Five cities.

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July 12

I woke up at 7 am. My left eye was really puffy. I decided to make the long trek to the bathroom to see how bad the damage was. Pretty bad. Then I remembered waking up in the middle of the night being attacked by mosquitoes. Apparently, one bit my eye. Bastard. After 8 mosquito bites, restless nights in a tent, and seeing a snake right outside the place where I slept at night, I was ready to leave my first hostel experience.

Today was going to be a series of train rides. Our destination is La Spezia, which is near a place called Cinque Terre. It is right on the west coast of Italy. It is a series of 5 small towns, all along the cliffs near the water. I’ve only seen pictures and heard stories of the place from Trent and Katie, whom you might remember as the two siblings we shared a couch with in Paris. We actually changed our plans and decided to stop in this city because of their stories of the place. But before we go there, we are travelling through Pisa. We have a long train layover, so we are going to see the town in about 5 hours. That was really all we needed because all we really wanted to see was the Leaning Tower. It was really amazing to see. I couldn’t believe how tilted it was and that it was still intact. The best part about the whole experience was the tourists. There were tons of them, lined up, all putting their hands out in the air, trying to take a picture with them leaning on the leaning tower. It was the funniest thing to look at. I bet all the locals want to kill us. We tried to think of original poses, took some funny pictures of our own, and that was it. After a short train ride and a wild adventure trying to find the bus stop (it took 3 hours and many crazy conversations to figure it out. It is really difficult to understand 5 different Italians, all shouting at you in Italian. They were very friendly but we couldn’t understand a word they were saying), we arrived at our hostel, Ostello Tramonti in Biassa. This town is very small, so we couldn’t find a couch and had to get a hostel. I’m very glad that we did because it was an awesome experience. Most hostels have rooms with multiple beds (2, 4, 8, 12…) and they are male, female, or mixed. All the mixed ones were full, so Ari and I had to split up into male and female rooms. The hostel reminded me of a dorm room, and it was pretty much that. It was a very simple room with 4 beds, 4 lockers, and you are given linens and a pillow. There are shared bathrooms, but they weren’t too terrible. I think the best part of the hostel was that it had a lounge both inside and outside. It was a very good place to meet other travelers and socialize. It was amazing to hear stories from people all over the world. The backpacking community is actually pretty big. In my room, I had two girls from Austria and a girl from Florida. We met two guys from California, Alex and Ryan, at the bus stop and got along with them very well. They ended up being in Ari’s room. We all went to the local bar/pizzeria for dinner and got some amazing pesto pizza and beer. Cinque Terre is where pesto is originally from and I can honestly say it was the best pesto I have ever tasted. I was never really a fan of pesto and now I love it. Sooo good. We ate, had some wine, and talked with the other people in the hostel. It was a really good night.

It’s weird being away from home for so long. As of right now, we have been travelling for 25 days. I’m almost getting used to being in Europe. It’s strange. When I first arrived, I was so amazed by everything and how different it was. I was like, wow, I’m in Europe! It’s an odd feeling. I bet when I go back to Tempe, I will think that everything looks different. I haven’t watched television for 25 days (the football games I watched don’t count). I haven’t spoken to my friends in 25 days. And I still have 18 more days to go. As much as I love this trip, I do realize how important my home is to me. I’m not going to bitch, because I know I am very lucky to be travelling and doing what I am doing at this moment, but I really do miss my home. I don’t miss the 110 degree weather. But I do miss all of my friends. And I even miss my life there. It’s difficult to live out of a suitcase and be a nomad. To be in one place for a couple days, not really completely comfortable because you are in a tent or someone else’s home, is exhausting. It will be nice to be at home again.

July 13

Today we set off for our hike of Cinque Terre. We took a bus to the first of the 5 cities, had some breakfast, and started on our very long hike. We were lucky because the weather wasn’t too hot, but I wore my swimsuit just in case. We were in the mountains, along the cliffs of the Mediterranean Sea. The hiking trail was literally carved into the mountain. There were terraces everywhere along the mountain for vineyards and agriculture and basically one of the terraces was our hiking trail. The views were spectacular. Bright blue water that you could see through to the bottom, raging upon the rocky cliffs in white spurts, intermixed with green vineyards and bright, colorful Italian houses. It was unbelievably beautiful. We ended up doing the whole hike with Alex and Ryan, which turned out to be great because they were good entertainment and they were faster than me, so they kept me going. We hiked for a little bit then found a little walkway to the water and dove in. After some nice relaxation, we hiked to the next two cities and had some lunch (amazing pesto pasta). Then we started on the real trek. The whole hike was pretty brutal, uphill and downhill, with an endless amount of stairs, but the last two cities were the hardest. But as difficult as it was, I felt amazing while hiking. It was a very invigorating feeling, being surrounded by so much beauty. I didn’t mind that I was in pain, huffing and puffing, sweating, thirsty, etc. I can honestly say that this hike was the best I have ever done. And it was probably one of the best days of my life. I never really had a love for hiking, but Cinque Terre definitely changed my mind. Randomly along the trail, an Italian man popped out of nowhere. He had a little stand set up and was selling fresh lemonade and wine. We bought both. We haven’t drunk the bottle of wine yet, but I really want to, because he made it himself, from the vineyards of Cinque Terre, and he said it was chemical free. Yay for organic wine!
There was a beach at the last city and it was very welcomed. After that hike, I dove right into the water and it felt amazing. I was so happy because I discovered that I could float easily on my back in the water, and that’s exactly what I did. Talk about a good reward for a 5 hour hike.

We went to the pizzeria again tonight and I got a pesto and mozzarella calzone. We met some more people, 3 big guys from Georgia, and heard some awesome stories. They are going to Rome the same time as us and we are going to try to meet up with them.
I loved every minute of Cinque Terre and I miss it already. Especially the pesto.

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