Compilation of Days 1-6...sorry for the wait!

Because we did not have time to blog when we first arrived in Siena and were without internet in Cinqueterre and for our first few days in Siena, we have compiled the first post regarding our travels thus far. We hope you enjoy.
- Megan and Matt

Long Travels and Arrival – Day One
Well, after three airplanes (New Orleans to Newark, Newark to Rome and Rome to Florence) and two buses (Florence airport to bus station, bus station to Siena) and walking up the cobblestone streets, in the rain (and getting lost) – we finally made it to Siena!
Our apartment is absolutely wonderful, situated at the top floor of an old building on Via del Comune in the Contrada il Bruco. The street is a steep one-way at the edge of town, which means when you look out of one window, you get the city view and when you look out the other, you get the outskirts of the city with the Tuscan countryside in the background. Absolutely beautiful. The Contrada il Bruco is one of the neighborhoods (contrada) in Siena. Each neighborhood “dukes it out” so to speak for bragging rights every year in a horse race around the Piazza del Campo known as the Palio. For a good idea of what the Palio is, check out the beginning scenes of 007: Quantum of Solace. Il bruco means “caterpillar” in Italian, so we live in the neighborhood of the caterpillar – I just hope that means that the caterpillars don’t fall out of the sky like they do back home.
After getting settled in the apartment, we went walking in the area around the apartment and picked up some groceries to make dinner. We ended up with a chicken pesto/broccoli bowtie pasta combination. It was very good. Unfortunately I think my stomach still has some jet lag, so I haven’t been able to really enjoy the food – yet.
We discovered last night that our bedroom is situated beneath someone else’s loft. Our ceiling is made of what looks like plastered-over wood, and last night the neighbors must have been having a furniture-moving party (Matt’s exact comment) with all the chair moving they did. Not very enjoyable when you haven’t slept in over a day.
But we finally got to sleep, woke up and rearranged the packing situation, meandered down the block for some breakfast and ran over to the square. We caught a taxi to the train station, noting that taxis are much nicer than those back home. Once at the train station, we managed to figure out the departure system, and headed on our way to Cinqueterre.
The train ride was about four hours, which wasn’t so bad, except that in the last train, we couldn’t find our assigned seats so we ended up moving around the whole time after a large group of Italian boy scouts (or campers or something) came and filled up an entire car with both brightly-clothed bodies and stench.
But here we are, in beautiful Monterosso. We just checked into the B&B Il Parco and it truly is gorgeous. It is situated on top of a hill with great views of the water and harbor. Though it looks like a steep climb up the hill to get here! We have yet to go our and explore the city, so hopefully I’ll have more to share about how beautiful this place is later.
Arrivederci!
- Megan

Cinque Terre (Monterosso) – Day 2
If Heaven ain’t a whole lot like Cinque Terre, then I don’t want to go. Wasn’t that a saying? Well, it should have been. This place truly is a little Italian paradise, and is a striking contrast to the ancient urban layout of Siena. We arrived today (Tuesday) at around 3:00 p.m. after a scenic train-ride through Empoli, Pisa and La Spezia, and ending in Monterosso, the northernmost of the five villages that make up Cinque Terre. After navigating through the dense crowds of tourists and locals at the train station, we caught a cab up to our bed and breakfast, Il Parco, situated atop one of the large hills surrounding the village. We checked into our small, quaint room after meeting with the owner, Marta, a friendly, red-headed local (all Italians aren’t olive-skinned and brunette, believe it or not).
Later, we went into town, following a steep downhill step path that stopped at the main drag of the village, full of gelaterias and touristy shops. The weather was fantastic – warm and sunny with a light ocean breeze – and the beach was packed. We walked into what’s known as the “Old Town,” a separate part of the village that has many restaurants, bars and food markets. We stopped into one restaurant recommended by Signore Rick Steves, and soon found that not only were they no longer serving lunch, but we also had been served bruschetta that we didn’t order or particularly want (I’m not a fan of raw tomatoes, which seems like it may be a bit of a problem in these parts as they come on just about everything) after a miscommunication with the waitress. Nevertheless, we had some wine and watched the hordes of families on the beach play and swim in the beautiful Mediterranean surf. While walking through the inner sanctum of Old Town, replete with family-owned shops where the owners’ dogs or cats slept soundly on their front porches, we dropped into a quirky American-style dive for a couple of ciabatta sandwiches and a good, old-fashioned Coke. As we left and began our walk back to New Town, we bought some tiramisu-flavored gelato from a vendor and stopped by a restaurant veranda to rest our feet and snap some pictures of another Monterosso staple, a large statue unofficially titled Il Gigante, which depicts a man holding up part of the adjoining building on his back. As the sun sank over the hills, we decided to head home, but not before buying a bottle of Pinot Grigio at a nearby enoteca (bottle store). After the lengthy uphill trek to Il Parco, we sat on the outdoor terrace and watched the sunset over a bottle of wine.
Tomorrow, we are beginning the famous Cinque Terre hiking path and will be visiting Vernazza, which is rumoured to be the most picturesque of the five villages – hard to imagine at this point. Ciao.
- Matt

