for about 6 hours. So I quickly stoped by my hotel only to change and get back out in the eternal city. As I really wanted a good view of the sunset I walked fast towards the Spanish steps and went passed them on the east side (meaning the top) continuing to the Pincian Hill. The view was fantastic!

I wasn't the only one to have this idea though and since there was more I wanted to see I didn't stay here too long. I went into the park behind the lookout point and found some more nice motifs to capture before heading back towards the hotel. By the time I got to bed I had, according to my phone, taken 36000 steps.

On my second day in Rome I got up really early, it was still dark out. I had such an early tour with Walks of Italy I decided I might as well get the sunrise too. I left the hotel at 6am, just before the first light of the day, since I really wanted peace and quiet to see the fountain properly, that was my first stop. And I'm so glad I made that decision. Instead of having a few hundred people around me, there were maybe 20-30 people there.

I could actually sit down and just enjoy this beautiful piece of art, and it got me a little emotional. After snaping some shots I moved on and went for a walk along the river, towards Vatican city. Rome truly is beautiful, and walking in the early morning light is so relaxing. I made my way to the meeting point just after the first rays of light came around the morning clouds.

Now Vatican city is quite special, and I'm not going to go into too many details about this place, but it really is sureal walking amongst all this old art. There is some modern art here too, but the old stuff is what really fascinates me. I had booked a tour with entry at 8am (our meeting time was earlier than this though), which is an hour before they open the doors for general admission. We walked quickly through most of the museum to start in the Sistine Chapel, a place I've wanted to visit ever since I had art history in college/high school (videregående) about 15 years ago. Getting to sit in the Sistine chapel before there were too many people there was amazing and I got emotional for the second time this Saturday. After having some time to ourselves here we headed back to where the tours normally start and had a guided walk through the museum and St. Peter's church. Unfortunately it's not allowed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel, so I can't share that with you, but the Vatican is full of other impressive works of art too. When the tour ended I still had time before meeting the group I was going to spend the next few days with. So even though I was really tired and my feet hurt, I walked back to the hotel, got my backpack and went to the hostel where the G Adventures tour was starting. I had a nap, met one of my new room mates and then went for another walk. I even got time to find a couple of geocaches, unfortunately I didn't manage to find many on this jampacked holiday. The group met, had an informational meeting, everyone introduced themselves and then we went out for food. I also joined a couple of the girls for a few drinks after dinner.

The next day was a long travel day. We got the train to Pisa where we had a nice little walk and some food. We got to see the leaning tower of Pisa and the guide helped many in the group getting some great and fun shots of the tower. By the time we arrived in Rapallo, our home for the next two nights, the sun had set and it had gotten quite late. The group ended up splitting in two and going for dinner. Rapallo is a lovely little town and we found a great dinner spot that had something for the adventurous as well as the picky (meaning me), and the prices were really resonable. I think I've only ever had cheaper wine in Poland. Then it was time for Cinque Terre, this is what I was most exited about for the entire tour. I ended up breaking away from the group as I wanted to explore more. Unfortunately I didn't quite get the early morning I had envisioned, but at least I managed to leave a little earlier than the others. And because we didn't get a train right away after booking and getting the pass for Cinque Terre, I went for a walk in Rapallo and found a geocach, the third and last one on this trip unfortunately.

Cinque Terre is a string of five villages on the Italian riviera and after the train being delayed I finally arrived in one of these, Riomaggiore, just before noon. I took the scenic route up through this beautiful village and down the middle towards the marina and the front of the village where I got the view I've seen online so many times before, with the iconic red house right at the front. After snaping my shots, and also going a bit onto the rocks in front of the town, I made my way back to a tunneled walkway I had passed through to the marina. This continues back to the train station, so I didn't have to take the long way back. Here I had planned on walking to the next village, but as I arrived a bit later than I would have thought I would, didn't want to walk back up the town to find the path over the mountain and the costal path was closed (I really would have liked to walk that), I took the train to the next village.

Luckily these trains run pretty often, however, with some delays. The next stop was Manarola, which ended up being my favourite. Manarola felt a little bigger, but it's still very charming, I would have loved to spend a whole lot more time here. I did decide to take my time a little here though and had some gelato with the fantastic view of the village before walking around the hill on the north side, and finding some great viewpoints of both this and the next village. Unfortunately the costal path was closed here too, and I could clearly see that it needed maintenance. As time seemed to move really fast I desided to skip the next village; Corniglia, and rather have time for the two last ones. So after making my way back to the train station, and by the way the stations are like right by the water, such a strange and cool thing, I took the train to Vernazza.

I would have loved to have more time here too, the area by the water is really nice and it would have been so cool to have lunch and a glass of wine here, but no such luck. I might just have to come back to Cinque Terre some day. I took a walk through the narrow streets to find a good place to take my photos. These streets and stairs are so small and narrow you start questioning if you're in the wrong place. "Will I end up on someones terrace now?" But then you get to a lookout point and it's so beautiful. Lastly I went to Monterosso, I feel the vibe here is slightly different from the other towns, it seems to be bigger than the others and it has a long beach. To me this felt like any other southern European beach town. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful, I just didn't get the same unique vibe that I got from the other villages. I made sure to get back to Rapallo to catch the sunset there, as I knew I had to be back there too early to catch it in Cinque Terre. And although the sun set behind the town, it was still a beautiful sunset and I got some nice photos of it. Then the group met back at the hotel, which by the way is a really nice charming place, I'd definitely recommend San Desiderio if you want to go to the area without staying in Cinque Terre. After an informational meeting some of us went for take out and got some drinks from the supermarket, because apparently you can drink on the street in most of Italy. So we sat on the beach with our food and drinks.

