(30) Jordan and I arrived in Nice and sought out our Hostel Paradis. It was like 500m from the beach (made of rocks). Nice is a place for expensive shopping. Our hostel was located across from Chanel between Louis Vitton (LV) and Armani. We got a drink and sat by the beach for a bit and had pizza at a cute little restaurant down one of the cobblestone side streets.

(31) I went into Tiffany's and looked at the lovely jewelry! We took the 1€ bus to Monaco to hang out for a few hours. The Grand Prix just finished there so they were in the process of taking down all the bleachers and the road is covered in fresh tire marks. This is where all the rich people live. Everyone wears khaki pants and flowy shirts, toting LV purses and wearing Chanel sunglasses on their plastic faces. The streets are lined with Prada, Dior and all other types of ritzy stores. A freaking expensive car every step you take. Jordan was so pumped to see them all, which was exciting for me because I would have probably walked by them! He was especially taken by the black Bugatti (a very rare car, I'm told!). We saw Casino Royale and admired the yachts in the port. We returned to Nice to walk the shopping strip and ventured out into the 'Old City', stumbling upon fireworks over the Sea! I find the best places to go for food/drinks are off the beaten path, so we had drinks on a little side street.

(1) We hopped the train from Nice to Ventimigilia, Italy for 6€ and walked around the huge outdoor market there- backpacks in tow! I can hardly believe that our five hour train from Ventimigilia to La Spezia was only 17€! So we didn't use our rail passes. Upon arriving in La Spezia, I thought I was so clever for looking up the directions on Google Maps. We walked 3 km with our backpacks on and it wasn't even there! In my defense, a lot of backpackers end up at the address we went to - they called our B&B for us. We took a bus back to the station and took a 15 minute train ride. We get there and try to follow the written directions from them and they are absolute crap. I was getting grumpy by this time and ready to pack in - thanks to Jordan's navigation skills we made it! A cute little place and the owners were so friendly! A nice change from France. We did all of our laundry- interesting navigating that in Italian! We ate at an off the tracks pizza place - our 4 stagioni pizza was so delish!

(2) We got up very early to catch the train to Monterosso, the first of the 5 Cinque Terra towns. Luckily, we found out beforehand a few of the trails between the towns were closed due to flooding - we didn't have to find out the hard way, unlike a group of Americans we met who weren't so lucky. A good deal - a 10€ pass gets you all your trains and transport to an within each town and covers your admittance to each trail. I think this is the prettiest place I have ever been! The day was a tiny but overcast, which was nice because we had to climb a lot of stairs - working off all that pizza! In Monterosso we picked rocks on the beach and continued from there for a 1 1/2 hour hike to Vernazza (my most favorite town!). I LOVE all of the rainbow colored houses tucked into the terraced nooks lining the Mediterranean Sea. Here, we had our first taste of Gelato. No words to describe this deliciousness. Jordan had Rocky Road and I had Cherry. We have decided that we are both hooked! We caught the next train to Corniglia, where you have to climb a mass of weaving stairs to get to the top! We wined and pizza-ed overlooking the Sea at Pizzeria Gastronomia (sounds appetizing, right!). I also bought a pretty, little watercolor painting there and ran into these American guys who are just wingin' it and spent the night before in a park - something I kind of want to try haha, but not by myself of course! We caught the next train to Manarolla, also a very cute little town! I just cannot get over these colorful houses with laundry swaying in the wind outside their windows. Such character. We did the 'Love Walk' from there to Riomaggiorie and had to write our names with a heart. I made Jordan put a heart around our names - after all, it IS the freaking love walk!

We were exhausted and sweaty - but decided to be at the train station an hour early to head to Rome - didn't want to pull another homeless night in Paris kinda night! I was a very good girl and caught up on my journal on the ride.

Poor Jordan. I'm surprised he isn't fed up with me yet because I eat all the raisins out of the trail mix. And have smelly feet. And talk his ear off. And laugh at my own jokes. Although, he DID say that he can't ditch me til Venice. Pff. We are having a blast together!

Can I just add I am loving not having my phone here. Also, the best plan is no plan - so much more room for activities! Tourists don't know where they've been; travelers don't know where they're going (a quote that is not mine)!

Til next time...bonjourno from Roma!

Larae :)