Dear Rapallo, I love you. Yours forever, Pam

Day #7

This morning it was sadly time to say "au revoir" to France. We had just enough time to make one final stop in the town of Eze. We had the option of visiting Fragonard (a perfume factory) or climbing to the top of a hill, up 200+ steps to see the views from a fortress. Which one did Pamcakes choose! Since I had flip flops on the choice was obvious... A hike up the mountainside! When I got about halfway up I spied a sign that had a picture of flip flops with a line through it. Ah, so I'm in the right place, good. Rebel Pam continued up the hill. It was a little foggy, so the views weren't spectacular but I was able to get the gist of what it would look like on a clear day. I really enjoyed walking through the quaint little village up the cobblestone paths. So cute. 

After about an hour, we were off to the Motherland... Italy!! Since Tinì and Giovanni were awesome, we had our first Italian stop in Dolceacqua, instead of a gas station. Dolceacqua means "sweet water" and it was just that! A sweet little town near some water. Brenda, Shelley, Jen, Bree and I explored a bit and then stopped for lunch. I ordered the Ligurian  specialty, pesto with gnocchi. Our biggest surprise of the lunch came when Shelley and Bree each ordered a calzone. When the food came out our jaws dropped. No joke, the calzones were the size of a human head, maybe even bigger. It was awesome. We shared a few bottles of wine and then it was time to head back to the bus. At the last minute I decided to buy a bottle of wine for later. The guy at the store asked me if I wanted to try any of the wines. I told him I didn't have a lot of time. He responded with "I can be quick when I want to be." Oh my. I tasted each, made my purchase, then raced back to the bus. We were on our way to Rapallo! 

Let me tell you, Rapallo is beautiful. Molto bello, very beautiful. Our hotel, "Europa Hotel Design Spa" was right beside the sea. 

After we checked in, I quickly got dressed then went for a short walk along the water. I was in love. It was perfect. I think I have a new favorite place. 

Before dinner we had a wine party in Shelley and Brenda's room. By the time we got to dinner, we were already feeling pretty good. The wine was flowing all through dinner too. Cuttlefish and wine is the meal of champions. After dinner, a group of us headed out to the hotel courtyard and continued to drink. We had a blast. I wish there were pictures from that night because my memory is slightly hazy. I do remember though: burpees, an epic selfie, and baby advice, so I like that about myself. I felt terrible in the morning, but it was so worth it.

Day #8

 

Ya know that feeling you get when you wake up still drunk from the night before? Welcome to my life right now. The room was spinning as I laid in bed, giving myself a pep talk just to get up and get moving. Nearly puked in the shower too. Rockstar status over here. It's a good thing today was going to be relaxing. Oh wait, no it's not. Today we were visiting Cinque Terre. Hiking and a boat ride too. Awesome. Just what I needed. We boarded the bus and set off on our journey. Porto Venere was our first stop. We saw the beautiful gothic Church of St. Peter. Stunning views and quite pretty inside, with its candles and high ceilings, the church was awesome to visit. Along the way was Byrons Grotto. The poet Lord Byron used to swim that very sea hundreds of years ago and this grotto was dedicated to him. After a delicious cappuccino in a quaint cafe overlooking the majestic mountains and seemingly endless sea, it was time to hop on a boat to visit the picturesque Cinque Terre. 

Luckily the water wasn't terribly choppy, so my hungover self didn't get too sick, plus the cappuccino really helped a lot. The boat chugged along and showed us the colorful pastel houses that painted the hills. I couldn't help but wonder, "How the heck do people get up there?" Due to mudslides, we weren't able to visit Riomaggiore, Manarola, or Corniglio. So we just sailed past them on our boat. We did stop in Vernazza though. It was there that I had the most delicious pizza I have ever had before (I'm salivating now just thinking about it). I ate it as I strolled along the shop filled streets. I even went back for a second piece but opted for a piece of focaccia bread instead. Back on the boat, we next sailed to Monterosso. Since this was a longer stop we had time to shop and to eat. I met up with Shelley and Brenda and we got our shop on. When it was time to eat, I unfortunately wasn't hungry, on account of the plentiful carbs I had eaten earlier, so I opted for a liquid lunch. One of my goals for the trip was to have Limoncello. I had only had it once before in life and hated it. I figured that since I am so cultured now and super sophisticated (I am, right?) then I'd be sure to like it. Right? I was wrong. So very wrong. I hated it. So much, in fact, that I didn't even want to drink it anymore. Not wanting to waste, I offered it to everyone I knew walking by the table. Soon enough it was gone. So. Gross. 

We hopped a train to head back to Rapallo and I rested a bit before heading back out again. I turned on the tv and what do I see but Vampire Diaries in Italiano! Awesome. After a quick rest, I headed out on my own. I pre-ate with some gelato. So good. Happy Pam. I came upon the Texans from the tour and they were kind enough to let me join them for dinner. I had a "lovely cheese pizza just for me"

After dinner with the Texans, I was back on my own. I had seen a cute shop the day before and wanted to go back to make some purchases. I walked up and down the street looking for my shop. After, no joke, 15 minutes, I was about to give up and go back to the hotel when I finally found it. The woman inside was so nice and even helped me with my terrible Italian.  "Ciao, Ciao!" Since it was vacation, I decided to get another gelato. For those of you at home keeping count, that's 2 gelatos in 3 hours. As I got back to the hotel, I ran into my NJ & MD peeps. They had been looking for me to go to dinner with them. Since I had just had 2 gelatos and an entire pizza, I gladly accepted their invitation, however I abstained from eating. Liquid dinner! Score! What started out as a shaky day turned out to be a perfectly lovely day.