Nice and Monaco: Sights and Bites

    We left Cinque Terre by train and rode along the Mediterranean coastline for 6 gorgeous hours.  I'm sure that I will never take a more beautiful train ride.  If you are ever so inclined to take a train from Italy to France along the coast, be sure to note that you may stop through several towns that are notable enough to stop.  We stopped through Carrara and Pisa and had I known this would be the case, I may have made a plan to stop there for some marble gazing and to take our turns holding up the Leaning Tower.  You also pass through Monaco, which we did take the time to visit.

    Nice was beautiful.  We loved it, and it offered great downtime after a little too much go, go, go-but it was also the portion of our trip where I got a bit sick, so we did a little less sightseeing and eating than I had planned.

{View from our hotel}

The first night, we walked the Promenade and grabbed dinner on the outdoor patio of Les Jardins du Capitole, a sidewalk restaurant facing the water.  This is where we had the best French Onion Soup of the trip!

Our main day in Nice we spent at one of the private beaches.  We took a dip in the Mediterranean (colder and saltier than we expected) and ordered lunch and drinks.  I had my first Croque Monsieur and Kevin had a hamburger.  Oh, and here you drink rose wine.

Then we checked out Old Town.  It's so cool.  The buildings are beautiful and historic but are now inhabited by high end shops and boutiques.

The next day, we took a brief trip to Monaco.  It's about a 20 minute train ride and well worth the 10 Euros.  First we checked out the marina.

Took in the beautiful scenery.

Took some necessary tourist photos.

And found a few places that we would love to check out again one day.  

Where we stayed: Hotel Magnan

Top things to do: visit Old Town, walk the Promenade, go to the beach, take a side trip to Monaco

Where we ate: Les Jardins du Capitole, Chez Freddy

Best thing we ate: Our entire meal at Les Jardins du Capitole: caprese salad, French onion soup, steak and lamb frites, creme brulee, and chocolate mousse.

Cinque Terre: Bites and Sights

    The second destination on our tour de Europe was Cinque Terre.  If you've never heard of it, you're not alone.  We had actually never heard of it either until we started researching our trip.  This place kept being brought up over and over on message boards, forums, and tip guides everywhere with one common theme: everyone loved it!  It was repeatedly referred as people's "favorite" or "most beautiful destination."  Once we saw a picture, we were sold.

 

  Cinque Terre is a series of five towns along Italy's west coast that is connected by hiking trails.  We stayed in the southernmost town called Riomaggiore.  We simply hopped a train from Florence and we were on our way to the coast in no time--except for a slight detour when we got off at the wrong stop, didn't understand the conductors, and missed our connection.  Good thing I had my Italian rose-colored glasses on.  You know, the absolute bliss that comes with being on vacation.  I let myself be upset for a moment then supported Kevin in coming up with a plan (I say supported because Kevin is the logistics person in this relationship and I'm of little use when it comes to numbers and times). 

    When we finally arrived at our hotel, we dropped our stuff and bee-lined to the coastline with our camera.  Then, braving a possible storm, we decided to climb one of Riomaggiore's peaks for a great view and a beautiful chapel up top.  It was tough.  Clearly, I was happy to finally reach the top.

But the views were amazing.  
 

    The next day we did more hiking, but the rain came early in the day.  We planned to hike the entire trail from end to end (about 7 hours) but our plans were thwarted and we only ended up in the next town over before it started pouring.  At least it let up for just long enough for us to grab the money shot.  THE photo opportunity you must take advantage of when you are in Cinque Terre (specifically Manarola).

    Once the rain started back up, we tried to kill more time by poking around in souvenir shops, but it just never let up.  We took the train back to Riomaggiore, grabbed some local wine and pasta to-go at Primo Piatto, and waited it out at our bed and breakfast.

{This place is awesome and serves fresh pasta to-go for 5 Euros.  We chose the trofie pasta with pesto sauce.  Best part?  It's served in a Chinese takeout box}

  
    Speaking of pesto pasta, Cinque Terre is where pesto was invented, so you better believe we had plenty of it and brought plenty home with us.  We also checked out the local wine, fried fish cones, gelato, and pizza.

And our last meal before leaving was pretty epic: caprese salad, lobster gnocchi for two, and two amazing desserts.

Dear Cinque Terre,
We'd love to come back.  You are beautiful. 
Love, 
L and K

I kept a journal during the trip of our favorite items and names of places so that we wouldn't forget anything.  Some of the things worth mentioning from Cinque Terre are below.

Where we stayed: Il Boma-- this was our favorite accommodation of the trip.  It was clean, had a real shower, a balcony, and the fridge was stocked with free drinks and snacks.  Oh, and we were given a bottle of homemade lemoncello as a parting gift.

