ITALIA

To say the least, Italy was abosultely wonderful! The best food thus far, very friendly people, lots of fellow backpackers, and beautiful land and sea.

We left Paris and did a 12-hour train ride from Paris to Milan then onto Verona and Trento. Trento is a pictureque village nestled into a valley in the Dolomite mountains in northern Italy. In the middle of town is the city sqaure with a huge fountain in the middle, and a cathedral along the edge. An enormous castle is only a few minutes walk from the centre. Life moves at a slower pace in Trento, that is until night falls. By 8:00pm, people seem to emerge from nowhere and the streets, restaurants and bars are packed. Although we were some of the only English speakers in the city, we managed just fine... and even learned a few words and phrases (which have since been replaced by Greek, and then Egyptian words....it's hard to keep them straight.)

A definite highlight of our time in Trento was a bike trip we did along the river towards Verona. We rented 2 bikes for a few euros and spent the next 3 hours covering over 50km on a wonderful paved bike trail. That's another point of interest we noticed: The Italians really prioritize physical fitness. Lots of people walking, hiking, or biking. It's good to see the country that knows how to eat, and eat well, balances the input with output. Anyway, neither of us has ever seen such dramatic, purple cliffs before. And after a few days of rain here and there, it was great to feel sun and see the blue sky.

And, we couldn't really talk about Trento without mentioning the cuisine--especially the pizza and gelato. Man, words can not do either of these culinary masterpieces justice. They are fabulous. The thin crust. The sauce. The cheese. The whatever-you-want-on-it. The endless flavours of gelato (all of which being great). As far as food goes, we had a tough time leaving Trento.

After 4 days in Trento, our next stop in Italy was Venice. Venice was neat to see because it's so one-of-a-kind. And really, it is beautiful. It's impossible not to get lost (as the American couple we got lost with for 3hrs can attest to). But between non-stop downpours, the throngs of tourists, and our terrible hostel, we decided that one day was enough for us, especially at that hostel. What was advertised as "a backpacker's dream...free internet, breakfast, showers, and laundry, etc" was a nightmare. We were the only ones staying there. It was more like some creepy guy's home than a bumpin' hostel, there were flies everyone, and there we no locks on any of the doors. Security, comfort, cleaniness and fun all got F's from us. I suppose accessiblity was the only plus going for the place...and accessibility for the whole world isn't really what you want for a hotel or hostel. On the up side, we did meet a young couple from London, Ontario in Venice--so far the closest to home folks we've met on the road.

From Venice we headed southwest to Sorrento along the Amalfi Coast. By this point we were pretty used to train systems in Europe, and these long treks were getting boring. This made us appreciate all the more the wonderful people we met along this 10hr train day. Along the first stint, we met a Texas trio (the "ironman") touring Italy for 2 weeks. The picture below should speak for itself, but we realized that really is possible to carry the comforts of home along with you when you're on the road. The second half of the ride we rode with 5 Italians who were really interested in our trip and hearing our story/telling us theirs; but we spoke no Italian and they no English. It was the longest, most thorough game of cherades I've ever played (they even called their family members who spoke English to translate what they wanted to say). It was good fun and sure helped pass time. At the end of the line we all exchanged contact info and they gave us their website info to check out their jobs, hobbies, etc.

We spent 5 days in Sorrento and did a few day trips--to Amalfia and to the island of Capri. Again, the stunning landscape cluttered with lemon trees, zig-zag roads, jutting cliffs, and crashing waves, and of course, the everpresent Italian banter that is imposssible to escape, is what made this area great. We cooked most of our meals (pasta...when in Rome..., right?) in the hostel with two Aussie friends and 3 yanks. It was nice to have new people to chat with and exchange the days' experiences...we ran into the yankees again the next week in Rome. Good folks. Rome was a bit of a culture shock for us after being in smaller towns off the beaten track for the past few weeks (lots of people, huge city, bad air, crowded streets, jacked-up prices, etc...ah, it's half the charm of travel). We stayed at a great small hostel in Rome and shared a room with six leppord-print-cladded Latvian women on a weekend holiday. It was neat (and sickening) to see the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Tevi Fountain (so overrated), the Spanish steps, etc. Despite the big attractions, our favourite and most memorable night was one spent with 7 spanish students, 2 australian backpackers, and a 27-year old brazialian doctor. We went for a great dinner and explored the city into the wee hours of the morning. It was fantistic!
All in all, a wonderful visit and a pretty good sampling of Italy, only whetting our appetite for more one day; it's definitly high up on places to visit again. And we have a few recipes we want to try when we get home.

Next stop: Greece.