At this point, I am second guessing my decision to post individually about each city I visited (I didn't realize how excessive it would be.) But. There's no going back now! Rachel and I took a day trip to Siena. In a classic Rachel/Elle move, we opted not to pay the 2 euros for a map at the train station because we figured we'd find a cheaper one somewhere else. First of all, it was the most bizarre Willy Wonka-esqe train station. There were at least 15 sets of escalators to get to the top. I'm not sure how this was possible, but it was. At each level, we were like, wait, what? How? Second of all, my retrospective self is palm facing, thinking wtf- why would I not have paid 2 euros?! We never found a cheaper map, so we guessed our way into the city. On our way from the train station, we wandered into the cutest restaurant, Il Vinaio, and stopped for lunch. We ate the most delicious pumpkin sage ravioli and drank the cheapest, best chianti. Rachel and I never quite knew how much wine we were ordering and were always so pleasantly surprised at how far our euro or two got us (in this case a huge carafe). Good thing we didn't buy the map ;) ^^ There were huge rubber meerkats (and snails and a few other random animals) all over Sienna. I have no idea why. But they made me smile so much, because the reminded me the silliest story Jon (who I was missing so much!) told me while we were in Spain a few years back.
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I love Florence! I had been with my family 5 years prior, and it was so much fun to go back. We actually stumbled into the same gelato shop that my family and I had eaten at on our bike tour years ago. It was just as good as I remembered! Rachel and I stayed at an airbnb (of course (they tended to be cheaper than hostels for us)) with the nicest couple. They gave us all sorts of great recommendations. Our host worked at a restaurant in the city, and we decided to splurge one night and eat at his restaurant. We shared the most delicious pear, sheep cheese, honey pizza, a bottle of rosé, and tiramisu. So so good! When we asked for the bill, our host shrugged and said "20?" (The bill should have been at least double that.) He was the sweetest! ^^ Chianti every night! Also, this restaurant/jazz cafe was adorable. Heart-eyes. ^^ I think the Duomo in Florence is perhaps my favorite building of all time. ^^ You have no idea how much I needed this carrot juice. (The things you miss abroad...) I had been sick since Cinque Terre, and the pizza all day err day wasn't seeming to speed up the recovery process. It was the perfect cafe in the perfect location, tucked along the flea market. I found the most beautiful vintage earrings there, which I bought as an anniversary gift for Jon but they were stolen in Rome :( ^^ If you go to Florence, you must go to Gusta Pizza. THE BEST of all time. We ate there twice in a row and were not ashamed one bit. Links to my favorites of Firenze.
La Bussola (most delicious fancy dinner) La Carraia Gelateria (the best gelato in town. arguably in the world) La Ménagère (the cutest cafe) Volume Museo Libreria Caffè (fun location/atmosphere + the best fresh juice) Gusta Pizza (best (cheap) pizza and wine) Sitting on cold, dirty concrete has become one of my favorite things, providing a time to relax, meditate, or rest and read, the breeze granting refuge from the warm, sticky city air. I've discovered that waiting is nice. In my times of waiting, I don't wait, but instead use the opportunity to breathe. We were in Pisa just for a day. We lay on the grass watching all the tourists taking photos of themselves pushing over the leaning tower, and laughed til our cheeks were sore. I must note that our airbnb host in Pisa was incredible. We had the most relaxing room, with a freaking sauna shower! That is all.
(?)We made our way from Barcelona to La Spezia via a series of blabla cars, with a pit stop in Montpellier. I'm not sure if Paris had just left such a horrible taste in our mouths that we couldn't enjoy it, or if we truly just don't like France. Either way, it was not our favorite. Another learning experience! So sappy, I know. The day in Montpellier started off pretty rough. We arrived before our airbnb host was home, so we waited at a nearby park where we were immediately approached by two men, one with his pants unzipped, who harassed us about how much America sucks (we know, we know man!) and also showed us his favorite statue, who's head, when he touched it, tumbled to the ground. WHAT?! We left the park with all our gear, pretty sure we were being followed, and walked aimlessly around in the rain until our host got home. He informed us that we could hang out in the living room for a while because our room wouldn't be ready for about 4 hours, which we thought was super obnoxious until we actually saw our room which was a literal hole in the wall, and then booked it back up to the living room. Rachel was pretty sick and opted to stay in the hole for the rest of the night. Despite her cautions, I ventured out into the city, mace in hand, and found myself a little grocery store. Lots of deep breaths (but really, probably the mace) made me feel calm and, if i'm being totally honest, a bit badass for braving the streets alone. I returned to the airbnb, which was essentially more of a hostel (I don't know what we expected for 20 bucks a night) and ended up having a pretty fun evening, chatting with the other guests. After the experience in Montpellier, we decided to splurge on our airbnb in La Spezia, Italy. And it was one of the best decisions of our trip. We had the entire place to ourselves and were able to totally relax. The photo above was the view from our skylight. The 10 flights of stairs to the top of the building were totally worth it to have our own private porthole through which we watched the sunsets and thunderstorms. And, to make it fun (?), I tried to kick my butt as I ran up each stair. Hard, I tell you!!! ^^ We had planned to hike between all the cities in Cinque Terre, but hadn't done our research and unfortunately, 4 of the 5 trails were closed. But we were able to hike the one that was open. It was supposed to be about a 2 hour downhill hike, but like the idiots we are, we went the wrong direction, so it was all uphill. A MILLION stairs. But it was good exercise, and I made a super cool trail running video ;) Also, Rachel made me carry our greasy trash the whole way. That brown bag tied to my backpack just bounced the whole time, slowly unravelling. The views were incredible, and I cannot tell you how amazing the sun felt. (The day I wore shorts in El Vendrell, Pau looked at my legs, eyes wide, and said matter-of-factly with slight concern "Elle. You need to go to the beach and get some sun.") More of the hike below. ^^ If only my hair always dried this naturally good and wavy! Ah, humidity, how I love and miss you. ^^ After the hike, we jumped into the ocean to cool off. Cinque Terre, thank you for being a moment of reprieve!
