Italy part 1: Cinque Terre

I will write about our Italy trip in 3 posts because it would be too much to post in 1.

We started our trip Friday May 2 spending 3 nights in Cinque Terre which means we were there over my birthday. What a great place to ring in the last year of my 20's! I do think Cinque Terre is my favorite spot that I have visited since we have been in London. It is an absolutely beautiful area made up of 5 villages all pearched on cliffs overlooking the sea. It is a national park and typically you hike from village to village.

We arrive friday evening and checked into our little apartment in the Old Town 

Area of Monterosso. This village is where alot of tourists stay, it has 2 beaches and lots of bars and restaurants. We  explored Old Town then had some delicious pizza and wine.

Monterosso:

 Saturday on my birthday we went and got some focciaca for breakfast and started the hike between Monterosso and Vernazza. This is the longest hike (around 2 hours) but also supposedly the most beautiful. It was a little tough at times but the views made it SO worth it!

Once we got to Vernazza we rewarded ourselves with some gelato and drinks

We took the train back to Monterosso and had drinks there by the beach before dinner. We had an amazing dinner that Matt arranged at La Miky. Matt had spagetti with monkfish and they set it on fire, I had gnocchi with pesto (Cinque Terre is favorite for its pesto) with tiramisu for dessert. All I can say is YUM! It was definitely a birthday to remember and will be pretty impossible to beat! 

Sunday we went out to see the remaining 3 villages. We took a ferry from Monterosso to the furthest village, Riomaggiore so we were able to see all 5 villages from the water, here were the views...

Monterosso:

Vernazzo:

Corniglia:

Manarola:

Riomaggiore:

We had lunch in Riomaggiore explored than had drinks at a bar with the most amazing view!

What I would give to be back at this bar right now!

Our original plan was to hike to the next town, Manorala but unfortunately the trails were closed so we took the train. The scenery in Manorala was out of this world so we just hiked to different areas at the top of the town to take in the best views. 

Then we took the train to the last town we had not visited, Corniglia. The town was a long hike and 382 staircase climb from the trainstop- so it was a good thing the trail was closed otherwise I might not have made it- haha!

Steps to Corniglia:

We took the train and made it back to our village just in time for some beers on the beach.

We got to have dinner with some friends from Clemson who were in Italy at the same time for a wedding. The antipastaboard we had was amazing and I am still dreaming about it!

That night two good friends, Becca and Kyle were in Monterosso for the wedding as well so we got to have drinks and catch up with them.

The entire trip to Cinque Terre was incredible. We loved it so much this is one destination I know we will go back to during our time in Europe.

We left on Monday morning for Florence but I will save that for my next post.

Belgium

Over Easter weekend we took a trip to Belgium. UK has Holiday for Good Friday and Easter Monday so we took a long weekend in Brussels. Belgium is all about the beer, waffles, fries and chocolate and boy did we eat and drink a lot of it! Brussels was a blast, heres how we spent our time there...

We took the train from London and arrived Friday morning. This was our first time taking a train to a destination rather than flying. While it was a little more expensive than a flight the convenience of it was awesome and it was  great to not have any luggage restrictions for once. We stayed at Novotel Brussels Centre Tour Noir. The hotel was great and was a 5 minute walk to the center of town where all the action was.

View from our room:

We walked to Grand Place where we had lunch in the main square at Aroma Coffee Lounge. This is where we had our first Belgian waffles and they were amazing! 

We explored the square and took in the beautiful architecture

Next was a 5 hour beer tour! Beer tours were a little pricey and we debated if we should do one but in the end we were so glad we did- it was a blast and we learned a lot! We also met some new friends from Switzerland and London! 

We sampled 8 beers with very high alcohol content so by the end of the tour we were having a blast! We lucked out and our tour was only 6 people so we all continued the fun after the tour was over with our own bar crawl and dinner together. The bars we went to on the tour were: Toone, Delirium Cafe and A I'lmaige Nostre Dame here were some of our favorite beers. 

Saturday we took a daytrip to Bruges (1 hour away by train from Brussels) which was absolutely beautiful

Bruges is like the Venice of Belgium and is full of canals so we took a boat tour to see the beautiful canals.

We went to the Basilica of the Holy Blood

We rented a tandem bike (only bike they had available) saw the windmills and went around Bruges!

We concluded the day with drinks, a view over the main square and dinner of flemish beef stew.

Easter Sunday we walked to the Gran Sablon area. On the weekends they have a huge antique market so we walked around browsing there.

We caught a little bit of Easter mass inside this beautiful church in Gran Sablon and explored the garden outside of it

Lunch at Le Perroquet- delicious pittas!

Rooftop bar of the Musical Instruments Museum 

Enjoying the view and gardens

On the beer tour our guide pointed out that you could enjoy a beer that has been named the best beer in the world at Au Bon Viux Temps. Apparently the best beer in the world does not even need a label....Matt gave it his seal of approval.

There. Are. No. Words. OK maybe a few...when we were first heard we had to try the frites in Belgium I thought...ok but I already like fries how different can these be? Oh my goodness these fries (frites) were AMAZING! Im so sad we waited until the third day because we would have gotten them everyday instead of just twice (we ate them for dinner for the last 2 nights). In Belgium they tripple fry their fries in duck fat so they are crunchy and delicious and they have tons of yummy sauces to choose from. These frites were from Georgette that is where we went both times for our fries.

Monday we went to Mini Europe which was a theme park that was like a poor mans Epcot. If you are ever in Belguim it is not worth going here (thanks for nothing Trip Advisor) haha but nevertheless here are some photos...

The remainder of the day was spent back at the city center taking in the chocolate shops and having a few more good beers and of course more frites.

We tried all the must do's/must eats and everything Belgium is famous for (except Mussels because we were told it was not a good time of year) and we were not dissappointed! Belgium was so fun different from anywhere we have been yet- I cannot wait to go back!