Erik, Nina, and I were only in Cinque Terre for one night, but we packed miles of hiking in. Cinque Terre is on the western coast of Italy and is made up of five towns. The draw for tourists? You can hike in between each of the five towns over the course of - you guessed it - two days. If you're less into the whole hiking thing, there are trains that cut through the rocky terrain to take you to each town. We stayed in the second town, Vernazzo, and on the first day hiked from there to the third town, Corniglia. That night, we went to dinner in the first town, Monterosso. The next day, we hiked from Corniglia to the fourth town, Manarola, and then to the fifth town, Riomaggiore. My legs are still recovering.
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On our third day in Florence, we daytripped out to the vineyard Vecchie Terre di Montefili, which was about an hour south of Florence. The vineyard is owned by a UVA alum who sits on the College Board, and Erik knew him well, so we got a personal tour and tasting! The wine, bread, and olive oil were to die for.
What I will remember most about Florence: the gelato. Sitting by the river each night (yes, every night, oops) eating gelato was the perfect way to end a day!
We spent our final afternoon in the park closest to our Airbnb, reading, journaling, and enjoying the sunset and perfect weather.
The same day as we went boating on the canal, we had an extravagant night to celebrate Leigh's birthday. The night included a delicious vegetarian dinner at NELIS West in the Oud-West area of Amsterdam, flaming shots at the shots bar Chupitos, and freezing drinks at Amsterdam's Ice Bar.
To celebrate Leigh's birthday, we spent the afternoon driving a rental boat all around Amsterdam's canals. With wine & homemade hummus to sustain us, it was the perfect picturesque picnic!
Two summers ago, I fell in love with the beautiful waterways that surround and snake through the city of Amsterdam. This summer, I came back and was not disappointed. The canals and open spaces make Amsterdam one of the most unique cities in the world. Our first day there was full of color - it was the weekend of Pride. We visited the Van Gogh Museum, relaxed with wine on Museumplein, and enjoyed giant donut milkshakes nearby.
On our second and final night in Ibiza, we went to see Martin Garrix in concert at the mega hotel Ushuaia. We spent a few hours beforehand relaxing on the beach and watching the sunset, and brought our own supplies to make cocktails.
From Asia, I flew to Ibiza, Spain where I met three dear college friends. The four of us lived together on UVa's Lawn in our final year, and decided to travel Europe for a few weeks together this summer. Our first night in Ibiza (after my thirty hour travel time from Asia) was spent at the Hi Ibiza club where we saw some cool DJs and stayed up far too late.
Our second (and final) day in Ninh Binh was spent climbing the 500 stairs to the top of Hang Mua, an ancient cave temple thing with amazing views of the Tam Coc below. We didn't quite dress right - we didn't know it would be such a hike - but the views made it all worth it!
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Who Am I?I'm Rory; University of Virginia grad, writer, photographer, (wannabe) world traveler. What is EU and Me?A collection of photographs and musings from travels abroad. Archives
June 2020
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