I just spent the weekend up in the Italian alps and it was beautiful.
We had no classes on Friday as this trip was sponsored by our group, IES, and we left Friday morning from Milan by bus and headed north. It took probably about two hours before we were in the region of the Valle d'Aosta and went to Forte di Bard, an old military base that is up and hill. We took this round, glass elevators up three times to get to the top and explore. There were some beautiful views and the history of the fort is very interesting. It was rather old but Napoleon destroyed it when he captured the Aosta region and it was rebuilt later by those who felt it was important to have. It was converted into a museum in the 1900s.
We went into the museum which had these very odd videos at the beginning but after there were many interesting things about the mountains. However, everything was in Italian and French, no English. I was able to pick out a few things and enjoyed the mock-ups of different alp dwellings throughout history. Sadly I could not take photos in the museum.
After that we got back on the bus and headed to lunch. We were treated to a common dish of the area: venison with polenta. It was very yummy and I enjoyed it a lot. There were all these little, old Italian ladies running around serving us and they especially liked the boy at the end of our table who kept eating. It was very cute.
We got to the village of Aosta and wandered around. Sadly it started pouring rain. I lost my umbrella already in Milan so I decided then was a good time to buy a new one. Apparently I got my four euros worth a few minutes after purchasing when my umbrella caught a huge gust of wind and broke. However, we found a very cute little church on accident and saw some other nice sights.
Saturday morning was the Aosta guided tour. All of our tours on IES trips are done in Italian with translation into English after. It made it very interesting to me because I could try and pick out words and phrases that I did understand. However, it also made the tours rather long.
My favorite part of the Aosta tour was the Roman Theatre. Aosta was controlled by the Romans for a very long time and set up like a Roman town. They had an amphitheater and a theatre and a forum. Everything a good Roman town needs. The theatre is still there a lot, although the amphitheater is so gone that we didn't even go to see it. One place I was sad we did not get to was the Cathedral but it wasn't for lack of trying. We went and it turns out that there was a wedding going on that day. However, under the cathedral you can see the hidden passageways that they had in Roman towns. They were basically underground roads people would walk versus walking outside and also held meetings and functions. It was super interesting to see.
After the tour we had some lunch and then my roommate for the trip, Allie, and I observed siesta from 2-4 where everything closes and people relax. In Milan not everything closes as it is a big city, but in Aosta (which is much smaller and has a lot more families) pretty much everything was closed down.
Following siesta we headed to Aosta's archeological museum which was free for the day. We saw a special exhibit on what I think was Renaissance symbolism that was inspired by Roman artifacts (everything was again in Italian and French). Then we headed to look at the normal exhibits and were directed by a guy who obviously worked there to check out the basement. Under the building are Roman ruins that you can see. It was some sort of building and it was super interesting. Allie and I spent a good amount of time wandering around down there. We enjoyed the other parts of the exhibits, mainly artifacts from life in Aosta, before heading out. Allie wasn't feeling well and dinner was approaching so we got some gelato and people watched. There are way more families and babies and larger dogs in Aosta than in Milan. It was really interesting how many of them knew each other and we loved the little Italian ladies gathering on the street for what I assume was gossip.
Sunday was probably the best day of the whole trip. We headed out of Aosta about 9 and we went to Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc in French) which is, I'm pretty sure, the tallest mountain in the Alps. We took three gondolas (which is also a word for a type of ski lift, not just a boat) to get to the top and I took so many pictures. It was gorgeous up there. It was below 0 in Celsius which is still pretty cold for Fahrenheit. There was a small crystal museum at the top and you could also cross the border right into France. It was pretty fun.
Afterward we only took two gondolas down and hiked the last portion. It took a little over an hour, had breathtaking views, and was rather steep. I had a great time and I think that hiking Cinque Terre last weekend definitely put me in shape for this hike. I have not felt any pain yet but we'll see how that goes in the near future.
Once everybody had made it to the bottom (some people did not hike and just took all three gondolas back down) we went to a small town nearby for lunch and then headed back. We made a quick stop at a castle that is in the area which was not open but I got some lovely pictures of the outside, before we made it back to Milan.
It was great to get into the fresh mountain air and be away from the city before starting all of our classes on Monday!
Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Cinque Terre
So I am going to preface this post with just saying that I had never heard of the Cinque Terre until I got here and I will never forget the Cinque Terre. It is fantastic and I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys good views and hiking.
For those that don't know, the Cinque Terre are five villages (that's what Cinque Terre translates too): Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterossa set right along the Gulf of Genova (the northwest side of Italy at the top of the boot). They are connected by hiking trails and there is swimming, and vineyards, and very good food. They are absolutely beautiful (there are 581 pictures I took to prove it).
