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On April 29th I boarded a plane for Europe. I flew first class thanks to a gift from my parents and that is a great way to fly. Much better than economy. I arrived in Rome the morning of April 30th. I had a hostel booked for three days and no other accommodation arranged after that. I had a rough itinerary planned for my three months, but it changed frequently due to weather, train schedules, and hotel availability. Before leaving I got a three month rail pass so was very flexible on where I could travel. Rome was great. There is so much to see and do. I ended up spending six nights here. My first day was spent mostly just walking around and stopping in various churches. Even the smaller ones are beautiful and have priceless sculptures and paintings in them. Specifically I went to St. Maria Maggiore Church and St. Maria della Vittoria Church. I also went to the famous Trevi Fountain, but unfortunately it was under repair. May 1, 2015 - Friday Rome Italy Today I saw the Appian Way, including the Catacombs of San Callisto. It was a national holiday so most of the main sites were closed. May 2, 2015 - Saturday Rome Italy Today was very busy. I went to the Coliseum which was crowded but worth doing. Right beside there is the ruins of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill which I walked through. The massive Victor Emmanuel Monument was next, and I went to the top of it which had great views of the city. I also saw Trajan’s Column and the National Museum. May 3, 2015 - Sunday Rome Italy I transferred to an Air B&B type place. Those first three nights were spent in a four person room in a hostel. After this I vowed never again to get a shared room in a hostel. On the second morning this one idiot got up early to repack his suitcase, which took about an hour. This of course woke me up. The third night this other guy snored extremely loudly the entire night. I only got a couple of hours of sleep. So this morning I packed up and stored my stuff at the hostel. I then took the train to Ostia, which is the old port city for Rome. It is ruins now but really worth seeing. I actually liked this better than Pompeii. After returning to Rome I got my stuff and moved into the Air B&B. May 4, 2015 - Monday Rome Italy After a good night’s sleep I was ready for a long day of walking and visiting sites, including the Pantheon, Capitoline Museums, Tiber Island, and the Trastevere neighborhood. I can’t remember for sure, but I believe it was this night that I had a magnificent meal at a local restaurant. For about 30 Euros I had an appetizer and main course with a very nice wine. When traveling on my own I usually eat fast food / café food or go to a grocery store, but every once in a while I splurge on a good meal. May 5, 2015 - Tuesday Rome Italy On my final full day in Rome I went to the Vatican. The paintings and sculpture here is amazing, but it was extremely overcrowded which lessened the experience. The Sistine Chapel was very cool. St. Peter’s cathedral is absolutely massive. I also went to Castel Sant’Angelo, which is also owned by the Vatican, but it wasn’t that great and could be skipped. May 6, 2015 - Wednesday Sorrento Italy Before leaving Rome I went to the Borghese Galleries. It’s a smaller museum but the sculpture here is the best that I have ever seen. They have one piece that is so well done the clothing looks real even though it is carved stone. Leaving here I took the train to a town south of Naples called Sorrento. As good as Rome was, it was very busy and I was glad to leave. I went to Sorrento partly because it looked good in the Rick Steve’s show, but also because I could go diving there. Sorrento is known for its lemons, and I sampled many lemon products including the liquor and gelato. I spent three full days in Sorrento, today was spent just walking around and relaxing. May 7, 2015 - Thursday Sorrento Italy Spent the day relaxing. I needed a break after Rome. May 8, 2015 - Friday Sorrento Italy In the morning I did two dives. These were not that great as the water was cold but more importantly, there was not much to see under water. May 9, 2015 - Saturday Sorrento Italy I took a day trip over to Pompeii which was good, but as I stated earlier I enjoyed Ostia more. I found the brothel to be over hyped, but the theater was very nice. May 10, 2015 - Sunday Orvieto Italy My next stop was Orvieto, a small hill town. Today I just explored the town. May 11, 2015 - Monday Orvieto Italy Orvieto has great views of the country side, the standard amazing church (Duomo), and an old well (St. Patrick’s) that you can walk down into which was interesting. I walked around about 2/3rds of the outer section of the town. May 12, 2015 - Tuesday Siena Italy Took the train to Siena. Siena was heavily promoted by Rick Steve’s but I didn’t get the appeal. Not much to do here. I walked around a bit. May 13, 2015 - Wednesday Siena Italy Still in Siena. Did laundry, went to the Duomo. May 14, 2015 - Thursday Milan Italy Milan was next on the list. The train was delayed, so most of the day was spent in transit. May 15, 2015 - Friday Milan Italy I did two art galleries – one good (Brera Art Gallery), one mediocre (Pinocoteca Ambrosiana), some walking around, and a highlight of Milan, the Duomo. It’s a large church and you can go up onto the roof. May 16, 2015 - Saturday Cinque Terre Italy One place that everyone seems to love in Italy is the Cinque Terre area, which is five small towns on the coast all linked by train and walking paths. I have to agree, this area is a must do in Italy. I stayed in Monterosso, the northern of the five towns. Today I just walked around Monterosso. I found a great gelato shop that I visited each day. May 17, 2015 - Sunday Cinque Terre Italy Took the train to the most southern of the five towns, Riomaggiore. From here I hiked north to Manarola, and then to Corneglia (the middle town). The hike from Manarola to Corneglia was magnificent. 11/10 rating. Took the train back to Monterosso. May 18, 2015 - Monday Cinque Terre Italy Took the train back to Corneglia. I continued the hike, up to Vernazza, which was pretty crowded. I then went onto Monterosso. These are nice hikes, but the ones yesterday were better. I would have like to stay in this area another day or so, but it is expensive and there is more to see in Europe. May 19, 2015 - Tuesday Pisa Italy I took the train to Pisa, stopping on the way at Lucca. Lucca is a nice town, and I walked around for a bit. I checked into my hotel in Pisa. Went up to the room, double checked what I wanted to do in town on the internet, and then changed clothes. While changing the hotel guy walked right in the room, even though I had locked it. I yelled at him, he left, and when I went out of the hotel shortly afterwards he seemed pretty apologetic. Weird. I went to visit the leaning tower of Pisa. Here you can see lots of people trying to take the picture of them holding up the tower with their hands. Also there is another good church, baptistery, and cemetery to visit. Unfortunately that is about it for the area. May 20, 2015 - Wednesday Milan Italy Back to Milan for one night. I was originally planning on visiting Florence and the Lake Como area. However I couldn’t find a hotel for a reasonable price in Florence. I can’t remember why I ended up skipping Lake Como, it might have been for the same reason, but I do know that I was getting a little tired of Italy after three weeks. I discovered that I can only see so many churches, paintings, and sculptures before getting sick of them. I needed a break.
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