The end is near...

Hey everyone! So I actually typed this long thing out yesterday and my blog wasnt working so I sent it to myself in a facebook message...here is the message from yesterday:

Greetings all! I am writing from a sketchy, but cheap internet cafe in Milan right now waiting until we catch our bus to the airport. I have a lot to update you on since our stay in Cinque Terre was AMAZING! So we arrived in cinque terre around 5ish and were anxious to get our backpacks off as usual...turns out we had to take a massive hike completely uphill for about 15 minutes to catch a bus...with our backpacks on and the sun beating down on us, I felt like I was at boot camp or something! But...we made it to our hotel which was in a little town called Biassa-only a 15 minute bus ride from Riogammorie, one of the 5 cities (hints the name Cinque "5" Terre). We met a really nice guy, Matt, who was staying in our hostel too so he showed us the ropes and where to get off. We showered, got situated and went to dinner with Matt at a little Pizzaria. Service over here is so different..they take there sweet time EVERY TIME...so we didnt actually eat for a good hour or so, but we had a great time relaxing and being clean! It was such a long day for us because we were traveling from Greece and we had to get up at 5:15 in the morning to start our travels. We went from the Santorini airport to the Athens airport, waited, went from Athens airport to Milan airport, bought a train ticket and waited, took a 3 hour train to Cinque Terre, another train from one of the 5 cities to the other and then the long hike...you can only imagine how exhausted we were!!

That is why we let ourselves sleep in the next morning...it was very nice! We got off to a rough start that morning since we missed the bus times and had to wait (something we really dont like doing) like an hour to catch a bus down to the city. When we got there it was wonderful though because we took a train to Monterosso (another of the 5 cities-the biggest) and had some great Italian food at a restuarant overlooking the water. This water was amazing..in fact we decided it could be prettier than Greece. It was so beautiful and the little town was gorgeous, filled with little Italian houses of pinks, yellows, whites, oranges, greens..it was so pretty! I took hundreds of pictures so I will post them when I get back. We also went and explored the little streets in this city and it was great..this is definately my favorite of our Italy stops! We then decided to head to Manarola (another of the 5 cities) and we enjoyed a cheap sandwich in some gelato of course. We walked back which took us about 20 minutes and we enjoyed the beachfront view along the path we took. We then went up to the top of the ledge by the port of Riogammorie and could see the sun starting to set...we had to catch a bus back up to Biassa so we decided to save the sunset for the next day! We went home to shower and we watched Anchorman!!! It was soooo great and felt very homey.

The next day could arguably be the best day I have had on this trip so far. We got up early and took the 720 am bus to the city. We were hiking the 5 cities (a very popular thing that people do when they come here). The path we took was right along the beach so we had a constant amazing view as we traveled from city to city. I took many pictures but it just wont do justice to the beauty we encountered. The hike wasnt too bad, but started to get strenuous between the 3 and 4 cities. We stopped for lunch in Vernaza (the 4th city) and then continued on to the last city..it was the hardest hike and it got very hott, but I had such a sense of accomplishment when I was finished..all in all it took us about 6 hours! It was some great exercise and unimaginable views of these cute little cities. We went back to the hotel for a break after our hike and got cleaned up for the night.

We came back down to have dinner and watch the sunset that night and little did we know what was ahead of us..we decided to splurge at our meal since it was our last night together as our trio (tear tear). Amy and I got wonderful pizzas and wine and Leigh got swordfish! I tried it and it was actually really good. We got water and bread (things you have to actually pay a lot for over here). All in all our bill would have been around 35 or more euros...anyway this nice couple from Cali sat by us and were chatting our ears off about our trip. They were obviously loaded because not only did they visit some French palace and eat with royalty because of his job, but they insisted on paying for our meal as a "congrats on graduating" gift. It was so nice of them..especially since that meant we could spend a lot of money on dessert :) :) :) We left and watched the sunset which was beautiful even though it was a bit cloudy...then we went to get some amazing dessert. I got a nutella crepe with mint chocolate gelato on top. Writing about this makes me want it again! Anyway, it was a wonderful day and night so I was very very pleased.

Our next day we left for Milan where we had to say goodbye to Amy..it was really sad and I even cried a little..ya call me emotional, but its hard leaving someone you have lived so closely with for this long...but Aim if your reading this I hope you had safe travels and enjoyed your stay with the Moores.

Now its Leigh and I getting ready to leave for Barcelona..we spent last night in our hostel which is in a really sketchy area, but we never left it...just watched Italian TV which was interesting and read our books. We have all been reading a lot...we bought books and rotated so I am now on book three! I am currently reading New Moon (the second book in the Twilight series) and I am hooked. Leigh and I are looking forward to Barcelona because we hear such great things about it from everyone traveling...people say it is there favorite place! I hope so.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the update...not sure if there will be another one before I get home or not. We will be in Barcelona for 4 nights and then will be taking a train up to Zurich where we fly out of and to save money we are sleeping in the airport! haha..true backpackers in action here, but I dont want to throw down 50 euros just to stay close to the airport!

I look forward to seeing you all very soon. Aim-good luck on the boards, I know you will kick ass! John-thanks for the comment on the blog..you made me laugh and I cant wait to hang out when we get back. Dad- HAPPY FATHERS DAY!! We will celebrate when I return. Mom-dont wear too much of my perfume :)

I love you all! Take care.

Melissa


....so I am in my hostel in Barcelona right now so I obviously made it through the traveling safely! Family..I´m so sorry I missed you yesterday, but hopefully you got my message. I am going to call LeeAnn so Leigh and I can meet up with her! I hope shes up to hang out with us...

Last night we met some friends at our hostel (Its amazing...its called Yellow Nest Feet Up Hostel...I know you probably want to stalk the website mom! haha) and went to a party on the beach...we danced until 5 in the morning it was such a great time! Today we walked around the main area known as La Rambla and there was sooo much going on...basically everything you could ever need is on that street, even pets for sale! There was an amazing market selling fresh fruits, veggies, and fish. We even got some Dunkin´Donuts...it was almost the highlight of my day haha! Tonight we are going on this little organized tour thing where you pay 22 euro and get free tapas and sangria for an hour. Tapas are like appetizers I guess and there will be tons of different authentic ones for us to try. We will then be going to this dance show where the Spanish original dancing is done...we are going to really get a taste for the Spanish culture! Tomorrow we are going to explore the main Cathedral that Gaudi designed..his stuff is amazing and we is unlike any kind of architecture I have seen before. Hopefully I meet some more cool people...I´m sure I will because this hostel is huge and great. It even has a movie theater room! AWESOME..we wil be hitting that up our last night since we have to catch a bus out to the Ryan Air airport at 3:15...yes that is 3:15 in the MORNING! But then we are home free and getting ready to come home so its ok if we are exhausted!

Well, Dad I hope you had a great day yesterday..I love and miss you all. Hope you enjoy this update, I know you will!

See you all very very soon! Take care!

love, melissa