The Cinque Terre

August 18th

This afternoon we arrived in the Cinque Terre after a series of train rides. Our last train we took wove through a long stretch of tunnels next to the coast. It was so fun, because every once in a while we were spit out of the shadows of the tunnel and into the sunlight for a few seconds before more tunnels. It was like a glimpse of paradise: the water was a pristine, deep blue and the cliffs jutted out over the Mediterranean. It was very surreal. We got to the town we were staying in, Corniglia, and had to walk up a gigantic hill with our backpacks, since it's up on a cliff. It was so hot and sticky all I wanted to do was jump into the ocean and swim! After checking into our hostel, we went down to the beach, which had huge, flat rocks you could sit on instead of sand. There were so many people down there (mostly Italians) on their summer vacation. The water was warm, the sun was toasty, and it was so, so beautiful I can't even describe it. Tim jumped off a 20 foot cliff into the water with some local Italian bows, and we swam around, soaking in our surroundings. Later, we took a local train to the neighboring town of Manarola for dinner where we found a little Italian joint called Il Porticiolo that Rick Steves actually recommended in his book! I had pesto ravioli that was delicious- I could eat Italian food my whole life and always be happy. Right near the restaurant was a small marina where we witnessed another exquisite sunset. The Cinque Terre is such a peaceful place, I love it.

August 19th

After breakfast, we hiked to the neighboring villages of Vernazza and Monterrosso. It was hot, but gorgeous. The hike was a lot of uphills and downhills, with steep stairs and winding, narrow trails- there were so many people out! Towards the end of the hike, we often had to pull off to the side of the trail to let people going the other way get by. But the views on the hike were stunning, since it was directly above th coast. It was so much better in person than I could have imagined- I would recommend going to the Cinque Terre if ever in Italy. With about a mile and a half to Monterrosso (the hike took 2 hours), Tim and I ran, even though we got some odd stares. But I wasn't about to pass up the chance to run on one of the most beautiful trails in the world :) When we got to the end of the trail, we sat down on the stairs to wait for Laura and Tess. Fifteen minutes went by, then a half hour, than 45 minutes and they still hadn't shown up. We asked a park ranger on the trail if she had seen them pass, but she hadn't. So we stopped at a little foccaciaria for lunch, then hiked all the way back to Corniglia. By the end, we were exhausted and disty. It was torturous to hike all the way back staring at the refreshing blue water below! Tim and I went down to the beach to swim, which was just what we needed. Later, we took the traint o Monterrosso for dinner, where we met up with Laura and Tess for gelato. Back at the hostel that night, we met two guys our age from the East Coast who went to school at Duke and were going to study for a semester in Barcelona. We sat outside of the hostel with them, and then four Australians joined us (two couples around 25 who live in London and work as high school PE teachers). It was so much fun talking with them, joking, and listening to their aussie accents and abbreviations for everything (for example, they call all swimsuits "swimmers"!). I would love to visit Australia someday. We all talked late into the night, which is something I will always remember because we were all from such different places but we had so much fun together. I love the feeling of meeting new people- the excitement of sharing stories and thoughts about life and travel and culture. It was one of the best nights of the whole trip.