Cinque Terre

We decided to spend Thomas' 3-day weekend in an area of Italy known as Cinque Terre. The literal translation for this into English is "5 Lands." Cinque Terre is known for it's hiking trails that span between the 5 towns of the area. The 5 little villages include: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Recently, in October 2011, the area endured some severe mudslides. The beautiful area was now looking destroyed. But, now, you wouldn't know it. Yes, there is still some construction and rebuilding going on, but all-in-all, the towns are better than ever. I have to semi-quote Rick Steves..he talks in a recent article about how you can tell that the rebuilding of this area was so important to the community because Italian workers were working around the clock. He mentions that you can only understand this and find it funny if you've ever live in Italy. It is the truth. The Italian workers typically take their sweet time and enjoy a nice reposso. So, it's a big deal that so many are working all hours to get this place back up and running. We drove up to Cinque Terre on Thursday afternoon. We arrived in Vernazza (the town we were staying in) around 830 in the evening. I usually debate going anywhere later in the day after Thomas gets off work, but it was worth it because we had all day Friday and Saturday to see everything. We had to park in one area in the middle of nowhere and walk down a path that leads into the only road in Vernazza. It was quite a small village with beautiful water. After getting settled into our rustic little Italian apartment, we ate a restaurant that overlooked the sea. We enjoyed delicious Trofie pesto, wine, and bread. We settled into our rooms for a good sleep once we were done with supper. I was awaken by tons and tons of church bells at around 700 am. Their bells were bizarre..they rang a lot more than they do here. They even had a special ding for when the clock hit the "30" mark. 

The first day was spent hiking the trails between the 5 villages. The first trail took us from Vernazza to Corniglia. Now, there are two trails you have the option of doing...one is the easier trail and one is the more difficult trail. Well, wouldn't you know it was just our luck that the easy trail was closed for some construction due to the mudslides. So, Thomas and I, as well as another military couple from Vicenza that we traveled with, took the hike up the difficult trail. When I say we hiked "up" I am not exaggerating. It was all uphill. However, as the saying goes, "what goes up must come down." We finally made it to the top and found rich green vineyards and a great view of the sea. We arrived in Corniglia and our first stop was eating some lunch. I had some pasta with pesto and tomatoes, while Thomas opted for just the pesto pasta. Our friends got this pesto gnocchi which tasted amazing. We walked down to a rocky area where the wind was beginning to pick up so the waves of the water were crashing down over the rocks. You had to be careful or you would get soaking wet.  After Corniglia, we headed to the village of Manarola. The trail between these two towns were closed so we had no choice but to take the train. I will have to say...us girls were not too disappointed by this. It was nice to take a short ride instead of a very long walk. After arriving in Manarola, our first stop was for some gelato. We quickly began the walk from Manarola to Riomaggiore. The trail is called "Via Dell'Amore." Translation? The Love Walk. There were gates with various items tied around them..locks, paper, string, etc. etc. Its supposed to represent couple sort of locking their love there forever. Thomas didn't want to do it..he said it would jinx us. He sort of compared it to tattooing someone's name on your body. Oh Lord, silly boy. After we got to Riomaggiore, the boys took a quick dip in the water for a swim and snorkeling expedition. Once done at Riomaggiore, we hopped on the train and headed back to Vernazza for the night. We had visited 4 out of the 5 towns that day. That night we ordered in pizza and drank wine while playing Catch Phrase with the two couples we traveled with. It was so much fun! Sometimes, I think an evening in with friends can be just as fun as going out. 

                                              Before Starting the Hike!

                                            Beautiful Vernazza

                                                  Going uphill!

                                            Beautiful Views from the Top

                                            Made it to the top

                                         Another View from the top

                                          Corniglia

                                          Windy day causing big waves

                                           Starting the love walk

                                         Lock away your love

                                          Riomaggiore

                                         Catch Phrase with Friends








The next day, we took the train to Monterosso for a beach day! There would be absolutely NO HIKING involved. Nothing but sun, clear blue waters, and sandy beaches. Wait! Hold the phone! Did Rachel just say "sandy beaches?" YES! SURE DID! Not only did we find amazing clear blue water, but the beaches were actual sand beaches and not the stone, rocky ones we have become accustomed to. It was a perfect, relaxing day. The boys were able to do some more snorkeling while us girls sat in the sun with a beach bar near by that served us delicious, fruity cocktails. That night we had a lovely dinner out. We spent the evening taking a little walk around the seaside of Vernazza and then went to bed early. It was a perfect trip! The next morning we had our cappuccinos and croissants, bought some amazing paintings, and heading back to Vicenza. 

                                           Beautiful beaches of Monterossa

                                           Loving this water! Gorgeous, right?

                                            Yum! Cocktails made from fresh fruit!

                                           Ready for some snorkeling

                                        Snapshot of our last night

                                         Bonjourno! Time for a Cappuccino before we go home!

                                            It really makes for a happy morning!


Cinque Terre is one of those little "heaven on earth" places. With it's bright colored houses, mountains, and clear blue waters you will not regret a trip there. I cannot wait to go back there. Once again, I find myself amazed by this country. It is truly remarkable. 