The next day it was time to move on again. We got up early and the hotel started breakfast a little earlier for us, a lovely breakfast with freshly baked goods. Then we headed for the train station to catch the first of 3 trains to get to Nice. Our first train was delayed and our guide got a little worried. When we got to Genoa we had to switch trains and because of the delay we only had a couple of minutes til the next train would depart. So we ran! 17 people actually managed to get from one platform to another with their luggage in only 2 minutes.

After arriving in Nice we left our luggage in our rooms, and got a little time to get some food before boarding the 4th train of the day, to Monaco. Our guide showed us around in Monaco and we goofed around a bit with taking photos and that. We mostly stayed in the Monte Carlo area, and what a beautiful place. One thing is all the impressively big boats, but personally I love looking at the beautiful buildings. I took some really nice shots and I will post more photos on my photo page shortly after this blogpost is up. Back in Nice I went out dancing with one of the girls in the group. The place we went to was absolutely packed, but we managed to find a spot on the table to get our dancing on a little. Yes, I said on the table. It seems Nice is a place worth partying in, even on a Tuesday. The Wednesday was a free day to do whatever we wanted, so I slept in a bit. At this point I hadn't had more than maximum 5 hours sleep a night in nearly a week, some being only 2 hours. After feeling a little more rested I went for a walk along the boardwalk and in the old town area. The streets in the old town are so incredibly narrow, and it's filled with bakeries, restaurants, small shops and bars. When I started getting hungry I bought a toast and a croissant and I found myself a spot in the shade on the grass in a park like area. I went back to the hostel and had a nap, I was still not rested enough, before heading out for another walk. This time I tried to find a couple of geocaches, with no luck. I went along the boardwalk, called Promenade des Anglais, to the port and back. I had a nice little raspberry dessert thing and found some food before heading up into a park on a hill to get a nice view of the city at sunset. It turned out the park was closing just before the actual sunset. Whos stupid idea was that? But I managed to get some good shots from a lower level before the police had managed to clear the top and got down to that level. Now I'm not going to say Nice is one of my favorite places, it's a pretty city, but I don't feel it's quite me. With that being said, it is beautiful at sunset and I got some really good photos.

On the 7th day of my trip we were moving yet again. We got up early and headed for the airport, because this time we were actually getting on a plane. We arrived in Barcelona before our rooms were ready at the hostel, a really good one by the way. The Generator is quite far from the water and if I ever go again I'll probably want to be based closer to the water, but it was within walking distance from a few tourist attractions and the hostel really is nice. After getting some lunch we could finaly check in, and as some of us had stayed up late the night before most of us decided to have a nap before the orientation walk with the guide.

We were shown a couple of Gaudi designed houses, which I'll want to visit if I ever go back to Barcelona, and a couple of other cool buildings. Then we headed to the market, which I really liked. We all tried some fruit juices and I tried some food too. I headed off on my own after the orientation walk as I'm really picky about food and the group were doing a cooking class. I had a nice walk, but my feet were really hurting after a week of taking more than 20000 steps every day. In fact I had a closer look at my feet when I got back to the hostel and I had blisters under a couple of my toes. When the rest of the group had finished their cooking class we got dressed up and went to the hostel bar for drinks. They have some really lovely cocktails at this bar. On the last day of my holiday I checked out of the hotel, left my backpack and went for another walk. I walked to Park Güell, which was nice even if it was raining a bit. This park is designed by Gaudi, it's beautiful, whimsical and gives me a bit of a Whoville vibe. Unfortunately part of the square was closed off for construction when I was there, but it was still beautiful. And the views in this park, and the free park area around it, are just amazing! After getting my fill, and really starting to feel how worn out I was, I walked back down to the hostel and went to the airport by taxi earlier than I had planned, I was so tired I just wanted to get to the airport so I could relax and get some food.

So, in summary; I've seen so much it's sort of ridiculous! I technically visited 5 countries; Italy, The Vatican, France, Monaco and Spain, in just 8 days. I've walked more than I ever have in my life before, most days I was at 25-30000 steps, according to my phone. I definitely want to visit Italy again, I want to see so much more of Italy, but I also want to go to Rome again and just relax and take it in, as this time I rushed around trying to see as much as possible in about 30 hours. Nice is nice, but not quite my cup of tea. And I should probably go to Barcelona again, it's so big I've only seen a really small part of it. I've also learned a few things. For example; I should do more research into the places I visit even though I'm with a tour group, because I will want to do my own thing at some point and it's good to be more prepared for that. And it's nice to have people to meet up with in the evenings and that, but I should then be better at getting to know more people quickly so I might easier find my place in the group. Hope you enjoyed this post, that it helped you in your travel decisions, good or bad, or maybe inspired you a little. I'll post some more photos on the photos page shortly, so stay tuned for that.