Cinque Terre -- Three Soul-filling Days

This post will start with the photos and have a few short stories at the bottom. Thanks and Enjoy!

Late night flight Budapest --> Milan.

Fancy looking a little too comfortable in the shopping district in Milan.

Duomo doorso in Milano.

All aboard!! to La Spezia -- you have to know exactly which stop to get off beforehand or you just keep riding the train to it's final destination.

One of my favorite photos from Cinque Terre.

I am definitely not posing.

Arriving in Vernazza -- our first walk down via Roma.

First stop, wine and foccacia bread.

Vernazza's famous walkway down to the water.

I remember thinking 'this is what it's all about'.

Our arrival to Vernazza was filled with wine from plastic cups and freshly-baked foccacia bread...and this spot on the Med.

Our first sunset in Vernazza was spectacular.

People from Vernazza are big UGA fans!

Good morning Cinque Terre.

Fancy's hiding spot.

Early morning hike, leaving Vernazza, while the sun is still rising.

Our 'window' from our lunch spot in Corniglia.

For lunch in Corniglia: a plate of toast and homemade pesto sauces. Never have I been this excited about toast. Someone took a bite before I could take the picture!

Our lunch spot photo in Corniglia.

No binoculars necessary for this view.

Views of a sunny day in Corniglia.

I can't even describe this incredible pesto gnocchi because I am drooling on the keyboard.

Stairs for days -- climbing down from Corniglia.

Manorola.

Where we were dropped off from hitchhiking with the Canadians.

We weren't really sure where we were.

This amazing sunset on the rock/pebble beach of Riomaggiore.  You've got to get your butt to fit just right in between the rocks to get comfortable.

Top and Bottom: The difference of Instagram.

Coffee with a view in Vernazza - day 3.

The "poster child" of Cinque Terre -- Vernazza.

Vernazza peeking out of the background as we hike to Monterosso al Mare.

Arrival in Monterosso al Mare from Vernazza.

I will never, ever, ever forget this pizza from Monterosso al Mare. The owner even encouraged us to buy our own bottle of wine from a store because it would be cheaper. And, "no, we don't have fresh parmasean because we already make the best pizzas in the world" -- 'Tis True.

Loving these views on the hike, however the Lemonade Stand wasn't open for business -- maybe should charge more?

Fancy keeping an eye out.

We may have been riding the regional train around CT this day without a pass -- not exactly what you would call 'street legal'.

Fancy on our last day -- Riomaggiore.

The were spying on us. Or frowning.

Riomaggiore!

The famous Luini pastries in Milan.  Incredibly, there was no line when we arrived. In the 5 minutes we were there, more than 25 people showed up.

On top of Il Duomo in Milano. 

Here are a few short stories from the trip:

The unforgettable journey through Cinque Terre was full of unparalleled beauty, old-town ruggedness and lots and lots of carbohydrates in the form of pizza, pasta and wine.

When it was time to depart this wonderful region of Italy we understood why it is constantly recommended by all of those lucky enough to experience it.

Our flight to Milan arrived late Friday and we had already planned to spend the night in the fashion capital.  We had an early afternoon train to CT leaving our morning free to dart into Old Town to see the Duomo.  We navigated the protests behind held for the 2015 EXPO in Milan (lots of money spent on on the exposition, not on its citizens) and we were able to make it back to the train station just in time.

I found the new “tourist tax” extremely annoying and a way to further take advantage of tourists (Italy now assesses a 1E-4E per person per night tourist tax, based on the number of stars of the hotel added onto your final bill) but Fancy wouldn’t allow my grumblings to ruin the trip.

“Just part of the cost of visiting this lovely country” the math teacher, now-economist quipped.

We navigated the always difficult Italian train station and wondered if it is a game they play with tourists to help teach them Italian geography.  In Italy, like many other places in Europe, the board that displays destinations (similar to an airport) only displays the final destination of the train so the system is reliant on you understanding the country’s general make-up and direction of cities.  Sometimes, the platforms aren’t posted until 10 minutes before departure making for a frequent last-minute scurry.

Alas, we find our train as all seasoned travelers do and were even smart enough to purchase tickets from the ticket office (not a machine) so that we could reserve window seats.

From Milan we headed south through Genoa and into Levanto.  It was a beautiful afternoon and as the train hugs the coast heading south to CT we were afforded incredible views of the Mediterranean Sea — there are few things better than relaxing on train with good tunes on your headphones while it speeds on to your destination.

Out of the five villages that compose CT we decided to stay in Vernazza.  It is one of the smaller villages, and other than our pension being located along side the regional train track (it was comically loud inside our room when a train past by) it was our preferred choice.

