Cinque Terre, Italy

My time in Cinque Terre was like a dream. A sun soaked, pastel-coloured, flowery, delicious, friendly dream. Everywhere I looked, I wanted to take a picture because every single vista there is worthy of a postcard (and luckily they sell lots, which was great for me because it was the perfect opportunity to send out a few letters to my loved ones from this beautiful place).

I was staying in a hostel that was more like a shared apartment. To get to it, you had to climb about seven flights of steep stairs and were constantly winded by the time you got inside. But the windows were always flung wide and we had views of the adorable houses (complete with little old ladies hanging out their underwear to dry and lots of little flower boxes), lots of sun, and could always hear the humble bustle of the little street below. It was such a perfect place to stay. Everyone I met there was friendly and awesome, and we became fast friends.

There are 5 little towns in the Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. I was staying in the first, Riomaggiore, which is the most southern of the five. I explored all five and loved them all, but Monterosso less so (it is much more resort-like, more touristy). I would highly recommend staying in Riomaggiore or Vernazza. The towns are all similar, but each has its own unique views and setup. To get to Corniglia, you have to climb about 400 steps from the train station, but it's nestled into the cliff and the views are wonderful. Vernazza has loads of character (it has a little castle overlooking it and lots of places for rock jumping), but Riomaggiore was my favourite. For all intents and purposes it has two streets: one that leads from the train station to the town and on to the harbour and beach, and one main street packed with little restaurants, gelato shops, and souvenir shops. There's a little cathedral (I was lucky enough to stumble into mass there and hear some beautiful singing) and an old fortress on the top of the hill (with amazing views over the water and nearby cliffs), but not much else “to see” which was such a happy change. It was wonderful to just relax and enjoy and not have to be a tourist for a few days.

Every night I was there, I went down and sat on the rocks and watched the sunset over the water. We drank wine and ate fried seafood out of paper cones and sandwiches with spicy cheese, pesto and sundried tomatoes. We always ended up staying longer than we thought we would, lingering as the sky changed colours. One night we drifted from the harbour to one of the two bars in town and then back again for a late-night swim (during which I sliced my foot open on a clam, but whatever it was worth it, yolo!)

During the days, I explored the other towns. My favourite day was the one where I did the two hikes that were open (there is a trail connecting all five towns, but the trails between the first 3 were closed due to storm damage when I was there), from Corniglia to Vernazza and then Vernazza to Monterosso. I loved those hikes. It was hot, and it was actually quite difficult: so many stairs and ups and downs. My legs were shaking after the first one, but I'd enjoyed myself so much that I did the second one anyways (after a much needed break for pizza, beer and gelato – hiking fuel..). But it was so worth it. The heat brings out the essential oils in the herbs and fruit trees that grow wild along the trail, so the whole walk smelled like pine and lemon and rosemary. It felt so good to work hard and look back on where I'd hiked from and just be totally spoiled by all the completely gorgeous views on either side of me as I walked. It is unbelievably beautiful. By the time I got into Monterosso I just felt so happy: I guzzled like three bottles of water filled from a little fountain in the square and waded in the sea and was just so happy.

I can't say enough about how much I loved my time in Cinque Terre. I don't really have any “favourites” for this post because I don't know the name of any places we went to. Except for Pizzeria Fratelli Basso in Vernazza, that place has the best pesto pizza. Outstanding. But as for Riomaggiore, just walk up and down the street and try the take out pesto pasta or numerous pizzas or the little sandwich shop. You'll see. You'll be happy.

Nice, France

It has to be said: Nice was nice. I spent three nights there en route to Italy, and really enjoyed it. It’s beautiful, and it feels small and welcoming. The hostel I was staying at helped to create those feelings, it was a very small apartment-style place and everyone was friendly and hung out together. What a relief after the not-so-great hostel in Montpellier!

I couldn’t get over the coastline in Nice. Standing in the centre, both ways you looked you’d have a beautiful view of the coast petering off, and it looked beautiful at any time of day or night. It was an especially great view from the hill that once housed the old fortress (now just ruins) – you can take the elevator to the top and then walk down (so good in the scorching heat!). The sunsets in Nice were absolutely amazing, just very subtle layers of colour, hardly ever any clouds in the sky. I took a million photos, and watching it one night I remember saying “is this real?”. Just blue, blue water and pale pink sky.

