We entered Italy a couple of weeks ago after stopping in Monaco for a nice, beach-y afternoon. There wasn’t that much to Monaco, after all, it’s quite small. And I wonder how it would be to be the King Monaco (also known as King of 0.78 miles). We ended up swimming on one of the only public beaches there. We had a nice time relaxing, but it is surely not somewhere we needed to spend a lot of time in. 

We headed out of Monaco, and checked one more country off our list. As we drove across the border of France and Italy, I saw something really interesting that I will never forget. A camp of refugees from Africa and the Middle East had set themselves up in a parking lot, clearly visible from the road. Upon their cloths that were flying in the wind, bold words were written: NO BORDERS CAMP. Others said: STOP KILLING OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. It was very powerful. I wanted to take a quick photo to share with the world what these people were going through, but I didn’t want to offend them. After seeing that, it really made me think about the world. I am really, quite removed from the struggles of refugees, so I want to do something to help. Our plan is to help out with the Syrian refugees in Turkey or Greece if we can.

Later that day we got to enjoy something really beautiful. At sunset in Ventimiglia, you could see the rain over the ocean, the moon rising in the sky, and bolts of lightning reaching down from the heavens to touch the mountain-tops. It was amazing and fleeting. The sunset was vibrant, singing, and then it was gone and the contrasting greys swept over the night sky. We camped in a roadside stop for the night, and woke up very happy.

You may be wondering why we were so happy. The story goes that at the shop near the parking lot had 1/2 meter bundles of Kinder chocolate. Each cost €5.99 and I had €12.00, so I bought a meter of German chocolate. After that we headed into a town near to Genova and went to an internet cafe. Mom was paying the bills, so Dad, Raisa, and I checked out the beach down the road. It had no tourist-y stuff, just a little beach with a gorgeous view of the town rising up out of the water. The Mediterranean is great because its water is absolutely fantastic. It has such a beautiful color. 

Later we arrived just around the corner from Cinque Terra. This was also our first experience in a refuge. After driving up a looming hill, we arrived in the gravel parking lot sporting a wooden sign pointing to our destination down a bumpy trail. We proceeded to grab our bags and hike 10 minutes to the refuge. The nice thing was that it turned out to have a great view of the islands just off the coast. Probably the best part, though, was the opportunity we took to meet some great people. Dinner was served family style so we were all forced to eat together.

The second day was a nice one. We walked up to Campiglia, one of the Cinque Terre towns. It was a very beautiful hike with stunning views and great weather. We tried to get far that day, but we didn’t quite succeed. 

Okay, so we finally got to the real towns of Cinque Terre on the last day. Sadly it really did not live up to my expectations. I am sure it must have been beautiful 40 or 50 years ago, but it has been warped into the mad, touristic market you see today. The Italians and farmers seem to have moved away and little shops of people selling their food are non-existent. It is quite sad, really. Maybe you will have a better experience than me, but I thought it was a bit…lousy. This was particularly because we chose to take a tourist boat which drops you off at the different towns. This took literally forever and the smells were slightly sickening. Plus, there was no shade. I especially didn’t like the whole profit, profit, profit attitude. The boat was packed past its limit with people stumbling about. I don’t mean to completely bash the place because it was an interesting experience and it wasn’t all bad. It was great to have a view from the water and the towns were cute. All I mean to say is: If you are looking for an authentic experience, don’t go.

After Cinque Terre, we headed into the middle of the country. We didn’t quite make it to Piza that night, so we made the decision to Wild Camp and visit Florence instead the next day. It took us a while of driving through back roads and hopping onto highways to find a good spot, but Raisa and I were not to keen on sleeping because of the tale of the Monster of Scandechee. There’s not much of a story to tell you, but it was really frightening to us. There was a serial killer in Scandeechee, Italy, who killed couples who were Wild Camping or backpacking. Even though we have four people in our car, and not two, it was really frightening. Due to the method of mutilation on the victims, authorities suspected that he was a surgeon, so they arrested multiple doctors, hoping that the killings would stop. One time, they ceased after a certain arrest, so they figured they had imprisoned the true culprit. Unfortunately, the murders picked up again a year later. The Monster of Scandeechee was never caught, but it has been around thirty years since the activity stopped. We figured we would not wild camp there just to be safe.

Florence is a really nice city, but we didn’t really have enough time to explore it. We stayed in a camp ground and visited some of the musts, the Uffizzi Gallery etc. I was really glad to see some of Botticelli’s finest work. Of course, I am a huge fan of the Birth of Venus and freaked out about that :). 

Between Florence and Rome, are natural thermal baths. They are white, naturally occurring hot tubs that are quite different than the rest of the surrounding landscape. They are gorgeous and open to the public usually always. Tip: if you find a closed one, just drive around the area, because there are multiple ones in and amongst little, broken-down cities. The largest pools are quite chilly and similar to a lukewarm camp swimming pool, but the small ones are very hot. The atmosphere is generally very welcoming and the people who come regularly are very chill.

Rome is very different from everywhere I have been. It’s big and filled with irresponsible pedestrians not watching out for bikes. Everywhere else, people seem to be okay with staying on the sidewalk, but no, not in Rome. I came close to crashing a few times due to pedestrians crowding the street while listening to music with their ear buds. Rome is not known for good bike riding, but we sure had some odd accidents.
Our bike tour was really nice, though. We actually had three guides, two of whom are in training, and we got to go privately! Our guide, Flavia had lots of great stories to tell, and it was exciting to see such grand monuments. My only disappointment was that we just missed the Pope on Wednesday. Dang it! 

Our car also got broken into. Because we had been staying in a camp ground next to the mosquito-infested Tiber River, we decided to get a hotel room. We parked outside of a Nuns’ house, so we thought we were safe. Unfortunately, we were still broken into and everyones’ bags were stolen but mine. Thankfully, no valuables were lost, but it has been a huge hassle.

Last but not least came the Almafi Coast. We were right near Pompeii, but we were in a hurry and decided that the view was better than another day of sightseeing. It was also nice because we met up with some of Dad’s old friends at their hotel.

Thanks for bearing with my latenes. Good wifi is hard to come by. Night!