A lot of people have asked about which cities to stay.  While I really believe you cannot go wrong as each offers its own charm and all five towns are connected with a frequent and inexpensive regional train system, here are my thoughts:

1a) Vernazza — it’s small, quaint, beautiful during the day and gorgeous at night. It’s middle-third location makes it ideal for hiking to and from each city.  It still exudes the true sense of the small fishing village it was before they built the regional train system that connected CT to the rest of the world. The Il Pirata restaurant is a reasonable-priced, family owned (two brothers) Italian restaurant with the best pastries in (dare I say) Italy — you must stop here if you’re ever in Vernazza.  We returned for dinner and were equally happy with as much of the menu we could put in our mouth (which was alot).  There’s a wonderful walkway along the water and a old castle now converted a restaurant that adds to the village’s allure.  The village is as it’s best in the early morning and evening when the throngs of tourists aren’t clogging the narrow streets.

1b) Riomaggiore — I place it also number 1 (but below Vernazza) because it is a bit larger and overrum with people, both locals and tourists.  There is a wonderful (pebble) beach area connected to the village which I’m sure is very popular during the summer months.  However, it’s the furthest south of the 5 villages and currently not connected by any of the hiking trails because they’ve been washed away due to recent flooding

2) Monterroso al Mare — The most northern town of CT and has the largest and best beach area for Cinque Terre tourists.  Fancy and I spent three hours lounging on it’s lovely semi-sandy beaches with a bottle of wine and our books.  It is certainly the most touristy-feeling town of CT but still gorgeously sprawled along the water.

4) Corniglia — The way the village sits perched atop it’s cliffs is stunning.  Some don’t like the village because it’s small and has no direct water access but I found the narrow alleyways and rays of sunlight that reflect off it’s buildings to be one of the more memorable walks through CT’s villages.  

5) Manerola — To be fair, we didn’t spent much time here.  Instead, we arrived by train and decided it was a good idea to hike straight up the mountain to find an alleged winery that we realized halfway up our ill-advised climb that we weren’t even sure it was open.  Fortunately, it was and we arrived hot, sweaty and thirsty (read the full story here).

FA couple memorable stories from our time in CT:

Five for Five in Cinque Terre

“successfully” making it to all five villages in one day (read: accidentally).

We started the morning in Vernazaa and hiked to Corniglia.

Lunch in Corniglia.

Taking the train (Huck Finn style) to Manorola we hiked up to a winery.

Hitchhiked via a nice French couple to Riomaggiore.

Attempted to take a train from Riomaggiore back to Vernazza for a dinner reservation.  Without knowing, we had incorrectly boarded an express train that took us from the further southern CT town to the most northern CT town without stopping.  We waved hello to Vernazaa (and our dinner) as we sped by and finally arrived in Monterosso al Mare.  The next train to take us to Vernazza wasn’t for 90 minutes.

Dinner in Monterosso al Mare all of sudden sounded nice.

Hitchiking with the French

After finally arriving at a small winery on the hillside of Manorola (Cinque Terre, Italy) I immediately decided I definitely did not want to hike back down.  We had two options — (1) wait 90 minutes for a bus weren’t even 100% sure was coming (2) introduce ourselves to the French couple at the winery with a convenient winnebago parked outside.

In my mind it seemed completely logical to ask them for a lift, which Fancy reminded me was the equivalent of hitchhiking.  After finishing our disappointing tasting at the small winery, we waited outside for 2 minutes — Fancy described it as lurking, or stalking.  As the older couple exited the winery with a case of wine, I made my approach.  Asking simply if they wouldn’t mind giving us, a good-looking American couple, a ride down the mountain, they looked confused.  This is how I discovered they didn’t speak English.

“Great, this is going to be more difficult than I assumed.”

I was determined to not have to return by foot, however.  I started to point at Fancy and myself and then point to their large Breaking Bad style winnebago.  When they followed my fingers from Fancy, to myself to their car, they understood.  As their eyes returned to me, I greeted with my biggest, charming smile.  How could they say no?

“You come with us?”.  They exchanged a look and quick conversation in French and we were in!

We gladly hopped into the back of their ‘home’ and pointed to the map where they could drop us off which wasn’t too far away but it would save us immeasurably from walking back down or along the busier road.  Instead of heading back to the town from we had arrived (Manarola) we decided to accompany them as far as the most southern town of Riomaggiore.  They were heading onto a town further South, outside of the CT region so, without really knowing where we were, and only one sign that displayed Riomaggiore, we said Aur’ to our French drivers and found ourselves on the side of the road once again.  We saw a village that looked like Riomaggiore but the road leading down the mountain initially led us away from it.   Luckily, the switchbacks eventually guided us down to a rather dodgy-looking set of stairs that lead us through farmland, cemeteries and past people’s front doors, but eventually emptied us into the crowded streets of Riomaggiore, at last.

Preparing for Fancy's October Break

Cross it off the bucket list.

