Exploring Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre was my second visit to Italy. (The first being Pisa.) Cinque Terre was such an amazing experience. Definitely one of my favorite destinations in all of Europe. This region of the Italian Riviera is broken into 5 different villages. You can travel among the cliffside villages by walking path, train, or boat. Reaching within Cinque Terre by car is nearly impossible. The only vehicles you will see are shuttles for hotels and an occasional work truck. This was one of the many reasons why Cinque Terre ranks so high on my list of favorites. I love cities with large pedestrian zones and the freedom to meander down streets and alleyways without having to worry about traffic.

We stayed in the town of Lovanto, technically outside the Cinque Terre. This allowed us to get as close as possible to Cinque Terre since we were driving from Germany and had our car. Each day we took the short 10 minute train ride into Cinque Terre. I could have not have been more happy with where we stayed. (Thanks, Sarah!) On our last evening we finally had time to explore the town of Lovanto and were blown away. At that point we were desperately wishing we had just one more day in Italy. I could not have asked for a better girls trip!

Below are posts recapping our time in each of the five villages in Cinque Terre.

• Vernazzo
• Monterosso
• Riomaggiore
• Manarola
• Corniglia 

Vernazzo, Cinque Terre

Vernazzo was the first village we visited in Cinque Terre. It was absolutely everything I imagined Cinque Terre to be. Absolutely picturesque with the brightly colored houses on the cliffs. Amazing views of the shoreline. The smell of pesto, garlic, and fresh made bread. And gelaterias galore. It was the perfect introduction to Cinque Terre. In Vernazzo we decided to attempt to get a group picture in all five villages. Thanks Mr. Russian man for the photo. :)

Next Up… Monterosso!

Monterosso, Cinque Terre

Overall Monterosso was probably my favorite village in Cinque Terre. We visited Monterosso on our first day and immediately knew it was the perfect place for our afternoon nap. You see, our drive down to Italy from Germany didn't conclude until 3:30 am that morning and we were all a bit tired. After visiting Vernazzo that morning we were ready to relax in the sand. We settled into a private beach with lounge chairs, umbrellas, and daiquiris/pina coladas. It wasn't long before my eyes got too heavy for beach reading and a quick nap was in order.

Monterosso had a little bit of everything and was very unique in that it had a tunnel that separated the old town and the new town. In the old town we ate dinner and shopped for wine, pesto, and souvenirs. In the new town you'll find the train station, numerous restaurants, and more of a resort feel. The character-filled old town and the more bustling new town was the perfect combination and gave a great balance to the experience.

Next Up… Riomaggiore!

Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre

Riomaggiore is the most southern of the Cinque Terre villages and is where we started our second day. The view of the brightly colored houses on the rocks was equally as impressive as Vernazzo and we spent most of the time taking pictures. We probably would have explored Riomaggiore more, but the Via dell'Amore (Lover's Lane) was closed. Although we were temporarily husbandless (Thanks, Army!) and the title of the trail may not have been fitting, we were looking forward to the amazing views the hike promised. If the trail was open we would have been able to walk to Manarola.


Next Up…. Manarola!

Manarola, Cinque Terre

Manarola is an itty bitty village in Cinque Terre. It's actually the second smallest of all the villages, but we probably had our most memorable experience there. As you walk down towards the marina you'll notice crowds gathering to watch the brave individuals dive off the cliffs into the popular swimming hole. It was definitely "the thing" to do.

The day before we had laid on the sandy beaches of Monterosso and decided that in Manarola we wanted to experience sunbathing on the rocks and swimming in the Ligurian Sea. However by the time we reached Manarola (our second village of the day) the swimming hole was already pretty crowded. So we grabbed some food to-go (delicious fried seafood, pesto pizza, & beer) and head down to the left hoping it would be a little less crowded. Thanks to the advice of another American we wound up at the dock of one of the ferries. It was perfectly secluded since the ferries stopped running between 12:00 and 14:00. When our bellies were full from lunch and our bodies aching for the refreshing cool water we went back to the swimming hole and jumped in. None of us were brave enough to jump from the higher cliffs, but it was still an amazing experience. We sunbathed on the rocks again until our bathing suits were dry and we were ready to hop on over to the next village.

Next Up… Corniglia!

