the home coming...

I guess this is what bittersweetness feels like. We only have one day left in Rome, from there we take the last train ride out to the airport and wait until 6:50 AM when I step on the first of 3 planes that will take me home. I feel like I really went out with a bang. It was so good to be around family the last week in Greece, showing them where I lived and what I had been doing for the last 3.5 months. Then Mariesa and I swam over to Italy and meet up with Kristen for a week of stress free (or what was supposed to be) traveling. I could not have chosen a better place to go: Italy. It is beautiful here.

Our first stop was the Cinque Terre. I HIGHLY encourage anyone who is going to Italy to make this their first stop. It was beautiful beyond belief. Cinque means 5 in Italian, and the Cinque Terre is made up of 5 small coastal cities that are amazing. We hiked between each of them: 2 hours to the first, 2 hours to the second, 1.5 hours to the third, 1 hour to the 4th, then only a 25 minute walk to the fifth city. I have never seen anything like these coastal lines we walked along, and the beauty of the small cities we explored. I think the Cinque Terre is made for tourists, but since it was not tourist season, we had the trails and cities to ourselves. We ate pizza, most of the time actually. We stayed at the best B&B we could have chosen. These people were so nice and spoke spanish, so Mariesa was our designated speaker :] The breakfast was a full buffet of everything I love: bread, Nutella, apples, yogurt, and not one, but TWO cappuccinos every morning made fresh from the owner.

Our next stop was along the way from the Cinque Terre to Florence, and was the little town of Pisa. Yes, I stood and looked at the leaning tower of Pisa, and yes, it really does lean a lot. We took all the trick pictures we could think of, hopped back on the train and made it to Florence by night fall.

Now, we're in Rome, getting ready to check out of our hotel and take on the city for one last exploring day. Then, its off to the train station for us...

I hope Salem is ready for us... because I am ready for it :]