Cinque Terre

Yeah, we are still alive and kicking out here. This will be brief as I am extremely hungry and internet is $$$$$$$.

Wednesday... we saw the Pope, he is much less scary in person. Then we headed to Orvieto, a city on a plateau. It was wicked cold that day. It took us a while to find a place to stay. We bought tickets for Orvieto Underground and ate at a cafe, which was really cheap. Then we took the tour, and our guide was really good. She did the tour in Italian and Engligh bc of a mixed group, but it was still really good. We only saw 2 of the 1200 caves that have been found. They think they are nearly 4000. Then we ate supper and played cards until bed.

Thursday... We checked out of the hotel and left our bags there. We walked around the edge of the plateau, with amazing views of the country side. Orvieto is a very nice town, with narrow cobble stone streets and old buildings. It has a medeival feel to it. I could have stayed there longer. We paid way to much to walk down some well, and then we had an expesive supper that we thought would be cheap because we got 5 euro off. The did give us free dessert though. We got our bags and we headed to Pisa, via Florence. We got there late so we decided to stay overnight. We walked in a circle before we found a cheap place to stay. We ate really good pizza there for supper.

Friday... We slept in too late so we only had 45 minutes to walk to the leaning tower of Pisa and walk back in check out by 11. It is like a 20 minute walk each way so we had about 5 minutes to see the tower, which is all you really need. The tower is mediocre, but it's something you should see if you are in the area, and Joel hadn't. We ate at McDs and missed our first train to Riomaggiore, in Cinque Terre. Once there we looked for a place to stay. All the places were closed, but we waited like 20 minutes and there were all open again. We checked a few places that were 25-30 euro each a night, and thought we would have to shell that out. We finally found a place for 17.50 each, but they made it sound really bad, like a simple room with 4 beds and a bathroom. Really it was an apartment with a two big room, a bathroom, and a kitchen with a stove and fridge! It also has a HUGE balcony! The only thing that sucks is that the heater doesnt work that great and you have to walked a bunch of stairs to get there. But I love it. Best deal yet I think. After we settled in we walked around the town a bit, and on the coast. Its so beautiful here. Then we went back to cook soup! It was soooo good. We had bread with it and it was amazing. We were all packed full for once.

Saturday (Today)... We made scrambled eggs and fried potatoes for brunch and went out to hike the Cinque Terre, which are five towns nestled on cliffs connected by walking paths with amazing views. ( Terry, you would LOVE it here) The first two paths were easy and had great views. We ate gelato in the third town (they had cinnamon, it was AMAZING!!!!). The third path was probably the hardest, but it was also really nice. It was also the longest. We made it to the fourth town just in time to watch the gorgeous sunset on the dock. It was one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen. We didnt hike to the 5th town (which is supposed to be the hardest hike). We took the train back you our town and went on the net! Now we are leaving to go make more soup for supper!! (For those who want to know, the soup had carrots, potatoes, onions, diced tomatoes, beef boullion and sausage! So good!) Mmmmmmmmm.....