The Nice old town was pretty touristy, but there were still some really lovely restaurants, churches, stores, squares, and of course ice cream shops. The central market was awesome, just full of lots of different fruit and veggie vendors. One of the days, we got a picnic of bread and cheese and tomatoes and fruit (what else?!) and ate it the hot sun. The only thing I didn’t like about Nice was that I found the beaches a bit dirty: lots of garbage on the shore and in the water. After being lucky enough to see some truly gorgeous beaches on my trip, these ones weren’t up to snuff. The water was still beautiful though, and the view from the water even better.

I was lucky to see some friends (old coworkers from my job in Montreal): one was vacationing there for the summer, another came for a visit (I’d seen him in Paris when I was there!) and a third still was living there for a while with her boyfriend. It was such a random occurrence to have four people who all worked together in Montreal at the same time to meet up in Nice. But so great too! Jean and I drove out to Monaco/Montecarlo one afternoon, and explored the old city of Monaco with its beautiful windy streets and pretty garden, and toured around Montecarlo inside the casino (where I had to stop myself from gasping at how much money totally normal -looking [ie. didn’t *look* rich] people were gambling with at the blackjack table) and wandering past the luxury stores. It was fun but I’m glad I only went for a visit: there doesn’t seem to be much to do there besides spend money!

All in all, I really enjoyed my time in Nice. I was thrilled to be able to meet up with friends, and happy to find that I made lots of friends at the hostel too. The atmosphere in Nice was pretty relaxed and I had a lovely time wandering around there.

Favourites:

  • Lou Pilha Leva: this little restaurant is delicious, cheap and authentic. It’s on one of the twisty little streets in the old town, with lots of outdoor tables. You order at the counter, get your delicious dishes and cheap wine, and sit at the big communal tables. It’s lovely. I recommend the zucchini tart and the eggplant beignets. Yummo.
  • Victoria Meuble Hostel: such a great place! It’s small, so everyone is friendly with one another, and its very close to the old town and the beach. I really liked my stay there.

Montpellier, France

Montpellier is a really sweet, quaint city in the south of France. It’s not a typical backpacker destination, but I had it recommended to me by a few different people (including my friend and co-podcaster Laura!), and it was the perfect place to stop to break up the long train rides from Spain to Italy, so I stopped in for a few nights. I’m happy I did, because I really enjoyed my time there! After Barcelona, it was nice to stay somewhere small, friendly, and not at all overwhelming, with good vibes. And it had a lot to offer!
I arrived (purposely) on a Friday afternoon, just in time for Les Estivales, a big street festival held every Friday in the summer on the esplanade just off the main square in Montpellier. The whole promenade is lined with food stalls and wine booths, there are a few different stages with live music or dancing, and it just gives off the most happy, summery ambience. For 5 euro, you get three wine tasting tickets and a wine glass, and you can go around and sample from different booths. 3 tickets was more than enough for me, and I was very content all night, wandering up and down the esplanade, back and forth between the stages (I especially loved the band playing fun Irish music, everyone was dancing in the crowd), eating sweet onion beignets (outstanding), taking in all the different food options on display, looking at jewellery, and walking down to the main square to watch one of the many street performances that went all night.
I found the street performance culture in Montpellier completely impressive. There seems to be a huge community of talented dancers there, and they put on shows every night in the main square. It’s such a cool atmosphere because the shows are such high energy with good music, and the dancers come to see each others shows. All of them are so talented, I’ve never experienced anything like it: there were shows all evening, barely ten minutes apart, sometimes two at once in different parts of the square. I watched them every night, and I’m guilty of watching the same show two or three times. It never got old!
The only downside to my stay in Montpellier was staying at the hostel there. It’s the only hostel in the town, the only other options being pricey hotels. It was the worst I’ve stayed in on my trip: the dirtiest, the shabbiest, the worst facilities (no lockers, for example), the least communal, the worst for meeting other travellers. Ironically, it was also the only hostel I’ve stayed at so far that is a part of Hostelling International, and they charge membership fees to stay in their hostels. You’d think the fees would mean it was a nicer place to stay, but I found that was not the case. I made the most of it by just spending most of my days out exploring, but it was a shame. I wish they’d spruce it up a bit.
I also found Montpellier strangely expensive. I guess it’s a popular vacation destination, but I was surprised at how all the restaurants seemed to be charging exorbitant prices for mediocre food. At the Estivales you could get really reasonably priced and delicious street food and drink, but less so in the town.
All in all, I had a wonderful stay. I explored, I read, I thought a lot. I visited the botanical gardens and the cathedral, and I sat in the park that had wonderful views. My last day I went to the beach and then took myself out to a movie at the theatre in the square: my first time watching a movie or TV show or anything in almost two months! I saw Now You See Me and was practically giddy with excitement the whole time. That was really fun.
Favourites:
  • Les Estivales: I’ve probably already talked it up enough, but go for a Friday! It’s absolutely worth it, my time at the Estivales made my entire trip to Montpellier worthwhile, it was that good.
  • BagelsandU: a little bagel shop right down the road from the hostel. It had a real NYC, gourmet feel to it, which was a pleasant surprise. I went twice and had the same thing each time, the Soho, a cheese bagel with with goats cheese, fried onions, fresh tomatoes, and a delicious green pesto. So, so good.

