Rome: Leaving Rome

This last week we left Rome to explore other parts of Italy. We traveled in an air conditioned bus to Modena. On the way we stopped off to see some fascinating sights. We went to a Tuscan town called Cortona, another hilltop town where knife making began. We had a tour of the castle and museum. After that we had a full seven coarse Etruscan meal.

The following day we headed for Scarperia to see actual knife makers in action. We learned that entire communities for generations have been evolving in their knife building skills. Went visited Modena as well to visit the cheese producers and we went to both Lamborhini and Ferrari, some sweet cars! We finished off with the group at the vintage balsmico at Malpighi.

JT and I were dropped off at the train station in Bologna, where we left for Cinque Terre. Amazing views awaited us, as we discovered upon arrival to the small towns along the coastal bluffs. Bright colors, ultra blue water, beautiful people wearing very little clothing, hiking, and a plethara of spectacular lookouts. We traveled to the towns by ferry and found that to be a conveniant way to get around and pretty too. We were sure to spend some time hiking around to get good photos. We stopped and had a great meal and it was tastey. I had Linguine with Lobster and JT had a Pesto Lasagna. . . YUMMY! We stayed late into the night and took the train back to our hotel in La Spezia for 1.40 euro, cheap. Luckily, I made sure that we had a plush hotel accommodation with AC. We crashed right away.

The next day we traveled back to Rome, four hours on an Inner City plus train. I have really enjoyed my time here with all my new friends. It is especially unique that we happen to have five graduate students here from the same program. I encluded the photo of the five of us at the start of this post. Italy has been a special place to spend time with friends.