Cinque Terre (Vernazza) – Day 3
This will be a short one because we are both exhausted from today’s festivities. We hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza, which is supposedly the most difficult leg of the five-town hiking path. Suffice to say, we called that bluff and lost. We strolled into what was fabled to be a 1.5-hour hike (more like 2.5) wearing Chacos and a camera bag and soon found ourselves climbing steep mountain paths that were about two feet wide at some points. The hike was beautiful though, full of breath-taking views and dramatic ocean landscapes that were simply cathartic to observe.
Vernazza was a colorful and fast-paced little harbor town. The village square was surrounded by numerous restaurants that specialized in seafood, as well as, of course, pasta and pizza. We stopped into a harbor-side pizzeria that had great prices and fantastic food – I got frutti di mare pizza (pizza with steamed clams, mussels, calamari and shrimp) and Meg got trenette pesto (flat spaghetti-like pasta with pesto). After lunch, we roamed through the narrow alleys and shopped for a bit. We marveled at the architecture of the local church and paid a few Euro to see the amazing panoramic view of the city atop Il Castello, an ancient castle tower built into the rocky ocean cliffside. After trucking it to the train station, we packed our sweaty bodies onto the train and were back to Monterosso in what seemed like no time. Megan said “You know, we could have just ridden the train there instead of hiking” and I just rolled my eyes at her. We got a double-scoop of gelato and took a breather on a street bench before making our way back to Il Parco for a shower and a nap.
- Matt

Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore and Manarola) – Day 4
To finish up with yesterday, we had showers and a very long and much needed siesta. We meandered back into town for some dinner, grabbing a bite at the Hotel Baia Restaurant at one of their few boardwalk-side tables that had a great view of the beach. We shared a green salad with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a plate of fish-stuffed ravioli with mini zucchini and prawns (look like shrimp but taste almost like crawfish) in a delicious light red sauce. As the sun went down and the evening turned into night, Matt and I made friends with the two female Aussies who were sitting at the table next to us, swapping stories and travel itineraries while sipping mojitos. After dinner, we grabbed a quick taxi back to the hotel because our sore feet did not want to make the trek back to the B&B.
Today was a day that looked to be the worst of the trip thus far and ended up being one of the best. We woke up to cloudy, misty skies with the sure promise of rain. After having breakfast at the B&B, we snuggled back up to sleep thinking that the morning was lost. But even clouds in Cinqueterre are clouds in paradise. We ventured out just before lunchtime and caught the train to Riomaggiore, the town located all the way on the other side from Monterosso. Once in Riomaggiore, we meandered through the town, walking up the steep streets and peaking in shops and markets. We toured their marina and watched the waves crash against the rocks that shelter the shore. For lunch, we grabbed foccacia pizza at a take away counter – Matt got the olive slice while I got the pesto slice (the pesto is just SO GOOD!).
After enjoying a quick lunch, we began our light stroll along the Via dell’Amore (path of lovers). This is the paved, oceanside road to Manarola, which only takes about 20 minutes to walk. At this point in the day, the clouds had completely vanished and the mixture of Mediterranean sunshine and Ligurian Sea breeze was absolutely perfect. Once in Manarola, we ambled through the streets, toured the ancient church and watched the sunbathers in the tiny marina.
We made our way back to Monterosso from Manarola on the crowded and stuffy regional train. Once in town, we decided that we wanted a simple, inexpensive dinner by grabbing some fresh salami and cheese at the local market for supper. We walked first through the old town, poking our heads in shops with jewelry, pottery and other local gifts. After picking up some food and petting a local cat or two (or four! They’re everywhere!) we walked back through the new town and back to the B&B. And here we are, about to eat the delicious food that we purchased just a little while ago, while sipping some wine (we have both sangiovese and a little bit of pinot grigio left from yesterday – yum). We hope that tomorrow’s weather is as promising as this afternoon; we want to spend our last full day in Cinqueterre on the beaches in Monterosso. We will report back soon!
- Megan
P.S. – Here are some things that I have discovered thus far about Italy… Cars are much smaller; Food portions are much bigger. They expect you to eat antipasti (appetizers), a first course (usually a small serving of pasta), a second course (a much larger pasta or fish/seafood dish), dessert and coffee all in one sitting! Not only is that expensive, but it’s nearly impossible to finish. The driving system is organized chaos. They have smaller vehicles and smaller roads. But, like Americans, they drive on the left side of the car and the right side of the road (or at least most of the time).
For mom – They actually have real Coke, Coke Light (Diet Coke) and Coke Zero. I had a Coke Light today and it tastes just like Diet Coke. I have yet to discover whatever the Italian version of Coke is (if you remember the name, remind me). Once I try it, I’ll let you know.
If and whenever you have to make room reservations in Italy or Europe, be wary that a double bed might not actually be a queen or double sized bed like we are used to in America. Matt and I have “double” beds both in our Siena apartment and here in the B&B Il Parco. However, instead of being one solid bed, it is simply two twin beds pushed together with common bed linens. I guess double beds just aren’t as prevalent here, because of the small living spaces and doorways.
Also, the bathroom situation is a bit different and unpredictable. Our private bathrooms in Siena and in Monterosso have bidets, or as Matt likes to call them “butt fountains.” It is basically a tiny little shower bowl for your behind. Don’t know that I’ll use it as much as Europeans probably do, but I can understand the necessity. Sometimes you just want a clean butt in the middle of the day. Also, when Matt and I were in Florence, I attempted to use the bathroom in the train station, only to discover that there was a €0.80 cover charge! It worked kind of like a subway, where you plug in the money, press the button and the mechanical doors open. And then, when I attempted to use the WC (that’s what bathrooms are known as – “Water Closets”) in Monterosso’s train station, I was very alarmed to discover what is basically a hole in the ground. I was so startled that I walked out to make sure I was still in the ladies’ room. Needless to say, I have not yet mastered this European variation on the toilet. Frankly, I’m not sure how the women who use it don’t run into trouble. But maybe one day soon I’ll be faced with a dire situation where I have to use one. You know what they say – When in Rome…I just didn’t realize it also applied to toilets!

Highs and Lows of Our Last Day in Monterosso – Day 5
If today wasn’t the most enjoyable day of our trip, it was definitely the most surprising and bittersweet. We started off with a light breakfast at Il Parco, both of us remarking that we hoped the weather, which was windy and overcast, would improve as the morning wore on as it had the day before. We waited until the drizzling slowed and then made our way down to Old Town to do some shopping. We bought lemoncino and mandarincino, two fruit flavored liqueurs, as well as pesto, trofie pasta, and a couple other knick-knacks. We stopped into a foccaceria and bought a large loaf of foccacia and two smaller pizzas for lunch. Afterwards, we headed up a steep set of steps in the city center to the Cappuccin Monastery, which held a church, cemetery, and other religious relics. We ran into a strange amount of people from the South while we were there, including people from Arkansas, Texas and Alabama (Meg’s LSU t-shirt was pretty much a red flag) and all were very friendly and well-representative.
And this is where the day started to take a turn for the worse. The clouds overhead continued to darken, even amidst my consistent assurances that “It’s going to clear up, you just watch.” After returning to New Town, we decided to go to the beach and enjoy our last day in Monterosso as much as we could under the circumstances. We stole some quality rocks from the beach and got a good hour of…rainclouds….before we decided to head back to Old Town to look for a shirt Megan wanted to buy. We couldn’t find it, but the sun had come back out and we managed a half-hour of tanning on the beach before we had to return to the B&B to get ready for our dinner reservations. We showered, got freshened up, and strolled down to Ristorante Miky on the boardwalk, one of the most highly recommended places in the city. We had a nice secluded table on the patio and decided to splurge on some wine and a two-course meal. We got pesto pasta as the first course (a wonderful go-to when you don’t want to be too risky) that was to die for. For the second course we ordered scampi with garlic parsley and zucchini – sounds delicious right? We thought “Oh, shrimp scampi – I know what that is. Little bit of lemon, some oil and cheese, and pasta. Mmm.” Not so much. The server brings us a platter with three large “bastard children” of shrimp and lobsters, as Meg called them. They were larger than shrimp but much smaller than lobster, and had a distinctive shrimp appearance with large lobster-like claws. There was a minimal amount of tail meat and we were finished in less than five minutes. Needless to say, I was still hungry and bummed. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the “shrobsters” weren’t €25 (about $35).
Then, to make things worse, after we left Miky, we stopped by a payphone and called a taxi, which never arrived. So after the long walk back to the B&B, someone complaining the whole way home, and getting everything straight for our departure in the morning, I must say, I will miss Cinque Terre, but I’m about ready to be back in Siena. We have orientation coming up on Sunday, and hopefully tomorrow will be a luckier day for us.

