Finishing up with a bang

6 more days left in italy!?!?!  im coming home on sunday the 21 of may.  for our last weekend in italy we went to the cinque terre-- the italian riviera.  the cinque terre (in english translates into "the 5 lands" are 5 towns along the ligurian sea.  everything about the weekend was too good to be true-- some of the most beautiful scenery i've ever seen, gorgeous weather (80 degrees, sunny, not a drop of  humidity) a 5 hour hike between all five towns, ocean kyacking, and best of all, lots and lots of pesto because that's where it was created. 

we stayed at a guest house in monterosso, one of the 5 towns.  it was owned by this 60-ish year old artist named emmanuel, who lives with his nephew and 2 gorgeous dogs.  he was a really nice, cool guy and welcomed us in like he'd known us forever

emmanuel painting on the patio

gnocci al pesto

MMMMMM

morning coffee on the patio

view from the hiking trail of monterosso

me and lisa on the hiking trail

the group

lisa, amanda, jackie, a random south african hiker who we met along the way named rob, kelly, and teresa

taking a break from the trail

getting a massage on the beach

best 5 euros ive ever spent

beach shot

to win the grand prix, drink drive beer.

there are all sorts of things wrong with that message

3 weeks left in italy!

in the past 2 weeks ive been in rome and sicily

in the roman forum... dom wearing my highly-refective sunglasses... me taking a picture of myself in them

artsy, i know

dinner in rome: homemade ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta

i dont know what im gonna eat when i get back to the states, ive definitely gotten spoiled on the food here

The beach in Sicily

This part is called Isola Bella... its pretty rocky but really nice

unfortunately,  there was more rain than sun the whole time we were in sicily. everyone kept telling us it was probably the only 3 days there would be rain all year.

lisa and dom, on the rainy beach

un vero siciliano

sicily = birthplace on the cannoli

thats pistaccio on the outside... i thought it was pesto, which probably would have made me happy too

another typical sicilian dish... pasta alla norma

pasta with tomato sauce, eggplant, and grated ricotta cheese that you sprinkle on top like parmeggiano. got it everywhere we went

florence

view of the duomo in a rainstorm

me and dom in sicily on isola bella

sign in a cafe in sicily

ciao ciao

a storm brewing at the boboli gardens in florence

another view from the gardens...

looks fake

me and dom

doms family was in town: dana, me and dominic

who's that hottie

Just some random pics today

the naples family:

marilena, me, illaria, sergio and luca

the other triplet, fabio, is too cool for school and stayed  home playing video games

in naples

the pizza chiena i made

or as we say

PIZZA GAIN

soo good

we had a big easter dinner with our friends next door

heres the artsy fruit platter me and lisa made

the easter spread

a street artist in florence. they will work from sunrise to sunset with pastels drawing on the sidewalk, copying a famous piece.  really cool to watch

bella firenze

view of the ponte vecchio from the vassari corridor-- went there on a field trip today

and finally, the mystery meat of the day

will upate more later! doms family are here, so is my cousin adam and his girlfriend kali, lots of pics of actual people coming soon. pat, i got your card today, thank you!!!  hope everyone had a good easter! ciaoo