5 lands in 5 day - Monterosso

Monterosso was the biggest and most resort like of all the towns. Beaches stretch all along the main road, filled with umbrellas and lounging chairs. The towns itself was packed with restaurants and art shops, you were also able to take little pathways within the town. One of the paths lead to a beautiful convent and cemetery atop a hill overlooking the entire town. Our last day was spent here with all our bags laying in the sun taking breaks to wade in the sea.

5 lands in 5 day - Vernazza

Vernazza was probably the most upscale of all the towns, with the main street lined with boutiques and specialty shops. The street would then bring you to the main piazza, which was filled with brightly colored cafes and restaurants. We first arrived in Vernazza via a coastal hiking trail from Monterosso, it was quite difficult at first but very rewarding towards the end. Being tired from our hike we decided to eat lunch on the small beach off the main piazza, resting our legs and soaking up the sun.

5 lands in 5 day - Corniglia

Corniglia was the smallest of the 5 villages. Before heading to the town center that was perched atop a very large hill, we decided to go to the Guvano beach that the NY Times had talked about. The Times had describe the beach as phenomenal, however is was a little less so. We did get the whole beach to ourselves for most of the time, which was nice. After the beach we made our way up the 365 steps to the town. It was cute and small, we didn't stay long before heading to another hiking trail. This trail would take us the Vernazza, The trail was a little shorter and easier then the trail connecting Vernazza to Monetross, but just as beautiful.

5 lands in 5 day - Manarola

Manarola is where we spent most of our first day in Cinque Terre, getting a feel for the hundreds of hiking trails around the five towns. We walked through vineyards placed on sides of cliffs and cemetery's of top of mountains, the weather was perfect and the scenery took the breath away. We also decided to celebrate Elliots 25th birthday here by having dinner at Trattoria da Billy a three story restaurant housed on a cliff over looking the Ligurian Sea. We had our first taste of Cinque Terre's famous fresh seafood here simply grilled with local olive oil and lemon washed down with local white wine - perfect.

5 lands in 5 day - Riomaggiore

Cinque Terre is comprised of 5 coastal villages. We will go through each town one by one, starting with Riomaggiore. This town is where we stayed, it is the farthest of the 5 towns and has the best view of Cinque Terre. Riomaggiore had a little bit of everything. Good restaurants and markets, a quiet rocky beach, and hiking trails that lead you to a peaceful nature preserve. It also had the famous Via Della Amore, which is the coastal pathway that connects Riomaggiore to the next town over, Manarola.

ROME TRIP

Here are some pictures from our highly anticipated trip to Rome. It was comforting to know we could skip the long lines to Vatican city, since we'd both seen it before. We had a fantasic time in Rome, can't imagine how it wouldn't be possible. It felt like we checked out almost all neighborhoods and aspects of the city. We averaged around 7 miles walking each day, due to the city having only two metro lines. It was also nice to get some good Chinese and Korean food for a change.

Day One: We woke up at five a.m. to catch a seven a.m. flight to Rome, about a 45 min flight. We checked into our bed and breakfest, which was a few blocks off termini train station, we then walked around our neighborhood, which was filled with asian markets. Since it was overcast we dicided it would be a good day to be tourist. We walked down to the Colossium and Roman Forum, cutting through parks along the way. We had lunch at Greek Cafe called "Cafe Cafe" just behind the Colossium. We ate some hummus and salad, keeping it light knowing we'd be eating some of the best pizza in Rome later on. After lunch we went into the Colosium, we then walked to Trevi Fountain and checked out shops along the way. Threw a Euro into the Fountain and headed to the Spanish Steps, a short walk from the fountain. We walked to the top of the steps and continued up hill along the public park, which over looked the entire city. We then headed back down and walked along the Tiber river, stopping to grab a cappiccino. We had read about a pizzeria called Remo, which was just south of the city. We had two magarita pizzas and a Rigatoni alla Amatriciana, after dinner we walked back to the Colossium to grab the metro. At this time the 5 a.m. wake up was really htting us, so we called it night.

Day Two: Had some great Chinese food for lunch, we then walked to the Trastevere neighborhood just across the river, probably a three mile walk. Checked out Trastevere walking along cobbled streets lined with ivy-draped shops. The neighborhood was filled with excellent shops from coffee to clothes. We then headed back down to the river, walking along its banks onto a island housing a church. With the sun setting we headed to the restaurant Le Mani in Pasta. We fested on excellent octopus salad, carbonara, once again amatriciana, and chocolate cake, truley a great meal. We then begain our walk back to the B&B seeing Circo Massimo and the Colosium at night.

Day 3: We decided to check out the famous campo de fiori market which was small but very good. For lunch we had some Roman style sheet pizza, which we ate on some church steps. After lunch we then checked out the clothing shops in the ghetto. For dinner we ate at Gustos, a huge but cute speciality shop and four section restaurant. We dinned on steak tartar, linguini with clams, and yes amatriciana. After we went to relax on the spanish steps that night. Again we had to walk all the way back to our hotel. The metro closes at 12 a.m. every night, and we always missed it, but gave a chance to see a lot more and take photos along the way.

Day 4: Headed down to San Giovanni market early in the morning, we heard it was a great place to get cheap clothes. The market was huge over 150 stalls pilled with new and vintage clothing. The market was so big we decided to leave and grab some lunch at a really nice japanese restaurant, and then headed back again. After the market closed down we headed to a couple churches, housing religious relics. We then headed to the pantheon and ate at the near by restaurant Trattoria.

Day 5: Ate Korean food for lunch and then headed to the train station to go back to Milan.

music round up

Some music pics from our time here in Milan. Blonde de Role, The Black Lips, Steve Aoki w MSTRKFT, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Yacht, and Yellow Submarine a club a block away from the apt.

Milano Cemetery

The Monumentale Cemetery, a place you could spend hours walking around. With over 250,000 sq meters of tombs. Its feels like walking through a museum filled with sculptures some as big as two storey houses. Compared to the Venice cemetery that we gushed about before, this one is twice the size and much more beautiful. It also houses some of the most amazing landscaping. Rose bushes filled tombs and the old trees shaded them.