Corniglia, Cinque Terre

The last village we visited was Corniglia. In order to reach Corniglia you must climb a flight of over 350 steps. Once you finally make it into town you quickly realize how different it is from the other villages. There are more narrow alleyways and instead of walking down to the beach you continue to rise in elevation and reach an observation deck. There you will find a beautiful view of the marina below and the other villages out in the distance. Corniglia was my least favorite village in Cinque Terre and I found to be a bit anti-climatic after the great displays of houses on the cliffs in the other villages. Although I must say that our fruit salad gelatos and cold drinks picked up our spirits and off we went back to our favorite village, Monterosso, for dinner.

Pisa Shenanigans

jumping   //   throwing   //   handstands   //   drinking

(Plus a little photobombing from an almost 2 yr. old)

All necessary for a day of fun in Pisa. 

Welcome Home my Love!

Two weeks ago today my husband came home! It's hard to believe it's only been two weeks though. Now that he's back it feels like he never left. Life has resumed and everything is finally back to normal.  It's FANTASTIC to have him back safely in my arms and it's wonderful to see our post full of sky soldiers once again! BUT back to the homecoming celebration...

Their arrival time kept getting pushed back further and further. So Sunday was an excruciatingly long day. A sweet friend and I tried to take our mind off of the ever present (and seemingly never ending countdown) and watched an entire season of Nashville. Then we tried to eat dinner, but our nerves got the best of us and we didn't end up eating much of anything. After dinner we came back to the house and watched a couple chick flicks. Finally at around 1:45 am we received our phone call that they were on the buses and finally making the drive back to post. We scrambled around, putting on last minute touches of makeup, and flew out the door eager to get to the gym where the homecoming celebration would be held. We still had over an hour and a half to wait, but who's going to stick around waiting at their house at that point! 

Luckily the majority of my dear friend's husbands/fiances were coming back on the same mainbody as Ross'. So finding each other in the gym to wait together made for even more excitement in the air. We had all been there for each other during these past 9 months and to be able to experience the excitement prior to the homecoming together was the perfect ending. I am so thankful for these girls and their friendship! I truly would not have been able to have stayed in Germany by myself for as long as I did. 

This is what 4 am looks like to wives and children who have missed their soldiers for 9 months. 

It's Beginning..

to look a lot like CHRISTMAS :)

+ Nuremberg Christmas Market

Girls Weekend in Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a tiny little country sandwiched between Belgium, France, and Germany. Their people are called Luxembourgers and they even made up their own language "Luxembourgish", a mix of French and German. Due to its geography and large number of immigrants, Luxembourg is a very culturally diverse nation. I heard it's common for its citizens to know up to 4 languages. Crazy! Lucky for us, English was sort of a common ground for language and widely understood/spoken.

The food was very similar to German so I kind of steered away from the traditional dishes. The city was much more modern than I was expecting. I think this was due to the large banking sector and heavy EU influence. I went into this trip having very little knowledge of the county and didn't research at all- which was new and kind of fun for me. The girls and I did the touristy things like a sightseeing bus, but also made sure to shop and wine & dine. Overall, I enjoyed our girls weekend, but Luxembourg probably won't place very high on my list. 

The most interesting part of the trip was definitely the casemates. For only 3 Euro were able to walk through about 1 km of the underground tunnels. The casemates were built as underground defenses connecting numerous fortresses. Construction started in the 17th century by the French, but was completed by the Austrians. Since then the casemates have been occupied by numerous nations (Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Prussia...) and were makeshift bomb shelters during WWII. The casemates spanned 23 km, but only about 14 km remain today. It was definitely a neat experience getting to walk through these tunnels!

FUN FACTS FROM THE TOUR:

1. German translation for the picture below: "don't forget the sand". Since the casemates were bomb shelters during WWII and became home to the thousands of individuals, makeshift toilets had to be made and they used sand to mask the odor. How neat that the writing is still on the wall. 

2. Not all of the casemates are connected. At the end of the Bock casemates we exited into a park and across the river was an iron door for another casemate. I was hoping we'd get to go into the next one, but this casemate was not open to the public because it was used as a vault for one of the banks. How cool is that!? 

Live with Intention

Even when I'm in a strange place. Even when family is far away.

Even when friends seem even further. Even when my husband is deployed.

Even when my job isn't ideal. Even when I feel like my life is on hold.

I must remember...

