The 5 towns- Cinque Terre

When we set off on the train to Cinque Terre, we were greeted with a freak snowstorm at La Spezia and they were even cancelling trains! So much for hiking between the 5 beautiful coastal towns. But we didn’t let the bad weather dampen our spirits as we checked into our cute little apartment over looking the ocean and marina. We really felt like we were living like the locals. Being a Sunday, pretty much everything was closed, so we had wine and dinner at one of the few restaurants that was open.

The view from our apartment 

Beautiful little cove near Riomaggiore 

The next morning we woke up and the sun was shining! We headed to the information centre and were told the famous coastal track was closed because of landslides and recent rain and it was ‘not a good day for hiking’. 
But lady, this is what we came to Cinque Terre for! What are we meant to do now? 
Leah was very disappointed as we hopped on the train to the next village, Manarola. The guy at the information centre there seemed a little more optimistic, informing us that the red tracks that went towards the mountains were still open, so we set off on our adventure to hike to the next village, Corniglia.

We looked like him at the end of our hike..

snowy vinyards

About 30cm thick snow, so much fun

So high up with nothing but flimsy grape vine stakes in the ground 

Leah looking for deer for daddy. ( your looking the wrong way)

We found ourselves trudging through the snow-capped vineyards on the side of the mountain with the most beautiful panoramic views of the ocean, cliffs and mountains. At times, we were walking on 1m thin tracks with nothing but rocks to break our fall below and the only indication we were still on the track was the red a white paint on the rocks every so often.

We felt safe as long as we could still see these markings.

As we set off up the mountain and we began to walk through snow we were following two sets of footprints, which gave us a sense of security. We questioned ourselves when the footprints left the red and white track and headed up to a near by road. Nevertheless we continued on the track. We later saw the suspected owners of the footprints, two ladies, hitching a ride back down the mountain. What wusses! Leah was trusted with the map *insert rolling of eyes here* and often doubted if we were still on track.

Leah with a map. Its so cute

Arvi lead the way on thin paths and over trees that had fallen with the weight of snow. Sliding down a hill through knee-deep snow was a good test for our nerdy waterproof hiking boots, which kept our feet nice and dry. Take that fancy fashionable travellers in your high heel boots and converse sneakers!

We were greeted at Corniglia with 700+ steps down to the train station. Shaky McShakesten legs! Once back in Riomaggiore we cooked ourselves a delicious bowl of locally made pasta and pesto, yum yum.

Monterosso panoramic 

The next day we had much nicer weather. We travelled by train to Monterosso, the last of the 5 villages. We decided to do another hike there, up another mountain of course! But this hike was a lot less treacherous than the previous day and we didn’t get any snow. We got to the top of the mountain and decided to continue on to the next town along from Cinque Terre, Levanto. Here we bought some bread, cheese and ham and had a feast on the promenade before catching the train back to Riomaggiore.

We just kept on walking and walking

And got higher and higher

With a lot of stairs

We made it around the top

And were greeted by another amazing view

We both really loved Cinque Terre and while it would be great to come back in warmer weather to swim in the crystal blue water, we were also thankful we avoided all the summer tourists and got to see what Cinque Terre is really like. 

Ruins in Rome

We never really understood that quote 'When in Rome'. Do they mean to do as the ancient Romans did; Rape and pillage nations to expand there huge empire? Watch animals and humans kill each other for entertainment? Or what modern day Romans do; Park wherever you want and drive like a mad man? Eat your weight in pizza and pasta? Or kick-start your day with an espresso and a sickly sweet pastry?

Well we did we did some of those things and left some others out…. Our hostel was definitely a ‘party hostel’, with the only common room being the bar, complete with a beer pong/smoky nightclub downstairs.  We got a bit over excited and did party a little too hard the first night. Arvi in particular got very excited and was loving the music, the beers and the dance floor. To quote a  guy we met that night, the next morning ‘Hey man, you were really feeling the music last night!’. Needless to say it was Arvi’s turn to be very unwell the next day as we tried to walk/ hobble around and site see.

Leah intimidating Arvi's dancing style the night before 

convenient shirt the next morning (thanks Karla)

We did manage to see some pretty cool fountains on a night tour of Rome. These included the famous Trevi fountain and a fountain that was made to slightly resemble a woman in a compromising position, known as the ‘slut fountain’ to locals.

Another amazing panoramic photo by Arvi, Trevi Fountain 

the slut fountain (i don't see it)

Yay we can get photos together (that is sprite not a beer in my hand)

The next day we were nice and fresh again so we made a trip to Vatican City. We lined up to get security checked to get inside the popes church, St. Peters cathedral. It was huge and very beautiful.

Just a snippet of the line up 

Inside St Peters Basilica 

We then spent the afternoon seeing the sites of Rome. We saw heaps of ruins from the Ancient Roman times and tried to imagine what would have been going on there back in the day. We were given a pretty accurate picture by our animated guide, including plenty of blood, guts and gore.

The Colosseum right next to a road and above a train station 

Pretty much all of the structures from ancient Rome that were still standing were converted into churches by the Catholic church. We went to a church that was once a massive bath house and the pope even does a mass once a year in front of the Colosseum! How ironic, seeing thousands and thousands of people and animals were murdered there, in front of a captive audience.