Back in Siena (Without Internet!) – Day 6 (June 6)
We left Cinqueterre today and headed back to Siena around 11am. We were glad to leave though, because the weather was not pretty at all. Last night it was very windy and rainy and this morning was not much different. First, we hopped on the train from Monterosso to Pisa, with reservations in Car 10. After the train departed, we continued to have trouble finding the car. The numbers jumped from 7 to 9 and back down to 5 and so on. Finally, we found another couple, who was from Australia, who had seat reservations next to us in Car 10. Sure enough, we asked the “conductor,” if you will, where Car 10 was – and he said that Car 10 is changed to Car 4. Great. So at the next stop, the four of us had to get off of the train and RUN down the platform to get to our car.
Once we got settled in the car, we got to know our Aussie companions and rode together to Pisa, where we all got off together to see the Tower. We took a very bumpy ride to the tower, snapped a couple of photos, grabbed a quick snack for lunch and hopped a bus back to the train station. From there we rode together through Empoli, where Matt and I caught a connecting train to Siena.
Once back at the apartment, we discovered that the internet is out and after lots of stressful tweaking with the settings and router…still no internet. :0( We gave up and did some grocery shopping, which was yet another adventure. Something as simple as picking out cereal is an ordeal when you don’t know the language. Shopping in Italian groceries is a bit different – the eggs are not refrigerated and come in Extra Fresh and just Fresh varieties. The milk comes either refrigerated or not refrigerated. Strange.
Anyway, we’re trying to figure out the washing machine (which is either not working or we’re just crazy and can’t work it) and the internet problem.
- Megan

And So It Begins… - Day 7
Today is our first full day in Siena and we awoke to dark skies and a morning full of rainy weather. Thankfully, we were able to sleep late and spend most of the morning in bed. But once we finally got up and got going we had some breakfast. I am proud of my cereal choice from yesterday’s shopping trip. The groceries are quite different from back home. Whereas in America we have a whole aisle devoted to any kind of cereal you can imagine, the Italian grocery has about one vertical shelf devoted to cereal. First of all, Italians must love chocolate for breakfast – chocolate chip muffins, chocolate stuffed croissants, chocolate everything. I recognized the Special K cereal (but still, different from America). They had just flakes, dried white grapes, chocolate spirals – No dried strawberries kind. I got the Cicciolato Fondente (chocolate shavings) and it was very good! Matt recognized the Dalfour jelly products (French brand that Mom uses at home) and had a breakfast of jam, butter and toast.
The whole morning has been spent trying to fix the internet (still) and exploring the cable TV channels. We are more up to date on world news that I think we have ever been in our entire lives, seeing as the only English channels are CNN World Edition and BBC World News. We know about the Air France plane getting lost (on the same day we were in the air – yikes!), President Obama’s speech tour, D-Day remembrance, Mexican fires, Susan Boyle’s breakdown and so on.
It’s about 2pm now and we just finished lunch (salami, prosciutto and fontina sandwiches on panino bread). We’re going to wait a bit to call the families and then head out to explore Siena before heading to our law school program’s Orientation that starts at 7pm on the other side of town. Looks like it may be just clouds and not rain (fingers crossed) for the rest of the day.
- Megan