5 towns, 1 boat

Cinque Terre was amazing...even though we had to sleep outside the first night. In the end, we didn't have to pay for our room, and we got and upgrade to the master apartment suite. Totally worth it. Catching you up...we took a mid sized boat out in the Mediterranean with 6 people: the 3 of us, 2 travelers from Madrid, and Gianni, our local captain. It wasn't until much later that we realized his name was not Johnny:) though we never had a chance to do the hiking trails, I wouldn't have traded the boat for anything! We took off at about 11 after stocking up on fresh, local food and wine. We stopped at a couple stops along the way to anchor down, jump in to swim and snorkel, and to get sunburned. The food, wine, and company was amazing...and we learned how to say bad words in Italian. After being on the boat for over 8 hours, we made dinner plans at the restaurant in the square that our other local buddy, Alessandro, worked at. Words cannot describe this meal...2 rounds of anti pasta, main pasta dish, huge dessert platter, and mucho mucho vino. Dinner was followed up with limoncino, a local dessert drink that tastes like 5 lemon drops, and some warm whiskey shot....wowza. Our meal was supposed to be 50 euro/person, but because of Gianni and Alessandro, it was only 30. We have pictures of every course....delicioso. Cinque Terre is definitely our favorite place thus far, and we are meeting up with our Madrid friends before we leave.
After some goodbyes, including getting our butt pinched and singing our names down the street, we took the train to Rome. After hearing horror stories about theft and the men, we were a little nervous. Well either we are lucky or they know not to mess with this bunch! We haven't seen anything to be worried about, and Roma is amazing. Everything is so old and full of history. It is also ungodly hot and there are people everywhere. We did a guided tour of the colosseum this morning after sleeping in a bit, and then did everything Vatican city has to offer. We saw the Spanish steps last night, and had some dinner at a place recommended by our hotel. We are taking a little break now before heading out for dinner and drinks, but we have to take it easy tonight for our loooooong journey tomorrow. We are taking a. 5 hr train to eastern Italy so we can take the overnight ferry to kefalonia Greece. Considering how our trip has gone thus far, I'm sure we will have some misadventures to update you on. Ciao for now!