Cinque Terre

Today I can't actually think of what to write, maybe stuff will come to me. I know that may sound lame, but I have blogger's block. I'll try and write what I can: We've spent our days hiking, playing volleyball on the beach, and going to all five towns of Cinque Terre. I love being by the ocean, and the funny thing about oceans is that they can make many things look more beautiful. The cool thing about the ocean that we were by is that they were once pirate raided. For some reason, I find pirates fascinating. The pirate raids that used to happen to these little Italian towns sound horrifying, but I think its kind of cool. Anyway, maybe pictures will explain our time in Cinque Terre better, although we weren't actually staying in Cinque Terre. We stayed in Levanto. Also, I apologize for the infrequency of my posts.

Beautiful Vernazza

We went to a cafe called "the Salty Dog"

On the train. Notice the dude with shades in the backround.

We rented bikes which was a great way to see Levanto.

Pondering life.

Venice

Sadly, our time in Venice has been very short. But the last two days have been spent well. We took a walking tour around the city and although it was very interesting, some of the information that was crammed in my head is probably gone already. But something that stuck out to me from the tour was the secret synagogues for the Jews in world war two. We didn't go inside, but looked at the Hebrew, that only Jews could understand, written on the wall saying it was a place Jews could worship. I found it interesting to look at a place where people risked their lives, and I wonder what has all happened in that building. Actually, I wonder what has happened in all the buildings. Since Venice was made in 500-700 AD after the Roman Empire fell, a lot has happened here. I wonder about the history that has played itself out here over many centuries, and I wonder what has all happened on the streets that I walk on today.

Wandering is something that we have done lots of, as would anybody in this place. Although, we're very good at getting lost. But the setting of canals, pretty old buildings, cafes, and small streets is a very nice place to get lost in. It was charming and quaint the minute we got out of the train station, and instantly a different world. There are two ways to travel here: on foot and by boat. I love all the walking. Of course, there are no cars as you probably know. I found it really cool to instead of hopping on a bus, you hop on a boat.

We went to three islands around Venice: Lindo, Murano, and Burano. Burano had the most colourful and vibrant buildings I've every seen. Murano was the island where, a long time ago, they made the murano glass makers go to because they kept burning up parts of Venice with their glass making. So they're famous for their glass, and there definitely was lots of it. Lindo was a sleepy little place with a beach and other stuff. What I've like is that in all these places, we've only been to one basilica. I really enjoy going to old cathedrals, churches, and other old buildings, but I have seen lots of them. So it was nice to just have one basilica to see, which was St. Marks basilica in Venice.

Well, Venice was awesome. I felt like I was walking inside of Pinterest, except it was way better than anything Pinterest has to offer. But what helps with the sadness of leaving here is going to Cinque Terre.

Sorry folks, no Harold today. I'm especially sorry to Taya. I feel bad for excluding him on this post, but I just forgot.

Venice's nightlife is really cool with all the lights.

The canals look nice, but when you flush your toilet, well, it all goes into

 the canal. My advise: stick to the sidewalk.

Burano with it's colourful buildings.

Tuscany

Lately we have been exploring little medieval hill towns. This involves looking at things that are incomprehensibly old, learning about the history that happened where you are standing, and walking around in settings that are still so much like they were a long time ago, except for the tacky tourist stands. But since the towns are preserved, and there are no modern buildings, it makes for an awesome atmosphere, and because of that, it is really fun to walk around and explore them. I didn’t predict that so many things would look so historic. But there are many places where it looks not so historic, of course. Since we’ve been seeing lots of old things, I start to not even try to picture how old they actually are, because I struggle with that.

One of the hill towns was called San Gimignano, and it was very entertaining watching my parents try to pronounce this name. To sum up our day trip in the town, there were many towers, one of which we climbed. We then went into one of many other information packed museums we’ve seen. I enjoy the learning part of this trip, except for the fact that I forget most of it afterwards. I should really start writing some of it down. But I think that in the end, I will have learned more than I think I did. One of the things that I have learned is that people from a wide range of ages can get tired of churches and cathedrals. As cool as they are, they can start to look the same. In a cathedral, I heard an adult man say as he looked around “Yup, just like every other church we’ve seen in Europe”.  