FRIDAY:
We got into Monterosso about 5 o'clock and headed down on the train to Riomaggiore where we stayed. There were four of us and we met up with one of the guys in our group's girlfriend and three of her friends as well. We basically took lots of pictures of Riomaggiore and then ate dinner, had some gelato, and went to bed.
SATURDAY:
Now, this is the big day. We were told to walk from Riomaggiore north to Monterosso on the trails (opposite of what most guidebooks say but I think it was better). We started about nine am and finished about five pm so here it goes:
RIOMAGGIORE TO MANAROLA:
This section is the Via Dell'Amore and it is the easiest part to hike because it is flat and paved. It has beautiful views of the water and there are all these love words engraved on the walls in marble set into the cliffs. There is a lot of love related graffiti (they also like to carve their names into cacti we discovered) and people put locks up to represent their love. It was all very touching and a very nice warm up to the beginning of the hike.
We explored the town of Manarola which has a very nice marina and I bought some foccaccia bread which the Cinque Terre are known for. It was fantastic and a great snack for as I got hungry.
MANAROLA TO CORNIGLIA:
So, this part of the trail was closed due to risk of landslides. Apparently this is common. This also means I need to come back so I can hike this portion. However, we took the train to Corniglia and it turns out to get into the city center (and the rest of the trail) from their train station you have to climb 382 steps. I didn't count, they congratulate you at the top with a sign.
Corniglia is beautifully set out on a small peninsula and, like all the Cinque Terre, a cute little town. We went to this panoramic view area to get some great shots before continuing on our adventure.
CORNIGLIA TO VERNAZZA:
This is the hardest part of the entire hike. The paved paths were gone and we were left with stone paths, lots of steps, and beautiful views. Although it also took us pretty far from the coast compared to the rest of the hike. This portion took us over two hours, despite the fact that it says it should only take an hour and a half. However, we stopped for water a lot, and to take pictures. The sun was coming out at this time (the morning had previously been overcast and the forecast predicted rain all day) which made things pretty but it was also hot. I took a lot of trail pictures so you should check those out. Pictures are worth a thousand words in this case.
However, Vernazza may have been my favorite of the Cinque Terre. It's set almost like a pier coming out of the coast (it also has a pier coming out of the coast). It was 1 when we got in so we had lunch at this place called Blue Marlin. I had Trofie pasta with pesto (Cinque Terre is known for pesto!) and it was fantastic. Probably one of my best meals so far and well priced. We spent a good amount of time in Vernazza because we were so tired. We went out to the pier area, took some pictures, and relaxed on these big rocks for awhile. It was quite nice, but it was onto the final leg.
VERNAZZA TO MONTEROSSO:
This part was not as hard as the previous leg, but it was the second hardest and the most treacherous I think. I was so glad we started in the south though because our trip had a ton of steps at the beginning going up and then was pretty gradually downhill plus some small uphills. Meaning coming the other way it was a lot of uphill instead.
The trail here got pretty narrow for awhile and it had started to rain which made the stones that marked the path rather slippery. It rained for about an hour but it was refreshing since we were so hot from hiking the other two legs (particularly the first leg). My friend Allie almost fell down a hill from slipping on the stones, luckily there was a railing at that part (some parts do not have railings, this is not for anybody bad with heights).
This part goes through a lot of vineyards at the end which was fun to see. The grapes looked gorgeous.
The very end part of this was a TON of steps downhill (hence why I was glad to go down, not up). The rain had stopped but some were still slippery. We got into Monterosso and were so proud of ourselves for taking the 2 hours they say it takes to complete that leg that we celebrated with, what else?, gelato!
We ended up not exploring Monterosso but heading back to our hostel (which was really nice, much improved over last weekend) and showering before finding some dinner in Riomaggiore. I had gnocci stuffed with tomato and mozzarella which was fantastic. We wandered Riomaggiore's main street a bit before heading back up to our hostel (we were rather high up on the hill). We talked a bit before more or less passing out from exhaustion.
SUNDAY:
We slept in until about 9, and packed to leave by 10 (check-out time). Three of us headed back to Vernazza to explore the Castello Doria which had fantastic views of the area. We had lunch at Blue Marlin again because we loved it so much and I had anchovy pizza. Allie stared at me through my whole first piece since she thought I was crazy for having anchovies on pizza. We then headed onto Monterosso to explore for once.
The biggest thing with Monterosso is there is beach access. So we walked a little but we were so tired that we ended up wading into the Gulf of Genova (part of the Linguarian Sea) for a good amount of time.
We finished our trip with some gelato and our three hour train ride back to Milan thoroughly tired but with beautiful memories and pictures of the Cinque Terre!
For those that don't know, the Cinque Terre are five villages (that's what Cinque Terre translates too): Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterossa set right along the Gulf of Genova (the northwest side of Italy at the top of the boot). They are connected by hiking trails and there is swimming, and vineyards, and very good food. They are absolutely beautiful (there are 581 pictures I took to prove it).
