Days 72-76 - Florence to Cinque Terre and Back to Rome

It amazes me that five days have passed since I last posted. As the end of the trip has neared the days have sped up at an exponential rate. It has become increasingly harder to make decisions regarding what to see because I no longer have the luxury of time. Nonetheless here is what has been going on since my Florence arrival.

The best part of Florence was meeting the people staying in the hostel. It was an extremely large place and I found it very easy to meet fellow backpackers. In fact, we all became good friends and three of us have currently met back up in Rome. Below is Geoff, a traveller from Northern Ireland who wants to be a music teacher. Walking around with him was fascinating since he would spontaneously rock out with street musicians. He even managed to book a gig at an Irish pub so the hostel crowd went to see him two nights in a row.

Another highlights of the city was attending an Italian Opera. With a discount from the hostel the price was only 10 Euro. The performance was in a converted church with great acoustics.

You may be able to tell from the blurry photo that the singer is in fact Asian. She was singing in Italian and the performance was in Italy so I am still going to call it authentic.

Unfortunately my converter and iPhone charger were lost in Florence so I spent most of the city picture-less. If you want to know more about the city I'll show you some pictures from fellow travelers as soon as I get my hands upon them.

Cinque Terre was the next destination after three nights in Florence. I didn't expect much, after having been to the Amalfi Coast. I soon found that the Amalfi Coast pales in comparison to what I have termed my favorite place on Earth. Again an uphill battle against my iPhone battery was fought but I still managed a decent set of pictures.

Above is the Walk of Love.  When a couple goes on this walk they buy a padlock, lock it to the fence and then throw the keys into the ocean.  Below are some of the locks.

The two days were spent hiking through the national park, enjoying wine during the sunset and having more than a fair share of gellato. My legs are still sore from the vertical hiking but it was worth it for the breath-taking views.

There was even a place to feed some cats during the hike.

Tonight I sit just outside of Rome after two of the most relaxing days of my life. You may remember that I didn't see any of the city my first time in Rome so this will be the first chance to tour it.

Tomorrow should be a fun day, if for the sole reason I can get away from the strange hostel bathroom policies.

I'll try my best to post in a few days after touring Rome

Scott