Until next time, Ciao Ciao! 

Cheerio From Merry Ole England

Yes, this post is entirely waaay long overdue. After our visit to Ireland, we hopped a plane to London, England. Our flight was supposed to fly into London Gatwick Airport, but due to fog we had to land in London Stansted for a delay. During the delay, we discovered that our hotel was actually closer to the Stansted airport. Too bad we couldn't just get out of the plane right then. We finally got back up in the air and then landed in Gatwick.

We quickly found out that our hotel was like about an hour drive from the Gatwick airport. It was one expensive taxi cab ride, but we finally got to our hotel. Our hotel was...okay. It wasn't what I expected at all. It was the crappiest place or anything like that, but after a long delay and a long cab ride..this was not what I wanted to see. I eventually got over it, because we were in LONDON!! We found this great little pub in the town we were staying in. It was filled with these old men, so hilarious! And of course, I got some amazing fish and chips with mushy peas.

 We spent the evening walking around London on our own. My mom was feeling much better than she did in Ireland, so she was walking way ahead of us looking at everything. We were in search of Buckingham Palace. We went around and around around. We saw lots of things..Big Ben, Parliament, the back of West Minster Abbey, and even the changing of the guard. But, for some reason we could not find that palace. 

Then...(sorry Mom)..right in front of Parliament, my mother had this really intense, horrible leg cramp. It was awful and scary at the time. Now, we sort of look back and giggle about the fact that only my mother would have a leg cramp in the middle of London right in front of one of the major sites. The next day Mom's leg was still sore from the cramp, so her and Dad stayed at the hotel while Thomas and I toured the city. We did the hop-on-hop-off bus. I totally recommend those, especially if you have a time crunch. We finally got to Buckingham Palace and discovered it was very close to where we had been the night before.

 

We took a river cruise and saw Big Ben, The London Eye, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge. The river cruise dropped us off at the Tower of London.It was interesting to see all the torture stuff and kind of creepy.

Well, I am really displeased with this blog post. I'd say it isn't one of my best. I guess that's what happens when you wait 2 months to write about something. ;)

Until next time, Ciao Bella!

"Jumpers..hit it."

Okay, I really should be blogging about our last half of the U.K. trip, however, that would take much longer I am thinking than this post, so if I can at least get this one done I will feel somewhat accomplished for today. On that note..."JUMPERS HIT IT!"

You might be wondering what that phrase means or what it's referring to. Well, I had to hear it non-stop while Thomas was studying during jump master school. I swear I could probably recite all the non-sense (well, seems like non-sense to me) that he had to memorize. It's a phrase used during one of the sets of jump master duties. There are several different "duties" you can perform. For example, you could do safety duties or head jump master duties, etc. etc. Now, which set of duties this line comes from I don't really remember. All I know is hearing Thomas recite all the stuff he had to recite and then pretend to smack somebody on the butt (yes, as a jump master you get the wonderful opportunity to smack guys in the butt) cracked me up. I would have to try really hard not to giggle while he did it. 

So, after 4 years of being with this man, I finally got to see him jump a couple of weeks ago. Some of the girls from the FRG took the trip outside Aviano to the airfield to watch our men in action. We had a convoy of about 7 cars following each other up there. We all made it safe and sound. As we waited..and waited (as you usually have to do with the Army) we socialized, took pictures, and ate our snacks. We found out that Chosen Company was having a bit of technical difficulties so to speak. Their plane was in fact...broken. Yes, broken. Hm, yep, "just our luck." At this point, we realized that we had definitely made a mistake in not bring wine on this trip. I mean who goes to a jump in Italy with snacks, but no wine?! Beats me. So, we were looking at them being very delayed in jumping. 

We saw another company jump first. Seriously, it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It was literally "raining men." To see these guys all fall out of the sky was the neatest thing. I can't imagine having the courage to do it. Then I have to remember that now that Thomas is a jump master, he not only jumps out of planes, but he gets to stick his head out the window before everyone jumps. This is an airborne mans dream apparently. I know Thomas was quite thrilled the first time he got to do it. 

Finally, after several rotations of jumps from one company, Chosen was allowed to get on another plane so they could jump. I found out Thomas would be the first one out the door on this jump! I was real excited!! Thomas told me he'd be the one with a ruck sack dangling from him. As he was parachuting down he looked like he was crossing over in front of another parachuter and that's when panic sunk in a little bit, but then he safely glided past and that's when I saw a tiny ruck fall down, but still attached to him. He said he actually was no where near the guy. It's amazing how things can look very different from a distance. 

This day also marked the day that Thomas was qualified for senior jumpwings! Basically, they are just "fancier" looking jumpwings. They have a star in the middle I believe. You have to get so many jumps doing jumpmaster duties before you can be awarded your senior wings. Proud wife? You bet I was. ;) Now, here are some pictures for you viewing pleasure. 