Deployment Diary: Week 4

Wahoo! We made it a month! I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes my heart. I know it's a small milestone, but know it feels like we're actually making progress! One month down. :)

Since I've been busier with work I didn't exactly take a picture for everyday. But this week we had two girls nights. One was comprised of pina coladas, homemade pizza, and an app-sharing session. The other was spent eating Mexican food and planning our trip to Poland next month. Sunday I had to pull over to the side of the road and take pictures of the sunflower fields by the gate to get on post. It's so beautiful when there are bright blue skies behind the sunflowers! Downloaded iHeartRadio and have been listening to that and Songza nonstop. Luckily our car has an adaptor so I can plug in my iPhone and listen to country music in the car and not hear German commercials! Hallelujah! Got special nails from Self Help so I could hang pictures on our concrete walls. Our diplomas were the first thing I hung.  Last night I got to catch up with my bestie from Clemson. We gushed about our shows, caught up on each others lives, and she shared a yummy recipe with me. :) All in all a pretty good week. Of course it would have been better if my love was here!

Sweet Friends

I don't know a more typical "welcome to the Army" than your husband being sent away only a week after your wedding. Right after we were married RC was sent to Ft. Knox. Being 7+ hours away for long 4 months while newlyweds was tough, but there were some positives.

1. He was in the states. He could easily be reached by phone or Skype (most of the time), and he was not deployed. It could have been worse.
2. RC happened to meet and become friends with this guy from North Carolina. Why is that important? Well, that guy just happens to be married to this awesome girl! And guess where they were headed for BOLC? 

Sam and RC are eerily similar. They both have this weird obsession with living in Montana, have serious dreams of becoming Doomsday Preppers (although I think Sam is well on his way), and can do some serious damage on a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. Meghan is just the sweetest thing. I don't know a more perfect example of that than the going away present they gave us. Every little detail was personalized to RC and I. From the Charleston tin to red velvet cupcakes. Plus she gave us sweet reminders of our time in Georgia with railroad ties from the tracks downtown Columbus and a mixed CD with songs about Georgia. When someone puts so much thought into a gift it means so much! 

Oh, and did I mention she she designs jewelry? She is seriously so talented!

Check out Swallows Heart's Facebook page, Etsy shop, and blog! 

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I know that saying goodbye is just part of the Army lifestyle that I'm going to have to get used to, but it still sucks. Then again, we never would have met these dear friends if it weren't for the Army! I really hope that someday our paths will cross again and we'll end up at the same duty station! We always have so much fun together. Until then, goodbye our North Carolina friends! ;)

March Update

A lot happened in the month of March and I just wanted to post a quick recap!

First of all this stud graduated from ARC: Army Reconnaissance Course! So proud. It was a much smaller ceremony and maybe 5 family members were there for a class of 40-50. It was sad to see such a small turnout, but I understand because (one) it's a long commute for a lot of family members and (two) most LTs, at least the ones around here, aren't married.

After RC's graduation he was able to put in a pass so we took a 4 day trip to Charleston with a pit stop in Savannah. If you didn't know Savannah is #2 behind Boston, of course, for the best St. Patty's day parade. We had to stop by! Even though it was the day before St. Patrick's day the party was still in full force! Marching bands, drink specials, and of course a lot of green!

While in Charleston we had Sunday brunch with RC's family at Heirloom Eats. The food was delicious, but the highlight was definitely meeting Catherine Bell (Denise from Army Wives)! She permanently moved to Charleston after filming started with Army Wives and I mean, come on, who can blame her! I've had friends be extras on the show and driven by a filming session on the way to work (otherwise I would have stopped), but never had the chance to meet someone from the show! Catherine was so gracious, introduced herself to every one of RC's family members, and was absolutely gorgeous in person! 

Last update! Earlier this month I had to say goodbye to one of my first "Army friends". Maryann and I met at this awful Icebreaker and were awkwardly forced to met by an NCO. After nudging by our sweet boys, we exchanged numbers and grabbed coffee a couple days later. Our friendship grew and eventually she and her man ended up moving into the same apartment complex as us after a horrible experience with their previous place! I am so glad we had each other during the long weeks when our boys were in the field. We would cope with walks at Flat Rock Park and trashy tv nights with wine. Hello, Real Housewives!

I'd always heard that you form close friendships very quickly while in the military. I would definitely agree! You almost have to. You learn how to appreciate each other because they are the company you desperately need when you've been thrown into a new town, and ultimately they're going through the same thing as you. You need each other! I've also found that it's a different kind of friendship. I don't know how to explain it... I've never gone into a friendship knowing that there's a certain time frame involved. It still cracks me up that by this summer we will be spread all over the world. We'll be going to Texas, Kansas, and Germany for our first duty stations! I just hope that somewhere down the line we'll end up at the same post again! I have been so blessed by these girls and their friendships!