Italy

Hiking the Cinque Terre
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Prior to landing in Rome, I had heard only good things from other people about Italy.  Therefore, it was my plan to see as much of the country as possible in the nine days I had there.  It proved to make my time in Italy a whirlwind adventure that ended way too soon.

The first day, I went to the Vatican and St. Peter´s Basilica.  I was floored by three things: the sheer extravagance, the unbelievable views from atop the Basilica, and the ridiculously long lines one has to endure in order to go inside to see anything Catholic.  In spite of the lines, I have to say that it was truly a unique experience and something everybody should see.

I spent two days in Venice cruising around on boats and battling the insane pigeons that live in the Plaza of San Marco.

View from the Cupola of St. Peter´s Basilica
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Next, I headed to the colliseum and the site of ancient Rome with a few friends.  If you haven´t guessed yet, I´m a complete history buff and I think this was the coolest site I have seen.  I toured inside the colliseum, the ancient forum, and the palatine area.  You really can get a feel for the way it was and I will definitely be more keyed into the HBO mini-series from now on.  On our way back, we somehow ended up in the middle of a pro-marijuana parade/techno rally.  In addition to the music and aroma I witnessed an army of graffiti artists absolutely decimate four city blocks of Rome right in front of the police and residents.  Honestly, I have never seen anything like it in my life.

Inside the Colliseum
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From Rome I headed North to hike the Cinque Terre.  These are five small towns situated just south of Genoa in which you can spend a day wandering through the villages and the cliffs for about 8km.  Smart guy here didn´t check to see if there was any place to store my bag and since I didn´t book accomodations, I had to hike the whole damn thing with every possession I own strapped to my back.  Let´s just say that I will not be applying to become a sherpa anytime soon.

An overnight train from Cinque Terre dropped me in Venice around 5:30 in the morning.  I spent two days in Venice cruising around on boats and battling the insane pigeons that live in the Plaza of San Marco.  My hat goes off to the people in Vegas that copied this place, it´s pretty spot-on.

Hillside view of Florence
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The next stop was three days in Florence, where I ended up at a really great hostel where the lady cooked us breakfast and dinner everynight.  I even managed to get a bootleg snapshot of the David before being yelled at by the curators.  I didn´t attempt to go into the Uffizi Museum, as there is something like a four day wait list and I didn´t think anything is that important.  I also took a day trip to Lodola Nuova vineyard in Montepulciano to see where and how they make their wine.  We got to see them planting a vineyard, which I guess is pretty unique.  I really enjoyed Tuscany and couldn´t believe how picturesque everything is there.  The good wine didn´t hurt either.

Graffiti in Rome...weird
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Before flying back out of Rome, I wandered around the city to check out the places I missed the first time around, like the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon.  In all, I have to say that I probably took as many pictures in Italy as I have the rest of the trip combined.  I can understand why so many people love it, it´s amazing.

The next leg is my last, I´m off to Morocco and Southern Spain!!