Italy (Turin, Genoa, Cinque Terre) 23rd – 27th August

The weather in London was pretty miserable last week and it was starting to feel like summer was over already. Escaping for the long weekend to the Italian coast with a forecast of mid –thirties and clear skies was a great chance to revel in some end of summer sun.

A and I flew into Turin on Thursday night and then spent the morning wandering around the city – the Lonely Planet had said not to bother but it turned out to be a really pretty city with a great vibe. I had what my possibly be the best pastry of my life. I’m not normally a big fan of Nutella (I don’t like hazelnuts) but when it’s in a pastry still warm from an Italian bakery it’s superb.

Hanging out in Turin

Live snails - 6 Euro / Kg

It was then onto Genoa which turned out to be a dirty port city with not much to look at. Back on the train to Vernazza where we were basing ourselves for our stay at the Cinque Terre.

The view from our room in Vernazza

Our first day in the Cinque Terre and we were off walking from Vernazza to Corneglia. It was an overcast day but still very warm, especially when we started climbing up and down the hills. We couldn't wait to get to Corneglia and go for a swim. We ended up following the signs down a very dodgy, abandoned train tunnel that promised a beach at the end. There definitely was a beach at the end, one full of very nude Italians. We decided to keep walking to the next town, mainly because to get back up to Corneglia there are 285 steps.

Looking back to Vernazza

Looking forward to Corneglia

The abandoned train tunnel

We had been walking for a few hours by this stage and were past due for lunch. I had been taking it fairly slow and steady on the walk until A mentioned the 'P' word and I think I may have broken the record for the shortest time walked between Corneglia and Manarola. The P word being pasta...

The lunch at Manarola is a meal with no buts. This may be because I was starving but the ciabatta was the best bread I ate the whole trip and the pasta with a local crayfish that I can't remember the name of but it was absolutely delicious!

Carb-ed up and tired it was back to Vernazza for a nap and then dinner.

I learned a valuable lesson at dinner. When you order antipasto what looks like cheese may actually be salted prosciutto fat...I have never tasted anything quite like it nor have I ever had anything that disgusting.

The next day (A's birthday) we were up early to do the walk between Vernazza and Monterroso (T and family - oh the irony). It was the most beautiful day and we saw hardly anyone else on the trail arriving in Monterroso about 9am for a fantastic swim in the most perfect water. We hung around Monterosso for most of the day and then it was back to Vernazza for another nap. Then it was out to dinner for A's birthday watching a spectacular sunset.

Looking back at Vernazza


Monterosso



The view from the restaurant at A's birthday dinner


Our last day in the Cinque Terre and we just had the easy 20 minute walk between Manarola and Riomaggiore to have completed the entire walk between the town. The best laid plans failed us spectacularly. We left early so we could do the walk early and then swim the morning away before getting on the train to go to Pisa to catch our plane home. Only snag was when we got to Riomaggiore there is nowhere to store your luggage, so it was back on the train to La Spezia to store our bags and then a 45 minute wait to get the train back to Riomaggiore. Our morning was quickly being wasted. We then end up on a train that doesn't take us back to Riomaggiore but all the way back to Monterroso the first of the Cinquerre Terre towns. We eventually get back to Manarolla and do the walk to Riomaggiore in record time and then went for our last swim in at another beautiful beach. Then back to London and time to start my new job.

The compass in Italy

Indulgent Angst

This is a pretty self indulgent post so if you’re just here for the pretty picture and travel stories I’d probably give this one a miss.

I can’t sleep and am suffering from white, middle-class existential angst brought on by watching Laguna Beach (if you don’t know what Laguna Beach is please don’t Google it or you’ll know just how tragic the tv shows I’ll watch truly are). Basically, it’s a reality TV show based on American teenagers during the summer between finishing high school and starting university and it had me reminiscing about how much fun I had during that time. It also got to me because I don’t think much has changed since then.

It also makes me think about how much I miss being part of the day to day life of my family and friends. I stay in contact enough for the big picture stuff but when you’re away from the everyday you don’t feel so much apart of people’s lives. I guess I’m lonely as well – I was so spoilt at home having my closest friends and most of my family still around and now I don’t have them here to play with – I would kill to be sharing this with them. It’s selfish but it would be nice to have some unconditional’s here.