Barcelona, Spain

I loved Barcelona. It was so fun to explore because it's so vibrant and beautiful with so many things to discover down every twisty street. Wandering around in El Born or the Gothic Quarter felt like being inside a novel or a movie. And then, of course, there are all the buildings (and benches and lampposts and statues) designed by Antoni Gaudi that make the city feel like a bright, colourful fairy tale.

I loved that in Barcelona you could just wander around all day and stumble across a half dozen things that were interesting or important or cool: that's how I found the cathedral, and a few of the beautiful old churches, and the gardens of one church that had fountains and palm trees and a group of swans just hanging out. But I also loved that there were things off the beaten path as well, and I was lucky enough to have some not-so-touristy experiences while I was there. A friend of mine from Montreal invited me out a few nights, once to a great bar that is always packed full that only serves cheap (mainly pink) champagne and good, greasy sandwiches. Another night, a girl I met in the hostel invited me out to this birthday party for a guy she'd met while salsa dancing: it turned out to be at a tiny little open-air beach bar and I watched people dancing barefoot and then running off down to the water, and then tried it a little myself. My last night, we went to the festival of Gracia, a huge neighbourhood street festival, complete with insane decorations on each of the streets, live music, a ton of sparklers and a parade with huge groups of drummers. It was so much fun.

Every morning it was open, I'd go to the Marche de la Boqueria and try a different juice. There are about twenty different stands of just fresh juices and fresh cut fruit, in amongst the stands for meat, fish, candy, wine, tapas, anything you can imagine really. The juices were so tropical, everything from mango coconut to lime melon to passion fruit pineapple (so good) and everything in between. I can't even remember all the flavours I tried, but it was always cheap, delicious and refreshing (and happily, on my way home every day!).

I also absolutely loved going to the Magic Fountain show at night. I only got to go once, but if I had stayed longer, I'd have gone every night. On the weekends during the summer, there is a huge fountain show complete with lights changing colour in time with music (half the time classical music, the other half top 40s type stuff). You can watch it overlooking beautiful views of Barcelona, and its such a fun atmosphere because everyone comes out to see it: tourists, families, backpackers. I loved it.

And then the Gaudi stuff! I found the Sagrada Familia to live up 100% to its hype, it was stunning inside and out, just such an impressive feat of architecture. I was so impressed, stunned really. It's gorgeous. The Casa Batlo was another construction of his, and while less immense then the Sagrada Familia, was still fantastical and wonderful. And of course, I loved his famous Parc Guell with amazing views of Barcelona and its fascinating aqueducts and beautiful mosaics.

I had such a wonderful time in Barcelona. I was lucky enough to meet up with old friends and make lots of new ones, and I really enjoyed myself. It's a beautiful city.

Favourites:

  • Maoz: this little vegetarian falafel place is right next to the Plaza Real, just off the Ramblas. It has an amazing all you can eat salad and sauce bar, so you can just keep stuffing your pita full of veggies and it is so, so delicious. And cheap too!
  • Hostel One Paralelo: this hostel was perfect for meeting people. It was a little walk from the touristy areas, but in a really nice quiet area. Best staff, best common areas, and they have these free family dinners every night. The best hostel.

 

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