Unlike any of the other places we’ve been to, Tuscany is totally what I thought it would be. The other places we’ve been to have been great, just not what I had predicted. Tuscany’s fields, vineyards, hill towns, and medieval atmosphere is exactly what I expected, and its beautiful. But I have learned not to have any expectations about where you’re going, because most of the time, it will not be what you expected, even if its amazing. I have to be open about what will happen, and where we will go. Most of the time, from what I’ve experienced, the most fun, adventurous, and interesting experiences are the ones that were the most unexpected.

On top of the tallest tower in San Gimignano.

San Gimignano

Il Campo square in Sienna. Sienna is awesome!

This expression says "I'm not happy that you're taking a picture of me, so I will give you the stink eye."

I didn't expect the leaning tower of Pisa to look so "leany". But I guess I should have known, hence the name.

Sienna

Gelati! Yummo.

This view of Tuscany never gets old.

Another cathedral. It was actually very cool. Back then, they didn't go easy on the decoration.

Sorrento

Besides being drenched in the rain almost every day, Sorrento has been great. There was what seemed like constant rain and gray clouds, but at least there was lemons. The trees dotted with bright lemons added...um, I actually forgot what I was going to say. Anyway, I've liked walking down the ancient, narrow, rain soaked streets lined with lemon and orange trees in Sorrento. Although, when a car decides to come down the small street, we have to press ourselves against the wall in order for them to pass. I find it hard to believe how many people are crammed into such a small place.

 Pompeii was really interesting, except we were victims of the rain yet again and only had two umbrellas. But that didn't stop us from thinking everything was cool. I had done part of my school project on Pompeii, and then I was standing in the middle of it. I find it difficult to imagine that the ruins of Pompeii that I was looking at with my own eyes were two thousand years old, and that the stone streets that I walked on had been walked on by ancient Romans. On the street, you could see the grooves of the chariot wheels. When I look at the brick buildings, or the carvings on the walls, I try to picture the people creating them.....but I fail. I saw many similarities in the ruins compared to us today. There were snack bars, spas, administrative buildings, workout rooms, places of worship, and an ampitheatre where they held sporting events, except the sporting events today don't involve intentional death. The coolest and most interesting thing I saw in Pompeii was the ash casts of the people who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. To look at people in the position they were in when they died hundreds of years ago was really interesting. You could see the imprint of their clothes, and on one you could even see the face. There was even a dog. I think that sometimes people can forget that animals suffered too, not just the humans.

We went on a day trip to a small town called Positano. Although it was small in size, it was not small in the amount of buildings and people. But there was a small stretch of beach that was shielded from all that. I kind of felt like I was in the setting of Pirates of the Caribbean, although I was far from it. There were high cliffs and an aqua ocean. I swore I saw a ship with masts out on the sea. But what wrecked it all was the plastic bags, bottles, and garbage that was sprinkled along the pebble shore. There was also many skinny cats with dried blood and open wounds all over them. This, obviously, did not lighten my mood. Garbage and stray animals don't sit well with me on their own, but together they made a very sad situation, one of which I felt very helpless in. But I still enjoyed Positano, and Sorrento.



     

Yummo.

We're the Beatles, thought Val might like this.

Notice the sliver of ocean in the backround.

Me and Aria climbing Pompeii's ampitheatre.

This is me looking longingly at the sea, I really wanted to swim.

The view as we were driving to Positano.

In Mrs. FW's class, I learned that for every lb. of plankton, there are 5 lb. of plastic in the sea.

These are the ash and plaster cast of the victims of Mt. Vesuvius.

If you can't make out what this tangle of limbs is, its an ancient Roman dog.

The streets of Pompeii.

This is Pompeii's mini Colosseum. Its the ampitheatre where they held gladiator fights.