Cinque Terre has quickly become a must-see travel destination, and while I don't mind being labeled as a "travel person" I've been embarrassed to say that I’ve never visited. 

Seeing pictures like this from a friend's honeymoon in Cinque Terre was all of the inspiration we needed...

As Fancy and I discussed our options for the week-long October Break (and the continuation of my birthday month), Italy and Cinque Terre rose to the top.

We flirted with a few other European destinations that were further south (and hopefully warmer) but ultimately decided to take advantage of the cheap flight to Milan ($120/round trip).

Cinque Terre was a must-see and Fancy suggested the idea of adding Lake Como.  The only thing I knew about Lake Como is probably what most people know — George Clooney has a house there.

(Not George Clooney's house.)

Even though there are numerous towns on the lake, the entire 'Lake Como' region claims Mr. Clooney as a resident. While looking through one of the local Como magazines we came across an article essentially recounting “An evening with Clooney” from 2008 with all of the old pictures and how guests ‘experienced Clooney’ over six years ago — this was the October 2014 cover story!

It was tough decision to decide where to stay because there are a myriad of great options for both regions -- Cinque Terre actually has five villages (for those who know Italian).  

Based on some recommendations, we decided on the town of Varenna in Lake Como because we heard the mid-lakes area is the most beautiful (FACT!) and Vernazza in Cinque Terre because it's known as the most picturesque of the five villages (I AGREE!). The combination of Varenna + Vernazza led to some confusion when making travel plans, but both of the "V" towns surpassed all of our expectations!

PART ONE: Cinque Terre -- Three soul-filling nights

PART TWO: Airbnbing Lake Como -- Northern Italy’s best

Tihany, Hungary (Lake Balaton) -- Surprise Birthday Getaway (2 of 4)

The week had been long.
Birthday "months" are not a game for the weak of heart.
After enjoying the Part One of my birthday month, it took a few days to recover and get our wits about us.

Also, somehow we had scheduled dinners or some form of social gathering on Monday evening, Tuesday evening, Wednesday evening and Thursday evening of the following week.

To further contribute to the week's event, I was temporarily ending my mini-retirement, and was substitute teaching at Fancy's school on Thursday and Friday.  I gained a new appreciate for Fancy coming home from school tired.  For the record, you can call me Coach Perzel -- High School PE teacher.  It was a lot of fun to spend time at the school, interact with some of the students and see where Fancy spends all of her time.

"How do you feel about getting away for the weekend?"

Fancy proposed this question while we were sitting at her desk on Friday afternoon after school had ended. She had just returned from a field trip into Budapest with the entire 6th grade and I was glad to see her, since she has been my go-to question answerer when I need to ask about something student-related (which was often).  Apparently, students like to take advantage of substitute teachers.

As a neighboring teacher walked by in the hallway, he overhead us talking about visiting Lake Balaton. If we were to visit, he suggested the village of Tihany. Just like that, it was decided.  We booked a small little apartment/home for 30Euro/night within 15 minutes.  We didn't know much about the town, and had never been to Lake Balaton before, but we'd heard the rumors and praises from it's multitude of fans.

















It seems to be one of the only (and best) summer get-away spots in the country.  It's a large lake west of Budapest (random fact: the small Mediterranean island of Malta can fit inside of it).  The lake is dotted with small towns and villages along the edge.



In general, Fancy and I really enjoy visiting the smaller towns in the countryside.  There's something calming and relaxing about getting outside the city, especially Budapest.

The journey to the lake started early Saturday on a train that absolutely was leftover from the Communist era.  Even the local Hungarians were bashing the quality (and lack thereof) of the train.  We learned that Hungary actually has two sets of trains -- the updated trains that are used during the summer, busy months, and the poor, worn, leftover trains apparently used during the less-busy seasons.  Guess which one we got?

 Let's just say we were very nervous when we discovered we had mistakenly sat in the first class seats of the train.  If this is what first class looks like (it left a lot to be desired) how bad is second-class going to be?

Broken windows?
Sitting on the ground?
Will we have to stand (my constant fear!)?



It turns out it's exactly like first class, maybe without as frequent cleaning. Needless to say, we wouldn't be arriving in Tihany in luxury.

However, as soon as the train departed from the station, it immediately reminded us of the relaxing, hypnotic trance of riding a train that we both love.

Fancy did not apply the graffiti artwork.

When we finally arrived in Tihany we were all smiles.  The first thing I noticed was the brilliant blue of the lake.  From Georgia, we are accustomed to the murky green color of lakes.  It gets the job done, but doesn't impress you. This lake was very impressive. Secondly, the air quality was noticeably improved from the city.  I've always considered people telling about air quality a little hocus pocus, but now I'm a believer. I'm not sure if it's simply the air quality in Budapest is truly poor or if I'm getting older and appreciate good air.