Top things to do: hike the Cinque Terre National Park, hit the beach

Where we ate: de Aristide, Enoteca Dau Cila, Primo Piatto, Il Grottino

*Linking up with Random Wednesday

Florence Sights

    I plan on spending the next couple of weeks recapping the four cities that we visited as well as offer some travel advice for beginners traveling abroad.  We were Europe newbies sort of--I went to London with my high school orchestra back in the day.  It counts of course but the language barrier and fact that we weren't going to be followed around by a chaperone (ie. my mom) the whole time made this Europe trip feel a lot different.  It was exciting to be out on our own finding our way and only a little nerve racking at times.  

Our first stop was Florence, Italy.  Let me start by saying that when you round this corner and see the Duomo, it doesn't even look real.  It looks like a freaking movie set with an elaborately drawn backdrop. It's beautiful.

The Duomo itself was closed for mass, so we climbed the Campanile--this beautiful bell tower.  

It was 414 steps of crazy winding narrow stairways with way too many people, but it was worth it for the beautiful views!
 

The Ponte Vecchio is a historic bridge filled with shops on either side.  It's pretty amazing. 

It's safe to say that this place is beautiful and unlike any city we've ever been too.  It's truly a concrete jungle with very little grass, so if you get a chance to see the Boboli Gardens I highly recommend it.  You'll welcome some greenery!  The attention to detail there is also really cool.  They keep the garden up enough keep it beautiful and trimmed, but they leave it untouched enough for it to feel old and overgrown.  It's like this place is stuck in a time that has long-since passed.  

 

It rained pretty hard while we were at the gardens.  We practiced our selfie skills while waiting it out under some bushes.
 

  
Last but not least, we made sure to stop by Mercato Nuovo to see this famous statue of a wild boar nicknamed The Piglet.  Legend has it that if you rub his nose you will return to Florence one day.  

{Full disclosure: we came across the statue late at night after my birthday dinner and many birthday drinks.  I think that was the only way Kevin was willing to pose with a wild animal statue and rub its nose but I'm glad we snapped this pic}

We really do hope that we'll return one day. We feel like we still have so much in Italy that's left to see.  I'm pretty sure that I was meant to be there--the wine, the bread, the pasta, the oils, and the truffle dishes--ok so these are all food related items but I swear I loved the scenery too.  Here are a few more scenic shots.

And a few more fun ones.

I kept a journal during the trip of our favorite items and names of places so that we wouldn't forget anything.  Some of the things worth mentioning from Florence are below.
Where we stayed: Hotel Azzi
Top things to do: Climb the Duomo, Florence for Foodies Tour, shop the Mercado Centrale
Favorite random moment: We went to a nice wine restaurant for a meat and cheese appetizer on my birthday where we were shocked (and nearly spit out our wine laughing) to hear Gangsta's Paradise came over the speakers.  It's nice to get strange little reminders of home when you're abroad.  Even if it takes you back to middle school and awkward school dances.  For what it's worth, we hear that Gangsta's Paradise is a great movie; we might even watch it one day to remind us of our trip to Italy.  See how things come around full circle?

Day Trip to Martha's Vineyard

    While my in-laws were in town, we took a day trip to Martha's Vineyard.  Kevin and I had been once before and were excited to go back.  It's really beautiful.  The water is some of the clearest that I've seen and the views are incredible.  It's an island, so the only way over is by boat.  We got all settled in on the ferry over to Oak Bluffs and Kevin pulls out the camera to get started on a big day of taking pictures, only to see three words that no one wants to see "No Memory Card."  Oops!  I had broken what should be blogger (or vacationer) rule number one: never leave your memory card at home.  I had stupidly left it in the computer while editing photos the day before.  I was upset but we snapped some cell phone shots on the ferry ride over until we could get a replacement memory card on the island.

 {Right outside the convenience store where we were able to remedy our memory card issue.  I'm a happy girl}

My vineyard style: 

 

 

The Bites:

 {A little surf and turf at Lookout Tavern}

{Ice cream at the beach is a must.  Thank you to Ben and Bill's Chocolate Emporium for exceeding my flavor choice expectations.  This is salted caramel and Kahlua Chocolate Brownie}

The Sights:

 {Aquinnah Cliffs}

  {Oak Bluffs Town Beach}

  {View of Oak Bluffs as we left on the ferry}

    

Some tips:

- Travel light.  When boat travel factors in, I think this is key.  Somehow I got away with just a clutch and my husband with just a camera bag.  That's probably not realistic for everyone, but it really helped us feel comfortable while we where exploring rather than lugging things around and getting exhausted early.

- We have eaten at both The Lookout Tavern in Oak Bluffs and The Seafood Shanty in Edgartown.  They are the stereotypical places to eat, but it's because they both have amazing views of the water and extensive menus with something for everyone.

- The Aquinnah Cliffs aren't that close to the other places I have mentioned but the view is spectacular.  If you don't have a car on the island (pretty expensive to take on the ferry for just a day!) the bus system can get you there and the drivers are really helpful getting tourists to the right place.

- Wander. It's the perfect place to just get lost in the little shops and boutiques for hours.

- If you're going to be there longer than a day, check out one of the many quaint bed and breakfasts there. 

It's a small island, but there is so much to see.  We already can't wait to go back.  

*Linking up today with Northern Belle Diaries Just Because