 

Our Third Visitors--My Parents!! [PART 1]

After almost a year of being apart, I was finally reunited with my parents on April 6. My mom and dad took the big trip across the pond successfully. I can say that my mom has officially gotten over her fear of flying. Besides being a bit cramped, the trip went well. Since it has been a month since they've been here I will try my best to remember every detail. My parents arrived in the evening so we went straight home. Mom and Dad were introduced to their very first Italian pizza. Yum! Dad tried some red wine and, after a few sips, actually liked it. The next day, they slept in pretty late. I think we really got going around lunch. So, we took them to post to try to get them signed in, but of course the place to get the permanent pass isn't open on weekends, so we figured we might as well wait till after our big UK trip. We took them on the short tour of post and then we went to Viridai (spelling?) Garden Store. In the afternoon, we spent time on our top porch sitting at our new patio table sipping on wine. It was quite relaxing and nice. That night we took them to our favorite place...Aeolia's. This is the restaurant where I took my cooking class. At this point, mom was starting to not feel well. :( Our good friends Jackie and Zach Johanns came to dinner with us. We really had a lot of fun. The next day (Sunday) was Easter Sunday. Our plan was to go to the sunrise service, but mom was really not feeling well that morning, so we didn't go. By the afternoon, she started to feel a lot better, so we began to ride around...realizing that it was not only a Sunday in Italy, but it was EASTER Sunday in Italy..so yeah, nothing was open. Mom was all ready to shop, but that was a no-go! So, we just took them for a walk around downtown Vicenza. On Monday, we had a lot to do to get ready for our big trip to Ireland and England. If I remember correctly, we spent the day planning, packing, and reserving tickets for tours. Our flight left Verona Tuesday afternoon. We took the cheap airline..Ryanair. It wasn't what I expected. I was expecting a much smaller plane, but it was just a normal plane. The cool part to me was to board it we had to go outside and walk up the actual stairs of the plane. I felt like I had my own private place or something.

So off we went!!! A couple hours later we arrived in Dublin, Ireland. We were able to get a cab very easily from the airport to our hotel. We stayed at the Edgan's House. It was a little bed and breakfast near Dublin. It had easy access to buses that took us into the city center of Dublin. The first thing that caught my eye was the pedestrian crosswalks. They really made it so you wouldn't get confused as to which way to look for cars.

Of course, because of force of habit, I still continued to look both ways. The first evening we rode the bus to the city center and just walked around. We were so hungry, so the search was on for some food!! We finally found a place in the Temple Bar district. And we ate...

... FISH & CHIPS with MUSHY PEAS!!!! MMM..I loved those mushy peas, they were much tastier than I thought they would be.


The next morning, Dad, Thomas, and me went into town. Mom stayed at the B&B because she felt so bad. We rode the bus into the city center and then got on one of those hop on, hop off tour buses. I am officially a fan of them. Your able to see a lot in a shorter amount of time. It's great for quick trips. We visited Trinity College to see The Book of Kells. The campus was beautiful! I can't imagine going there everyday for classes. We couldn't take pictures in the room that contained The Book of Kells, so there will be no pictures of that.

 Another place we decided to stop at the last minute was a park. Boy, am I glad we stopped there. It was absolutely gorgeous. I so wish that there was a park like this near me. I would just go sit out there everyday and stare at the lakes and the flowers. The grass was such a vibrant, lime green type color. Most of the grass in Ireland looked that way. It's the brightest grass I've ever seen in my life.

Dublin Castle isn't at all what you'd expect it to be. For starters, it's in the middle of a parking lot and is actually now an area that houses different offices. Well, boo..I thought I was going to get to see a for real castle. There is some sort of "castley" type area you can pay to see, but we skipped it to head on over to the Guiness Factory!

Our next stop was the Guinness Factory!! Now, this probably would have been a little bit more exciting for me if it were a Wine Factory since I do not like beer. But, I had a "When in Rome" moment in Ireland. I decided, okay, I am in Ireland...land of beer. I am going to have to at least TRY to drink a beer, right?! Well, the Guinness Factory was certainly neat and I am now officially certified in pouring the perfect Guinness, so I guess if my career as a speech-language pathologist fails I have a job lined up at any bar that serves Guinness. However, I wasn't very successfully in drinking my so called "perfect" pint of Guinness. Um, yeah, so sorry to Irish, but Guinness is the most disgusting thing I have ever had to drink. BLEH!!! There are a series of shots as I tried to drink the beer..they are highly entertaining, but I'll probably just put one picture of it on here. The top was the best part because you can see all over the city. It was gorgeous.

 The ride back to our main bus stop was once again beautiful..the lime green grass made me smile. You could see some storm clouds in the distance...made for some neat pictures. Here are a few. They were taken near the Dublin Zoo.

Mom felt better that evening, so she joined us for dinner!! It was just a short walk from our B&B. And of course, we had fish&chips...again. :)

For the next day, we had a tour set up to go visit Wicklough, Glendalough, and the Avoca Weaving Factory. Ireland has the most gorgeous countryside. I am really glad that we took a tour away from the city. The tour showed us sites of where films such as P.S. I Love You, Braveheart, and Far & Away were filmed. We also visited an old monastery in Glendalough. We received a tour of the Avoca Weaving Factory where we also ate lunch. It's amazing the work that goes into making a scarf, for example.

 And I'll leave you with a few photos of the place and area we stayed in. Next stop...London, England!!!