after going to rome, which i will not elaborate on because i did a whole lot of nothing there (which was so perfect!), we took a train to pisa. originally we had planned to stay in pisa for the night, but a fortuitous turn of events took us to galiga, a small segment (of a larger segment) of a town in tuscany. it only had 5 houses that comprised it and was in a remote section near florence. here is how we ended up there: a couple of months ago, we met chloe (who incidentally is also from san francisco) in sevilla, but knew that she was now traveling in italy. when we got here we emailed her and she told us to come to galiga and hang out with her. instead of staying in pisa, we decided to take the train back to florence and meet her (thankfully!). we did get off the train in pisa to take the obligatory photo with the leaning tower (which was a lot smaller than i thought it would be); but then we hopped right back on the train and headed out to see chloe.
me doing the stereotypical leaning tower of pisa pose...you have to do it, right?
as we drove up to the house, i was blown away by the tuscan beauty (even at night, driving up the windy roads to the house was magical). this place was really in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hills, all kinds of plants, and massive trees. when we got into the house, we were met by at least 20 italians having a great family dinner, to which we were welcomed with open arms. we hung out with some pretty incredible people, who went out of their way to make us feel at home, even with the language barrier. the house we stayed in is inhabited by 8 people, but on any given night there can be 20 to 30 people in the house. it was almost like a commune because of the shared aspect of the living space. the house was also huge and in the living area was a powerful stove that heated the place and contained a brick oven (we even got to eat home-made bread!). this is where the majority of the people would gather to soicalize. being there was like being part of the italian version of "the real world". we were meant to stay there for only one day, but we were drawn into the warmth and fun that is galiga. my favorite part of the stay (besides the amazing company, food, and wine) was the one day when chloe and i took a rainy day walk. we walked through the rolling hills to a small lake, with 5 dogs following us the whole way. we also walked to a a church that is 800 years old and stood within it for a while. i could feel the age within the building, as the broken light passed through the bedraggled windows. sadly, i did not take any pictures here, but these images will forever be imprinted in my mind (at least until the dementia hits).
i was able to get a picture of giampaolo (who was our host in galiga) and chloe with annette and me.after our short stay in galiga, we headed over to le cinque terre, which is a group of 5 towns on the meditteranean coast of italy. these towns jut out of the water in a magnificent way. there are trails so that you can walk between them, which is about a 10 kilometer distance. some people walk the trails all at one time, but i spread them out between the towns over a few days. in the winter the trails are closed so we had to be sneaky and take the train up to towns further away and then walk back to the first town (riomaggiore) where we were staying. the trails were high up over the water so the views were spectacular. it really felt like i was walking through a painting. although reality hit a few times. once, when i stepped on a patch of green plants, thinking there was solid ground underneath, only to straddle the trail with edge of the cliff to my right. if i was a boy, i would be sterile. another time was when we had to climb a fence to cross to the other side and i had to climb these spikes with my slippery, uncoordinated feet. i made everyone turn around because of my sheer nervousness, except for this kid mark, who had to walk me through every step of the process. i made it, but barely. and the last time was when i was walking with our new friend jason along the trail only to come face to face with a landslide that had occurred after a thunderstorm. jason was able to hug the dirt and go across with no problem. i, on the other hand, got so far into my head that i decided i was to be the next part of the landslide and just could not go across. so instead of just climbing over the dirt and rocks, i slid down on my bottom and decided to wrestle with cacti and vines of death (who incidentally decided they were madly in love with me so would not let me go). regardless, i survived it, although my dignity did not.
the great thing about le cinque terre, besides the obviously beautiful scenery, was the amaying people we met. the first day we got there, there were just a few of us, but by the end of our one week (which was supposed to have been 2 days) stay, 11 of us inhabited the tiniest hostel in the world. but somehow it worked. also, the guys we stayed with enjoyed cooking so we ate unbelievably well. seriously every night we had multiple course meals. pesto gnocchi, eggplant parmesan, pesto risotto with cauliflower and broccoli, polenta, proscuitto, fresh mozzarella, and my favorite was ribbollita. ribbolita is a traditional tuscan peasant dish that is more delicious than anything else on the planet. annette made it and my mouth still has not stopped watering. it is basically a vegetable bread stew that is twice boiled, which is what the word ribbolita literally means. i have never eaten so well on such a consistent basis. every meal was cooked and served to me. i felt like a queen (which i am). every night we had amazing family dinner that was coupled with amazing conversation (and of course wine). what a magical time. italy was unbelievably (maybe too?) good to us. i submitted to many of my hedonistic tendencies here.
alas, we had to say ciao to itlay (all good things must come to an end) and are now saying guten tag to germany. we are staying with annette`s cousin in munich. tomorrow i go on a 3rd reich tour and will visit drachau, the 2nd biggest concentration camp. so i will report back and share the atrocities that i will learn about in the morgen. my gluttony in italy has to be tempered with the tragic realities of the world. balance is key. auf wiedersehen.
annette and me on one of our many hikes...this time we were going between the 3rd town of manorola to the second town of corniglia
here are paul and jason, the guys that we spent the most time with in riomaggiore...unbelievable guys and exceptional chefs!
this is what each of the towns looked like as you walked up into them...the colors of the buildings were so vibrant
a view from further back
while hiking from one town to another in la cinque terre, there are the most amazing coastal views. obviously the sky was not that blue, but this is one of my new favorite camera settings...
another breathtaking view...
here is mariana, who we met the first day we got to riomaggiore...one of the cutest and sweetest girls i have ever met!
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