We finally made it to Italy after
a quick 36 hour stop in Bucharest, which was beautiful. We took another hilarious bus ride to the
border of Bulgaria where we got off the bus stop and a guy with a long black
haired toupee/mop for hair with dark black aviators and cigarette grabbed our
luggage, walked outside the bus station to the back and threw it in his car
while signaling for us to get in. Now,
we were supposed to transfer to another bus at this stop... but this car seemed
SUPER shady. We grabbed our luggage back
and walked in to the bus stop to ask a lady where we should REALLY be going,
while showing her our "official hand written in Bulgaria"
ticket. She took us right back around
the corner to this tiny car and told us to get back in. So we did, and we made it across the border
to Romania - thank The Lord. We popped
into a little cafe, had some yummy lunch in a smoke filled room then headed off
to our hotel room. We stayed in an
awesome room, with a little balcony for about $60, and were greeted with some
traditional wine and cheese - thank goodness for Tripadvisor recommends We napped, and I skyped with my little
favorite Emmy (oh yea and her awesome parents Steph & Mikey) - then we went
out to explore the local area a bit and enjoy an early night in due to the
rainy day. The next day we did our first
hop on hop off tour and it was well worth the "we are tourist' signs
pasted across our forehead that come along with that kind of thing. We saw the second largest building in the
world - which was beautiful, even though all the locals will tell you the
upkeep is a "blasted drain on their society!" We saw small cobble stone streets with
outdoor cafes & markets. And amazing
green trees and blue skies filled the scenery as we passed beautiful building
after beautiful building. After about a
few hours touring around, we grabbed a slice of pizza and headed to the airport
to board our flight to Roma! Just
checking in made me excited as I drifted back to the last time I had been
there.
My little sister Court & I
were so blessed to be able to travel all over Italy for about 4 weeks in may
2008 (i think? gosh it was long
ago). We had the quintessential trip of
a lifetime, and made memories that I will hold dear to my heart till I am old
and gray. We ate creampuffs, spoke
Italian to everyone, tried every possible gelato "posso provare" -
can i try this - was our favorite phrase, we learned the song 'take me out to the ball gam' in italian, got lost, missed
flights, spent a week in Greece visiting the place my mom studied abroad when
she was in college, and never never looked back. So when we booked our tickets to Rome I could
only imagine what my next trip was going to be like with my husband, and I was
beyond excited. We arrived late on a
Sunday and stayed in a local area of town, next to a poppin' Gelataria and some
of the best food we had all trip. We
spent Tuesday night with one of my dearest, dearest friends from the ol' Goodby
days, AK - we, of course, took the town by storm. We caught up on the Minerva roof top garden
(a MUST for anyone going to Rome) drinking negronis and watching the sun set
over the Pantheon - it was unreal. We
then took it to the next level with a full course dinner at a little trattoria
down the road, and ended up at a bar next door where AK had met the owner the
night before. My sweet friend AK had
only been in Rome a few days and was pretty much the mayor. Although I am not surprised - b/c this is how
he rolls - Nico (the owner of the bar - and now a friend of ours thanks to
Aaron) pretty much re-opened his bar to share a bottle of wine with us (and
perhaps a couple cigarillos). We closed
the night out with a few more drinks - hugged eachother so so tight and said
ciao till we got to meet again. I love
that guy so much - he was a guiding light for me during my time in San
Francisco - so spending a long night out in Rome with him & Colin couldnt
have made me happier. We spent the next
day recovering - sampling some amazing local pizza, and packed up our bags for
a quick trip to the coast... b/c who can visit Italy without a weekend in
Cinque Terre!
Oh cinque terre - you continue to
amaze me with your beauty. It's a short
stretch of land along the west coast of Italy with 5 small fishing
villages. You can hike from each town
(or of course take a train or boat) - but you will miss out on some of the most
stunning views in your life. We got
there, checked into our first (and LAST) hostel of the trip... yes it was that
awesome:), threw on our hiking shoes and were off. We stayed in the first town
of Riomaggiore - which is just so so adorable - and headed to make the first
hike. After seeing that it was closed
for renovations due to the storm about a year ago - we took to the big hike
from Cornigllia (town 3) to Vernazza (town 4)... I could be butchering the
spelling of these names but I'm to tired right now to google.:) But boy oh boy, I don't remember so many
jenky stone stairs!! But we loved every
minute of it. We've learned that we love
hiking - it a time to relax, while also pushing ourselves... we can talk for
hours about whatever comes to mind or not talk at all. It's been awesome - and the reward of getting
to Vernazza was even better. We snacked
on some fruit, grabbed a few beers and headed out for the rocks along the
water. We sat there for a while till we
heard the bells of the church ring about 217 times (maybe our signal to get out
of the little town?:))... seriously, those things kept on ringing. We headed back to Riomaggiore and for some
reason decided we were going to "make a night of it". We were surrounded by study abroad students -
so the people watching was phenomenal.
We had an incredible dinner of pesto pasta and pumpkin ravioli, then
walked around, got Tiramisu (best we'd ever had), then grabbed a drink at the
place downstairs from our apartment watching all the youngins till it
closed. Afterwards we found a little
piazza, and I laid there with my head on Cols lap looking at the stars while we
talked for a good hour or 2. We finally
made our way back to the hostel - pretty proud of ourselves for not calling it
an early night like we should at 30 - and slept very soundly in our crappy,
never-staying-there-again hostel. The
next 2 days were filled with hours and hours of laying in the sun, under
umbrellas, playing in the ocean, reading books, napping, people watching, and
just enjoying each other in Montorosso.
We had yet again another amazing pesto filled dinner in town - and then
made our way back to call it a much earlier night. On sunday we walked Montorossa again -
repeated our day (but on an even more beautiful beach) of lounging and
reading. It was such a strange day for
me - I was more happy than ever being with Colin in a town that I love so so
much - but I was also sad as it was Fathers Day & I was missing my littlest
sisters graduation. Luckily I got to
talk to the little one a few times, and was sent many pictures of her
"taking the stage" as well as hearing lots of fun stories. It was the first time I had really wished
that i was back in California... these moments are so important for me to be
with my family - especially my littlest.
I love that Missy K more than she will ever know, and would have pretty
much given anything to be there that weekend.
I get sad just writing this.
Luckily - I get to see her face in 1 week when she and my mom come out
to visit - YAY!! Happy Graduation little one!!
And as for Father's Day... its been hard for quite a few years now - but
the silver lining lies in a few things.
1) Have you met my
father-in-law? He is pretty much the
best dad EVER, and he makes me feel like one of his own - I love that whole
family, and am so grateful for him. 2)
Have you met me husband? Sheesh these
Murphys. A couple years ago I couldn't
even imagine what it was like to feel the way I do with Colin. I was a girl full of fear, doubt and
distrust. I noticed this Father's Day
that the unimaginable happened - all of those have disappeared into a world
full of trust, safety, love, and laughter.
I could not be more grateful. so,
so grateful. And all of this happened
while I was busy not thinking about it - just being in love, and opening my
eyes to the good in the world, and in my husband. Okay - too much? Okay - enough of the mushy stuff. Getting back to the mind-blowing scenery, and
italian adventures on the trains. We
wrapped up our weekend with a late night train ride (watching a super crazy
train conductor make 2 people cry, and 4 people almost fight him) then climbed
into our city bed to prep for a fun filled few more days in Roma. Next thing we get to look forward to...
seeing the McLaughlin family!!!
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