Hiking Cinque Terre

Well it all started at 5am! Out of bed and on a crazy 4 hour train ride through beautiful countryside. Every moment of nap was a regretted moment of not gazing out the window. After multiple train switches through crazy terminals all in Italian (and unfortunately not Spanish) and 150 pages through Shutter Island (yeah it's wicked scary) we arrived at Monterosso the furthest town on the trail! Right on the coast the water abuts the cliffs! So gorgeous and so nice to be near the ocean! Sadly, due to landslides the first trail was blocked off so we were unable to hike the 1st of 5 treacherous (ha ok treacherous may be too strong of a word hahaha challenging excursion to nature walk) climbs. Since, Skips was not feeling so hott and had taken some dayquil this portion of the hike was a little intense and well let's say interesting....

However, the views were so beautiful seeing the little quaint Italian towns with sooo much pesto, lemoncello and of course Gelato!!!!!! YUM YUM! I swear the foods and smells of Italy are WONDERFUL!!

We hiked through 3 more trails finally got to a little town which was so picturesque!  Steamy and hot we realized we needed to deal with the major "swack" issues as Skips calls it (I bet it's not hard to guess what 2 words makes that one...if not, take the visual of a 2 toned gray shirt..on side light and the back...well pretty dark :) ), so we dipped our feet in the ocean and did so serious people watching!!!

We finally ventured on the Via dell'Amore which was quite basic in terms of the utilization of stellar hiking skills...but it was nice to just stroll. The entire walk way was strung with locks (apparently a symbol of eternal love- total VOM) culminating in the classic blacked image of a couple smooching!!! :)

We then treated ourselves to delicious gellato SOOOO GOOD before waiting to take the long journey home! We arrived back in Bologna exhausted after 2 train rides (and 200 pages of Shutter Island- SO FREAKING CREEPY) to the dark streets which we attempted to navigate although successfully definitely in a energy-depleted fashion!

What a wonderful place and definitely high on suggested Italian destinations.

Over the past two days, we've gotten to see more sights of Bologna!!! Hiked to the top of the tower (one of 2 which I might add are in quite perfect Italian style as they are both leaning) as well as to the church in the mountains behind the city which we hiked through 666 portocos to get to! It was lovely hike and got to drink some vino at the top (love the cheap but brilliantly tasting wine here def going to miss that- ps trying to bring brilliant back into US vernacular...not sure if that will work out. 

Finally, and most importantly in further news, successful nacho creation happened this evening..yes nachos has transcended oceans and were created tonight in Bologna.. Italy and they were good!!!!! :)

Venice tomorrow!!! More updates soon.

Midge

Senza Glutine Mondo!

I just thought I needed to update this blog about how absolutely amazing Itay is as far as Celiac disease or Celiachia! The first night I ate gluten free pasta at a RESTAURANT (and it was one of three options). Today, Liz took me on a tour of Bologna and clearly a highlight was the gluten free pharmacy!! The section was incredible!
Had a lovely afternoon in the park and let me tell you cheese, prosciutto, gluten free crackers and Prosecco with blood orange juice makes an amazing mimosa even at 3pm.

Finally, this evening since Skipper is feeling like death aka she has the plague (hoping she's okay for cinque terre tomorrow) and Liz is being a super student I cooked homemade Bolognese sauce with a gluten free baguette! Yeah take a look at me ITALIA!!!! Sorry for the rant, but man alive the food is in my terms...wicked awesome! :) Enjoy!

More soon,
Midge

Grey's Night!

Despite an ocean and a nine hour time difference separating us from Los Angeles, Sarah, Liz, and I managed to stage a Grey's Anatomy Night in order to watch the season finale.  It came with all the important requirements: fabulous women, two bottles of wine, and of course, Meredith Grey.  Some traditions just shouldn't be neglected, no matter where you find yourself in the world.  :)

Aside from Grey's night, which really turned into a four hour Grey's marathon, Italy has been treating us well.  Liz has been sharing Bologna with us, and plying us with much food and drink.  Hopefully tomorrow we'll be hiking in Cinque Terre, though I've managed to get sick since arriving here, so I may have to miss out on the fun.  Today's mission: walk around Bologna, and make gluten free chocolate chip cookies.

More soon.
Katie

ps. the sunglasses were safety precautions as generally Prosecco should not be opened with a wine opener!!

Please Mind the Gap

London- Much was conquered, much sleep was not had. 
After arriving at the hostel and meeting skips we seized the day and ate cherries and WINEGUMS!! We took London by storm although the clear lack of sleep was quite obvious for most onlookers. We saw Big Ben, Westminster, the Globe (we are going to see Macbeth when we return), the national library (where we got to view the Magna Carta), Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace (which was a huge let down and I decided that the Queen would be better off having a big flashy sign like in Vegas or LA which gleamed The Queen Lives Here with a large Arrow...just a suggestion). We then wandered into a pub and drank strongbow on draft!!! YUM! However, as much as we wanted to tackle the second drink the severe sleep-deprivation was clear in the fact that there is no photographic evidence of our eyes without large black bags! So we ventured back to the hostel knowing of the impending 3:30am wake up!!
We waited for a bus at 4am, battled a grumpy pants driver, ate gummy bears, waited in a long line to check our bags, walked through the longest airport known to man...However, do da dooooooooo had an on-time arrival in BOLOGNA, ITALY!!!


More to come soon!
Midge aka Sarah

And it Begins...

Trip Details...

May 16th- Skipper flies to London

May 19th- Sarah Meets her there

May 20th- Italy with Liz (here's where things get really crazy)

June 2nd- Skipper & Sarah venture back to London

June 4th- Cape Town!

June 5th-21st- Volunteering in Cape Town and FUTBOL!!!!!! World Cup 2010!

June 21st- Finding Peter Skipper

June 22nd- July 24th- Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Cape Town!!