FRIDAY:
We got into Monterosso about 5 o'clock and headed down on the train to Riomaggiore where we stayed. There were four of us and we met up with one of the guys in our group's girlfriend and three of her friends as well. We basically took lots of pictures of Riomaggiore and then ate dinner, had some gelato, and went to bed.
SATURDAY:
Now, this is the big day. We were told to walk from Riomaggiore north to Monterosso on the trails (opposite of what most guidebooks say but I think it was better). We started about nine am and finished about five pm so here it goes:
RIOMAGGIORE TO MANAROLA:
This section is the Via Dell'Amore and it is the easiest part to hike because it is flat and paved. It has beautiful views of the water and there are all these love words engraved on the walls in marble set into the cliffs. There is a lot of love related graffiti (they also like to carve their names into cacti we discovered) and people put locks up to represent their love. It was all very touching and a very nice warm up to the beginning of the hike.
We explored the town of Manarola which has a very nice marina and I bought some foccaccia bread which the Cinque Terre are known for. It was fantastic and a great snack for as I got hungry.
MANAROLA TO CORNIGLIA:
So, this part of the trail was closed due to risk of landslides. Apparently this is common. This also means I need to come back so I can hike this portion. However, we took the train to Corniglia and it turns out to get into the city center (and the rest of the trail) from their train station you have to climb 382 steps. I didn't count, they congratulate you at the top with a sign.
Corniglia is beautifully set out on a small peninsula and, like all the Cinque Terre, a cute little town. We went to this panoramic view area to get some great shots before continuing on our adventure.
CORNIGLIA TO VERNAZZA:
This is the hardest part of the entire hike. The paved paths were gone and we were left with stone paths, lots of steps, and beautiful views. Although it also took us pretty far from the coast compared to the rest of the hike. This portion took us over two hours, despite the fact that it says it should only take an hour and a half. However, we stopped for water a lot, and to take pictures. The sun was coming out at this time (the morning had previously been overcast and the forecast predicted rain all day) which made things pretty but it was also hot. I took a lot of trail pictures so you should check those out. Pictures are worth a thousand words in this case.
However, Vernazza may have been my favorite of the Cinque Terre. It's set almost like a pier coming out of the coast (it also has a pier coming out of the coast). It was 1 when we got in so we had lunch at this place called Blue Marlin. I had Trofie pasta with pesto (Cinque Terre is known for pesto!) and it was fantastic. Probably one of my best meals so far and well priced. We spent a good amount of time in Vernazza because we were so tired. We went out to the pier area, took some pictures, and relaxed on these big rocks for awhile. It was quite nice, but it was onto the final leg.
VERNAZZA TO MONTEROSSO:
This part was not as hard as the previous leg, but it was the second hardest and the most treacherous I think. I was so glad we started in the south though because our trip had a ton of steps at the beginning going up and then was pretty gradually downhill plus some small uphills. Meaning coming the other way it was a lot of uphill instead.
The trail here got pretty narrow for awhile and it had started to rain which made the stones that marked the path rather slippery. It rained for about an hour but it was refreshing since we were so hot from hiking the other two legs (particularly the first leg). My friend Allie almost fell down a hill from slipping on the stones, luckily there was a railing at that part (some parts do not have railings, this is not for anybody bad with heights).
This part goes through a lot of vineyards at the end which was fun to see. The grapes looked gorgeous.
The very end part of this was a TON of steps downhill (hence why I was glad to go down, not up). The rain had stopped but some were still slippery. We got into Monterosso and were so proud of ourselves for taking the 2 hours they say it takes to complete that leg that we celebrated with, what else?, gelato!
We ended up not exploring Monterosso but heading back to our hostel (which was really nice, much improved over last weekend) and showering before finding some dinner in Riomaggiore. I had gnocci stuffed with tomato and mozzarella which was fantastic. We wandered Riomaggiore's main street a bit before heading back up to our hostel (we were rather high up on the hill). We talked a bit before more or less passing out from exhaustion.
SUNDAY:
We slept in until about 9, and packed to leave by 10 (check-out time). Three of us headed back to Vernazza to explore the Castello Doria which had fantastic views of the area. We had lunch at Blue Marlin again because we loved it so much and I had anchovy pizza. Allie stared at me through my whole first piece since she thought I was crazy for having anchovies on pizza. We then headed onto Monterosso to explore for once.
The biggest thing with Monterosso is there is beach access. So we walked a little but we were so tired that we ended up wading into the Gulf of Genova (part of the Linguarian Sea) for a good amount of time.
We finished our trip with some gelato and our three hour train ride back to Milan thoroughly tired but with beautiful memories and pictures of the Cinque Terre!
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