Birthday Weekend!

Although birthdays are meant to be celebrated on just one day out of the year, I felt like my birthday this year lasted a week! Those are always the best types of birthdays, too, and I was especially appreciative because I was a bit sad to be missing out on the typical 21st birthday bash in the U.S (you know, where you go to a bar at exactly midnight, hope you get carded when you order your first legal drink just so you can whip out your ID and show them that it's your 21st birthday). And for Italians (and everyone else in the world), turning 21 isn't a big deal because the drinking age here is 18. The only benefit for turning 21 when you're not an American is that now you can drink in the U.S. when you go visit.

So the birthday week started with Allison's birthday on March 9th (we're conveniently born a week apart). We commenced by bringing in her birthday with good friends, drinking, dancing, and watching a male stripper make selected girls feel awkward (March 8th was International Women's Day, and I guess they celebrate by having male strippers...to make women feel special...?). On Saturday afternoon, Allison and I had a joint birthday party with a picnic in the park! We were fortunate that the weather was nice and it was sunny, however things outside were wrapped up as soon as the sun started to set. It was nice to spend an afternoon outside in Giardini Margherita (the park near my apartment) with good friends, food, wine, chocolate, etc. To make that day better, my internet started working! It was a wonderful early birthday present. For the two weeks before, I had been without internet at my apartment since we were changing contracts and Italians are, of course, unable to coordinate and make transitions smooth for the customers. As my cousin Matteo told me, "It's not Fastweb, it's Italy."

The next birthday celebration was to bring in my special day at midnight (Thursday night), so Matteo set up a family dessert-and-wine festa with the Italian cousins in Bologna and Allison, her friend visiting from Australia, and me. The restaurant we went to (at which Matteo's friend is a cook and Elio and Anna's friend is a co-owner) made Allison and I a HUGE chocolate cake! We were so excited because it was the most American-like cake we've eaten all year. Italy has some great pastries and cake-like desserts soaked in alcohol, but I've been missing a simple chocolate cake with delicious frosting. The richness and size of this cake definitely satisfied that craving. It was wonderful to bring in my 21st birthday surrounded by family and good friends.

Linley, Allison, and me with our chocolate cake!

On Friday (my actual birthday) I slept in, made pancakes with strawberries for breakfast, went to the gym, and packed my bags for Cinque Terre. Allison, her Australian friend Linley, and I spent the weekend in Cinque Terre--a region of 5 coastal towns connected by walking paths and a local train and with picturesque views of the ocean, the hills, and colorful buildings. It was absolutely beautiful, and it felt so nice to get out of the city and be able to enjoy the open sky and endless ocean. Saturday, the three of us walked from Riomaggiore (where we had our hotel) to the next town north of us, and then we took a 1.5-hour walking detour to the 3rd town (from the 2nd to the 5th towns, the paved and short paths were closed because of the harsh winter mudslides). It was a bit of a workout climbing up the steep hill above Manarola, walking amongst the hillside vineyards, and then heading back down to Corniglia. After that, all the paths were closed, so we hopped on the local train to the most norther town, Monterosso al Mare, for lunch. After enjoying the sun, the beach, and the gelato in Monterosso, we took the train south just one town to Vernazza--the one we had bypassed on our way up.

Paved walking path between Riomaggiore and Manarola.

Looking down on Corniglia.

Throughout the day, I hadn't seen any evidence of the mudslides and floods from the October and November rains, so I figured they had just affected the walking paths. But as soon as we stepped off the train in Vernazza, the scene was striking. The whole main road of Vernazza had obviously been completely washed out and just re-paved. Staircases from front doors down to the street never reached the ground because the bottoms had crumbled, every single shop door was boarded up, and the harbor 'beach' was filled with piles of dirt for the reconstruction. They were trying to fix everything up before tourist-season hit for the summer.

On Sunday, we headed to Florence. Unfortunately, this plan coincided with a regional train strike in all of Tuscany...which is exactly where we needed to travel through. After waiting 3 hours in the train station in La Spezia, we finally caught a fast train to Pisa, where we decided to walk around, take pictures with the leaning tower, and eat dinner in order to wait out the train strike (which ended at 9pm that night). Fortunately, we were able to grab the first train from Pisa to Florence, where we found our hostel and went to bed. Monday morning we took a walk through Florence, went up to the roof of the Duomo, and strolled through the markets. We made it back to Bologna safe and sound (and a bit tired of train stations), which concluded our birthday festivities. It was such a great trip, and an unforgettable way to celebrate my 21st birthday!

Me "pushing" the Tower of Pisa.

Me on the roof of the Duomo in Florence.

P.S. my first "legal" drink by American standards was a glass of Prosecco (fizzy, sweet, white wine) at the restaurant for dinner in Riomaggiore. When Allison told the owner it was my birthday, he changed the music to the happy birthday song (on repeat...) and he brought us extra glasses of Prosecco and a shot of limoncello with dessert. He didn't ask to see ID though.

My birthday tiramisu!