In some respects it makes me wonder what I’m doing here at all. Yes, the travel is fantastic I am glad I moved but I left so I would change things in my life and not all that much apart from location has changed. I’ve just taken a job in an industry I swore I’d never work in again because I haven’t been able to even get to an interview with a job/company I’m really interested in. Maybe I’m just too idealistic and this is reality. I guess I though 10 years out of high school my life would be different from what it is now. I’m not quite sure how different but I guess I at least thought I would have figured out what I want to be when I grow up and it’s starting to feel like it’s getting harder to change paths.

The time is already flying by and in a couple of weeks I will have been here six months. Seeing all the countries I’ve been to has been incredible but I must admit the day to day is just a blur. I have been blithely saying that I’ll probably be in London for 2-3 years, maybe France and then to Canada without really thinking about it and now I could see 3 years going by without even really noticing or actively deciding if I should stay.

Month Five in London

Things feel a little strange at the moment. I’m facing the reality that I haven’t had much luck finding a job I might actually like so I’ve started looking for one that’s within my previous industry that I may not like so much. Our happy little flat will be no more at the end of the month with K going home due to a great job offer. So we’re in the process of trying to find a new flatmate – my vote is for a boy but we’ll see what happens!

One trip this month to Edinburgh, Scotland but it’s probably been my favourite trip so far apart from Greece. Edinburgh was great to visit and it was so nice to hang out with G and do some cool stuff and the food was fabulous which is always a highlight for me (apart from a disappointing two course deep fried fest on the first night that’s probably best forgotten).

Because I’m not working I’m trying to limit my going out and therefore my spending – and besides, we have the glorious internet at home so I’m keeping myself entertained – however I am getting very well acquainted with daytime TV and if I don’t see another car insurance ad or debt consolidation ad it will be too soon.

Edinburgh, Scotland 29th July – 2nd August

Catching up with G in Edinburgh was fantastic. I had the best time and it was nice to visit somewhere without being in a hurry and we had great weather everyday!

We had a restaurant recommended to us called First Coast and it was so good we ended up eating there every night – for those who may have accused me of being fussy in the past – this is a restaurant with no buts! There was a very memorable dinner that involved a couple of delicious bottles of Pinot Grigio and some introspective conversations.

We spent a bit of time just wandering around the city looking at the shops, including a trip to Jenners, the Hannahs of Scotland. We also found a great place for breakfast called Tiger Lily where I had my first Eggs Benedict for months and it was delicious!

We also went to an exhibition called “The Naked Portrait” – it’s all in the title! It was really interesting and the photograph of Linford Christy was a highlight.

We also managed to catch the opening of the Fringe Festival and saw a couple of comedy acts and Greg McHugh was a standout – some very funny commentary on road rage.

Edinburgh itself is a lovely city, full of lovely architecture and so clean compared to London! It’s got a great vibe and does have a bit of a ‘university town’ feel about it – really young and vibrant.

G and I at Tiger Lily

G and I at First Coast


The compass in Scotland



Edinburgh

Month Four in London or It’s A Tough Life

Month four in London may be a bit of a misnomer has I’ve hardly been in London. I’ve had an absolute ball and now believe even more I could quite happily be unemployed and just travel the world. I have more stamps in the passport and 4 new countries visited. The biggest surprise was Greece , which for some reason I didn’t really expect to be all that impressed by, I guess because I love the beaches in Australia so much I don’t really expect to be impressed by other countries but the beaches in Greece were so beautiful. The sun is lovely soft sun as well where you can actually lie in the sun and not be burnt to a crisp! The food was so good…zucchini fritters were definitely a highlight!

Hanging out with P&T was fantastic, first of all being in Greece together and sharing the great experience there and then sharing London with them.

I’m loving the ease of travel and being able to just jump on a plane and go – an hour or two and you’re somewhere so different.

I am much more settled now with a permanent place to live and my bank account finally sorted and London is starting to feel like home. There’s always something though and now the job hunt begins!