CiNqUe TeRrE (bellissima)

Wow another AWESOME weekend! 

On Thursday, Lizzie, Lanier, and Chris and I went to Cinque Terre, a rugged part of Italy where the mountains meet the sea. "Cinque Terre" literally means the "Five Lands" in Italy; there are five small towns within the park that you can hike to. Cinque Terre is extra special because it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, meaning it has retained much of its original culture throughout hundreds of years. The five small, coastal towns are connected by various hiking trails (for adventurous souls) and a more recently built train track (for the easygoing..)

We left Verona in the rain Thursday after class and spent the rest of the afternoon traveling to La Spezia (the gateway city to Cinque Terre) by train. After a several naps and an impromptu dance session (Chris brought his laptop) on the train, we arrived in Riogmaggiore late Thursday night.

An important thing I have learned while traveling in Italy: You can't plan for everything. I had planned on using the GPS on my phone to locate our hostel; we hiked up the cliffs into the upper reaches of Riogmaggiore, only to realize our hostel was at the same coordinates... just a 1,000 feet lower! We ran back down and made it to the hostel office just before midnight. The middle-aged couple who owned the hostel was just about to leave (they had waited up for us!). The kind lady escorted us back up the mountain not to an icky hostel but to a quaint, four-bed apartment all decked out in red with a lovely view of the Mediterranean. After a sip of vino down in town, we came back and crashed.

Riomaggiore. Our hostel/apartment is somewhere up in them hills..

the church we considered sleeping in if we never found our hostel!

Ready to go the next morning!

After a tasty breakfast of omelettes and crepes the next morning, we took the train to Monterosso, the last of the five towns. Chris and I had originally planned on staying at a hotel in Pignore with our friend Alyssa (who ended up staying in Verona instead). Lanier had booked a hotel room way before our study abroad trip (we met up with her friends who were there later in the weekednd) and only had room for one more person. 

Well, once we actually got to Monterosso, we asked around and realized our hotel was a 50 euro cab ride away. We had no idea what to do.. 

As we walked around searching for Lanier and Lizzie's hotel, a lady (whose name we would later learn to be Gabriella) poked her head out of her apartment window and asked if we were looking for a bed and breakfast (hers). We realized that her B&B was the wrong one, but she offered us a good deal if we decided to stay after all. Chris and I realized it was way cheaper to stay at Gabriella's B&B than taking a cab home at night. 

 So we said we'd take a room. It was GREAT! We basically ended up living with an Italian family for the weekend. The "Bed and Breakfast" was really the family's guest room with balcony overlooking the town. It was perfect though!

After relishing in our good fortune, we hit the beach for the afternoon. After all three of my friends got into the chilly yet crystal clear blue water, I was convinced to go swimming. I cannot STAND cold water. But it was so worth it! I felt like a mermaid or something :)

Here's some pics of the gorgeous beaches:

there were tons of lemons and lemon trees everywhere. i just wanted to try out my "macro" setting on my camera here


Friday night, we met up with Lanier's friends and ate dinner at a seafood restaurant. Later we went to a local bar and made friends with a friendly group of Australians who were in town for their buddy's wedding.

Saturday morning, Gabriella brought Chris and I breakfast (she was so sweet!):

breakfast :)

Our room! a little messy (mostly because of me..)

After breakfast, we met up with Lanier and Lizzy and left for our hike to Vernazza. We unknowingly chose the most difficult portion of the entire Cinque Terre hike, but the views and laughs along the way were well worth our struggles. We ended up hiking with a group of kids from Notre Dame, who provided some comic relief as well (one dude would not stop singing the "Hamster Dance" song!)

triple L with Riomaggiore in the background

"gramps and grandma" on the trail! apparently, my friends find it unusual that my back hurts all the time, I  take FOREVER, and I enjoy crossword puzzles on the train home..

our destination at last! the town of Vernazza

Lanier making friends

After reaching Vernazza, we had a tasty lunch (prosciutto and melon for me) and took the train back to Rio for more beach time. We spent that evening just drinking bubbly red wine on the terrace of the hotel and chatting. 

Now we're back in Verona and the internet has been PAINFULLY slow. I'm actually writing this post write now at a cafe with WiFi in the middle of Piazza Urbe. Hmm.. probably should be studying for my two tests now, come to think of it. 

Anywoo, this is our last and final week in Verona! Tuesday, I will be going out with some Italian friends, Wednesday we will be celebrating Lanier's 22nd birthday, and Thursday is our farewell dinner (and last trip to Campus Bar..)

Will post again soon! Ciao :)