I Feel Epic

After two days in Cinque Terre we took the train over to Venice on Wednesday morning. We met up with Nima's friend from MIT, Andreas, who's living in Venice for the summer.
Also, I bought an awesome hat:


Nima and I on the Rialto bridge -


Wandering around Venice:

Friday noon flight to Rome with Andreas and Nima -

Trevi Fountain with the boys:

If you toss in a coin over your shoulder, you'll come back to Rome some day.

Amazing gelato in a cafe.

30 seconds later -

Nima's favorite statue in Rome:

Filling up our water bottle at the Spanish Steps:

Gladiator cameo.

candid cabinieri shot -

hanging out in the Borghese villa gardens:

Tempting...

Yes!

Explaining to Andreas how I hate the blood rushing to my fingers when I walk for hours.

Loving the cypress trees in the park:

Me and Andreas at the Borghese Villa, with Andreas illegally lying on the grass.

Photographic wizadry -

I don't think anyone else has ever, ever done this with a headless statue. Never.

Except this was super high and slightly scary. and mildly dangerous and probably illegal.

Later we bought some wine and sat by the Trevi Fountain, along with every other tourist in the city apparently.

After the wine, Nima was extremely excited to see the Pantheon.

Ecstatic to be in Rome!

With Matthias!

The infamous bridge...

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Walking on the street in front of St. Peter's -

This one is for all of the consular officers in China. Not smiling, hands behind the back.

Is it real?!?! The shadows look so legit, but the edges are blurry!!

Candid gelato picture.

Matthias is Swedish, working in Munich, and Andreas is British, working in Venice. Both were in the same fraternity as Nima at MIT.

The happy couple:

Andreas and I at dinner:

The pub crawl begins!

Finally, someone who is paler than I am!

Pub crawl VIPs!

Best picture of the night...maybe of the trip:

(she had no idea)

Tied for best picture:

On the subway on the last day in Italy, after Andreas and Matthias left:

The End!

On the Riviera

After one day in Milan, we took the train on Tuesday morning to Cinque Terre, which is a region with five villages on the northwestern coastline.

Locals on the train ride to the coast:

Nima, trying not to look too excited:

Beautiful!

Eating fresh squid and focaccia on the street:

Walking to the beach in Riomaggiore, the town in which we stayed:

Nims on the riviera:

Crocs, cell, and cigarette on the beach -

The cabana boys:

Overlooking the town where we stayed:

Nutella and prosecco down by the dock. amazing :)

Local fishermen:

Waiting for sunset on the rocks, drinking wine:

Amazing seafood pasta for dinner (yes, I took pictures of the food...)

So satisfied!

The next day, we hiked along the coast through the five villages, which was about 10k altogether.

I feel like this sign was probably inspired by prior experience:

Vineyards along the way:

Nima decided to get a haircut at the last village but chickened out and didn't get a mullet

Drinking wine on the dock in Monterosso after sunset: