Italy!

I've been in Italy since October 3rd, and it's been great. I'll do this in reverse chronological order! I just arrived in Milan, where I will be catching a flight to Bulgaria, where I will be working on a farm/campsite for a few weeks. I most recently spent 2 days in the Cinque Terre, which is a stretch of coast with five villages connected by trails. Above is Manarola, where I stayed in a lovely hostel.

I joined my friend Megan (middle), who worked in Scotland with me, and her friend Emily, and we also made a new friend, Ruben, who was pretty much a Belgian version of my old ultimate frisbee captain, Jeff Loskorn (aka DJ). We spent one day hiking the five villages (about 5-6 hours one end to the other), which included walks through vineyards, olive groves, wild areas smelling of wild herbs, and gorgeous cliff views. We ended the day by going down to the water for a swim with "cliff diving" aka jumping off of 12-foot boulders and doing cannonballs. Also included: delicious lasagna and gelato.

Yesterday, we hiked to Porto Venere, which is further down the coast. The hike was quite incredible--everything from clifftop churches to pine forests to stunning views of marble cliffs. Around the corner of Porto Venere is this place nicknamed Lord Byron's Grotto, I think because he tried to land a ship there once (the descriptive plaque was pretty beat up). There are marble cliffs on three sides, a cave, two castles, and blue, blue water. We went for a nice dip before catching the boat back. For dinner -- walnut ravioli and local white wine. You can view my other photos here.

Before Cinque Terre, I went to Florence (by myself). I loved the Renaissance feel of the city, and I had gelato which definitely is in my top 10 desserts of all time. Seeing Michelangelo's David was spectacular, and so was the Uffizi museum.

I had one lovely evening where I went up to the Piazza Michelangelo and watched the sun set over the city.

Before Florence, I spent three days in Rome with my good friend from high school Alexandra Gloria. We had a blast. We saw the Coliseum, the Roman forum, a bunch of churches, the Pope, the Vatican, and an ancient city outside of Rome, Ostia Antica. I most enjoyed the Sistene Chapel, St. Peter's, and Ostia Antica. You can see my photos from Florence and Rome here (you'll have to scroll down past some photos from the UK).

Rome was great, but I think I would go back to Florence and Cinque Terre first (CT especially). All in all -- a great trip. Next stop: Bulgaria.