To me, Tihany is a little paradise of a village.  It recently underwent a complete town renovation.  It was much needed because the village had not undergone any major construction since the 1960s.  Here's an interesting article about the town and apparently we might have been staying near Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: http://welovebalaton.hu/balaton/why.is.tihany.europe.s.coolest.village

We spent the day exploring the small village which didn't take very long, but was extremely memorable and picturesque.  The town's claims-to-fame are it's lavender, paprika and elevated-location overlooking the lake.  Behind the village, there was a very small lake/pond situation that we quickly dubbed "the lake within the lake".  From the dock, we sat with a bottle of wine and while the bell tolls rang from the baroque church above, we enjoyed one of the most memorable sunsets I've every experienced.  32 is feeling good.

Here's how they keep the bus schedule in Eastern Europe.

This qualifies as a lot of Paprika -- a Hungarian treasure.

Of course, the first thing I wanted to do was eat.  The view of our lunch was satisfactory.

The abbey that sits atop Tihany.

Finding Rege Cafe was difficult but the view...

Discovering our "lake within the lake".

Fancy never passes up an opportunity to project her shadow on a 150-year abbey -- swell of a good time.

At breakfast, we were literally the only other people besides one large group sitting at the same table.  We whispered to each other, it was awkward, but the breakfast was great!

BeerBike and EscapeRoom -- (1 of 4) The Birthday Month in Budapest.

As some of you may know about me, I've adopted the "birthday month" to celebrate my birthday, instead of settling for a single day, or even cramming it into a weekend.

For that matter, I strongly encourage each of you to do the same and let me tell you why.

My birthday is on the 11th of October.  This means I have a solid ten days of building up anticipation for the birthday in October.  It gives you just a few more opportunities to get 'your way' in the inevitable domestic "conversations", I get to select 'my' restaurant when dining and listen to 'my' music at home.  I'd really be short-changing myself if I only celebrated my birthday for a day.

Because several of our new school friends were going to be out of the city for my birthday weekend (they are lucky we are still friends), we decided to celebrate together the weekend before my actual birthday.  Since we really celebrate the entire month, it made perfect sense to begin the month celebration.

When Fancy asked what I wanted to do or get for my birthday, I immediately ran through the catalogue of Budapest experiences I wanted to try.  I've learned about myself that I tend to find experiences much more rewarding than any gift, especially enjoyed with friends.  This is not to say it would be too late to send a gift.  Mail in Hungary works perfectly well...if you're curious...

Todd Perzel
ATTN: Todd's Birthday Month
Hajos Utca 31, 1/1
1065 Budapest
Hungary

But I digress...

There were two unique experiences that I knew I wanted to try -- The Budapest BeerBike and an EscapeRoom.

(1) The Budapest Beer Bike

Imagine riding in a carriage with 12 of your closest friends, but you must pedal like a bicycle to move the carriage.  You get to navigate some Budapest's most famous streets and landmarks, all while being served unlimited draft beer from one of your friends (that is now a bartender). He or she pumps and serves for the following three hours because it's important to stay hydrated. 

This old guy just biked right up to the BeerBike and demanded a beer.  Here's a beer for your boldness, sir.

This has nothing to do with our BeerBike but it was the largest Limo in the history of limos.

What do 4 Americans, 2 Canadians and 1 Spaniard have in common?

Todd's Birthday Month Celebration.

Up, up and away at Hero's Square.

At this point, we were turning into "those people".

A bottle of Hungarian Palinka has appeared.

More beer giveaway!

"I'll give you one, because you're sweet old ladies and my grandmother would expect me to be generous."

(2) The second experience was a  Budapest Escape Room.

A growing trend across Europe that began in Budapest is an hour-long "Escape Room" puzzle.  There's over 20 different Escape Rooms across the city and growing in popularity each year.  It's explained: 

Real-life room escape games are a type of physical adventure game in which people are locked in a room with other participants and have to use elements of the room to solve a series of puzzles, find clues, and escape the room within a set time limit (60 minute).

It was really fun and an experience I highly recommend in Budapest.  However, I don't recommend completing an Escape Room after three hours on a BeerBike - it leads to some fuzzy thinking and lack of overall cognitive ability, as you'd imagine.

For those that are keeping score for the night, we were able to divide into two rooms -- boys vs. girls.  The guys had a room called "Madness" and the girls had a room called "Mirrors".  The girls said they won because they escaped the room with 4-minutes of the 60 remaining.  I say that we we won because we stayed in the room for the entire 60-minutes withgout escaping (obviously, getting our full 60-minutes worth of value where the girls 'wasted' 4 minutes).  Since it was my birthday weekend, the guys were deemed champions.  Plus, our room was much more difficult to solve.