One brilliant piece of ancient Roman architecture we saw was the Pantheon and you guessed it, it is now a Catholic church. Archeologists still don’t know why this 1800 year old structure is still standing today, or how the massive concrete dome in the centre was built in ancient times. The Base is 6 Metres thick with the top 1.5 metres think and it was all pored in one session. Guess slave labour really does get stuff done! One thing Leah thought was really cool was the 16 original red granite columns that still hold the foyer roof of the Pantheon up today. Each column, which weighs over 60 tonnes each, were transported carefully by sea all the way from Egypt. The ancient Romans then used a couple of elephants from Egypt to drag each column into its position. The fact that they could use materials and resources from all over the world just shows how much power the Romans had at the height of the Roman Empire. 

the Dome roof of the Pantheon 

one of the red granite pillars at the front of the Pantheon

Our last day in Rome was a rainy cold one. So we decided to go the Vatican Museum but so did EVERY other tourist in the whole of Rome! After waiting for a while to get to see the Sistine chapel, which was beautiful, we explored the other exhibits and had a bit of fun with the statues.

Leah please don't smash that poor dogs foot

See the statues stick together and you will be bitten 

Florence

the Arno River running through Florence

Florence, located in the region of Tuscany was a nice change from Venice because the streets were bigger and easier to navigate around. We soon found out how crazy the drivers of Italy are. With all cobble stone roads and very few line markings you have to be very alert when crossing the road (Leah is not good at this).

The Santa Maria Del Fiore

man beating centaur with club

We walked into the town square and saw some statues and churches along the way. Florence is known for its leather products so we of course visited some leather markets. With so many wallets, books, bags and shoes to choose from, each store started to look the same after a while. 

Then of course we went to visit David, and he was breathtaking. The 5 metre statue was all carved from the 1 peice of marble. Michelangelo’s brilliance was amazing to see in real life. Photos were forbidden and this was policed by some very angry looking security guards telling people off. Arvi loved Davey so much he even considered buying a pair of the statue of David boxer shorts sold at many tourist stands.

Statue of Neptune

We cultured ourselves that night with a Tuscan wine, olive oil and cheese tasting. We enjoyed lovely wines made from Tuscan Sangiovese grapes with smells of raspberry, vanilla, cinnamon and leather which perfectly complemented an aged, smooth sheep cheese (oh yes, we learnt how to talk like fancy wine connoisseurs!).

Crack face

Gardens in the Pitti Palace

We also visited the Palazzo Pitti and surrounding gardens. Pitti was a banker who then sold the palace to the Medici family, a family who ruled Florence and Tuscany for over 300 years. The Medici's also had a big hand in the birth of the Renaissance period. The Palace was huge! The stones on their front gate were bigger than our bunk beds. We walked around the impressive gardens, which you would easily get lost in. We also got to explore some of the entertaining rooms of the palace, which were elaborately decorated  in beautiful paintings. The paintings that covered the walls were 3D and created an optical illusion of staircases, balconies and an open roof. It was defiantly the most impressive palace we have visited to date.

Still smiling with the lovely Tuscan backdrop in the palace gardens. 

We got lost in Venice!

Our journey from Vienna to Venice was our longest so far. 8 hours in total, half on a train and the other half on a bus. The scenery on the trip definitely made the trip more bearable though!

travelling in the front seats on the double story coach

Italian Alps

The first thing we noticed when we hopped off the bus was that we didn’t need thermals anymore yay!! It was noticeably warmer in Italy and the sun was shining for a change.

Venezia Grand Canal 

Leah looking into the distance

Venice is a very romantic city. All the lovebirds where out and about and so where the very public displays of affection, eww! The buildings are old and some are run down but it all seems to add character to this beautiful city. We got lost almost immediately but found this a great way to see the city, as we stumbled across little gems and photo opportunities in hidden alleyways. Besides, getting lost with a 17kg pack on is great DIY weight training!

We began our love affair with home made pizza, pasta and gelato straight away, devouring slices of Pizza as big as our heads for lunch yum yum! Leah also tried the popular Campari spritz. It was absolutely disgusting. Arvi’s aperol spritz slightly more drinkable. We also learnt to always eat pasta made by Italians not Asians, no matter how cheap it is.

Damn you Campari 

As there is no public transport or cars, we walked everywhere, sometimes in circles by accident. We saw some of the sights of Venice including the beautiful Saint Marco’s Basilica, a church with an interior covered with tiny gold mosaic tile designs.

this is just a tiny part of the church!

One thing we also noticed was all the fancy old ladies wearing fur around, Venice would be a PETA members’ nightmare! And we have never seen so many Venetian mask stores, one or more around every corner. We must look like poor backpackers with no money to spend because the people selling handbags and trinkets on the street left us alone.

"gondola, gondola good price"

Took another wrong turn

Vienna: The place of palaces

essentials for a long train trip

Vienna was our shortest stay on our first month of travel. So we got straight to it after checking in our hostel with a walk around the biggest market in Vienna, Naschmarkt. Yes yet another market! The markets included stalls of meats, nuts, sweets, alcohol and clothing surrounded by little restaurants and cafes. 

Barrels of all sorts of Balsamic vinegars 

Our first night fell on Valentines Day and we went iceskating in front of the massive Town Hall (which looks more like a castle from a Disney movie). It was Arvi's first time ice-skating and he didn't stack once but Leah had a pretty big fall on the ground and now has a sweet bruise on her knee :(

Rathaus Town Hall

It was a pretty good Valentines day

With only one full day of exploring to do we planned our day the night before and set out quite early to walk around the snowy gardens of the SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN palace. Then  back into the old town to see some more Palaces and Cathedrals. It feels like every second building you see here is a palace or similar.

We also took refuge in the Butterfly museum where we got to walk in the warm rainforest enclosure and see some pretty butterflies and even some dead ones too!

Arvi frolicking in the snow

our walk to the top of the snowy hill at the SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN palace.

The Belvedere palace

Butterfly Museum