Italy {Rome}

Rome did not start off that great, in fact it started out awful.

We flew from Genova to Rome, a direct flight mind you.

After arriving at the Rome airport everyone's luggage in the group

arrived except for my mom's luggage. That's when the fiasco of

trying to find it began. We waited for 2 hours, tried to talk to the airline (Vueling), 

and yet not much help at all.  We filled out some paperwork and the next day

I went with my parents back to the Rome airport to try and find my mom's luggage.

I was determined. It was one run around after the other, they had said

they'd had a fire the previous day and there was lots of lost luggage.
Unfortunately to this day she has yet to receive her lost luggage
and no monetary compensation, 

what a joke right!?

That day cut into our Rome adventures, meaning we finally met up with the group at 6 pm, 

it was unfortunate. But my mom's a champ and was determined to have a great time

and not let that ruin our time there. We absolutely made sure to eat pasta, see the sights, of

course we indulged in more gelato, shopped and tried to see as many sights as possible before

we flew out to Spain. Rome is your typical big city, and it's easy to get trapped

in the tourist traps if you don't make it a point to leave them. There is so much more to Rome

than the Colosseum, Trevi fountain and Spanish Steps. There are quaint neighborhoods, beautiful

river walks and fabulous hole-in-the-wall joints to enjoy amazing food. I'm glad that we did both. 

Even though Rome was a rough start to say the least, it redeemed itself in many other ways

including bidding us farewell with one of the most stunning sunsets.

Next up: San Sebastian, Spain

Italy {Cinque Terre}

The morning we arrived to Cinque Terre it was rainy. I was a bit bummed

because I wanted to enjoy the sunshine while exploring all 5 towns.

It ended up being great. The sun would come and go and luckily we

didn't get rained out, which was another fear of mine. Exploring these

five fishing villages was absolutely amazing. You can either hop on and off 

the train that takes you to each village or hike a path that has been used

by shepherds since those towns were established way back in the day. The

villages are only made for walking or riding bicycles.

Unfortunately because of construction of those paths we had no choice but 

to take the train to each town. It worked out great for us, since we only had the day

to explore Cinque Terre.  It was stunning and I hope to go back one day

and be able to explore each town with more leisure.

^^You can see some of the path from one village to the next.

^^Pesto! What Cinque Terre is famous for, pesto originated in this region.

^^My calves were so sore the next day from all the stairs in these villages.

^^This little boy melted my heart, so cute.

Up next: Rome