While I was living in Seattle, Pau came and couchsurfed at my house. He told me to come visit in Spain, which I took very literally. It was so amazing of him to host me and Rachel in his hometown, El Vendrell. We had an incredible time with him and his friends and we really got a taste of the local Catalonian culture. Rachel and I were so intrigued by all of their customs and traditions. (Pau leads me and Rachel along the dark streets and into a garage to see "the dragon." His friends are all sitting tightly inside smoking, listening to metal. They charge 25 cents for a beer. They're speaking a mix of Catalan and Spanish, and I'm lucky to catch a few words. Rachel and I exchange lots of glances, eyebrow raises, as we sit and soak in the moment. After a while, Pau gives us a tour of garage, which hosts the massive dragon. He and his friends have inherited the responsibility of the dragon from their parents who built and operated it ages ago. They, like their parents did before them, parade the fire-shooting dragon around in festivals. Pau lights one firework to give us an idea of the massiveness of the show; in a festival there would be tons of fireworks going off continually. During the festivals, little "flys"- as Pau first described, but which we later learned were fleas (I mean I wouldn't know the difference in Spanish, let alone any insects in Spanish)- swarm the dragon, and they all dance together. (See videos below for my attempt, and Pau's correction.) After a few hours hanging in the garage waiting for the rain to subside, and many quiet exchanges between Rachel and me noting how hungry we secretly were, we all go to a neighborhood fast food joint for some pizza. (Spaniards eat LATE.) It is a wonderful night.
^^ Pau's cute voice in the background :) ^^ If only you could have seen us running through the metro station to meet up with Pau after our stay in Barcelona... We weren't exactly sure where we were supposed to meet him (It's like we never learned or something! 😉); we had thought it would be some obvious location, but what is obvious to everyone else is never obvious to me and Rachel (see all the future blog posts to come.) So I circled the station a good 14 times looking for Pau, while Rachel stayed at the entrance trying to contact him via Facebook, asking me what he looked like to which I kept replying "brown hair, brown eyes, like every other freaking person here." The train only runs once an hour to El Vendrell , and we were sure we'd missed it- and Pau. But! He came running up and we had just enough time to hug and kiss kiss before we piled through the turnstile, one ticket between the three of us, ran down into to the steamy station, and jumped onto the train as the doors shut behind us. ^^ Human castles- another Catalonian tradition. This was such a fun night too! We watched the human castle practice, and then stayed around for a huge town dinner outside. I felt such a sense of community there which was amazing, but also illuminated the absence thereof at home. Other not-pictured, but equally cherished moments from El Vendrell:
Going to a tiny local anarchist bar, where we listened to revolutionary Catalan songs and laughed to find ourselves unknowingly involved in a song/game about which we were totally cluless. The game involved each person adding a word to some Catalan song (i.e. first person says "la nena" second person says "la nena estaba contenta" third person says "la nena estava content perquè...." etc.. Other than Pau and a few of his friends, no one else in the bar knew that Rachel and I were foreigners, and so when it it got to me, I just stared blankly drawing out a long "uhhhhhhhh." But it was so fun just to be there and see what kinds of similar things can draw people together all over the world, even if we don't always understand each other. Having a barbecue with Pau's friends where we ate delicious food, drank all sorts of exciting drinks, played a funny game called Pim Pom Poom, and hung around for hours. Walking along the beach and dipping our toes in, even though the locals thought we were silly. What I learned about El Vendrell is that no one seems to be in a rush. Friends gather and talk for hours; people essentially just enjoy each others' company. It was so so lovely, and I want to go back. Thank you Pau (and friends) for the most amazing stay! |
ELLEfeminist. linguist. traveller. foodie. crafter. ARCHIVES
January 2018
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All photos are the property of Elizabeth Cheney and may not be used without permission.
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