A trip around the bay

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thought i had a 8 bed room to myself last night - until just before i went to turn out the light and some dude showed up. he didnt speak, and left a miute later after dropping off his things... so i went to sleep... an hour later he came back and decided to unpack his bag - which was full of rustling plastic bags. for a half hour. then he fell asleep before i did and snored up a storm. i was irritated - but you get what you pay for!

so i was hoping this morning would be payback - i had the alarm set for 7 to get a nice full day in the cinque terre. he had other ideas and got up at 645 and was gone 10 minutes later. so much for revenge! haha

anyways got up at 7, got ready in a hurry and headed off to the train station. well it didnt turn out to be as straightforward as i'd hoped. ended up having to take 3 different trains, and had to pay extra to reserve on one in order to save myself two hours. blah. but i finally arrived in monterosso al mare (al mare = by the sea) and was treated to beautiful coastline!

so the cinque terre is a small patch of the italian riviera/coastline between Genoa and Pisa. Cinque Terre, five villages. makes sense eh? anyways, there are coastal hiking trails that link them all toether, supposedly taking 4-5 hrs straight through. so i took the train to the furthest village, figured i'd walk through them all, then catch the train back to Lucca from there. well i go up to the info booth to buy my park pass which would let me do the trails, all proud of myself for getting there early enough, on a beautiful sunny day. the trails were closed. my face must have been hilarious when the girl told me. i figured teh day was lost, but figured i would still hop the train back and forth between and get to see the villages anyways.

so i head out. i call this entry a trip around the bay because thats exactly what these villages are. outports. italy style. they're perched on craggy cliffs on the ocean, and until recently they were pretty much cut off from everything, with just boats and the scattered train going through. people married within each town mostly, mostly fisherman, and apparently they have distinctive accents in each one. beginning to sound familiar? well they are absolutely breathtaking. no cars, as the road leads to the top of hte hill over each town and you have ot park there (well residetns have limited access but anyways) narrow alleys between them, vineyards all over the hills, palm trees, lemon groves (orchards? what does one call a bunch of lemon trees?) . breathtaking scenery, trails along the coast hanging off of cliffs, friendly people strolling about.

however, dead. like no tourists, most of the shops were closed. so i stroll through the first town in about an hour, catch the train to the next town. was smart and bought a ticket from first town to last town, and once you validate it (stamp it in a machine with date and time b/c the tickets are open and can be used anytime, but thats how they make you use it just once) but is good for six hours so you can hop on and off along th way as long as youre going th same way between the two. anyways at the second town, i am practically following this guy with a huge pack on his back, a smaller on the front - typical backpacker. so we both end up as far down a trail before its closed, in a small little cove with a wharf, crashing waves, beautiful scenery. he takes a picture for me so i dont have to bother with the timer, and then he goes off.

catch the train again and decide to skip town #3, Corniglia, because its on top of a hill and i just dont want to climb up there haha and get off at manarola (#4) to have a look there. another beautiful town, and the trail between this one and #5 Riomaggiore is open. its called via dell'amore or something, lovers lane. lovers graffiti the whole way, anda fence with padlocks on it, lovers buy a lock, go up and lock it on the fence together to seal their love or something. sweet i guess, altho it made me a little ill hahaha

anyways before i leave to go on this trail, i run into the guy who took my picture again. we get to talking, his name is Rodriguez or something along those lines (im terrible, but spanish names are hard!). hes from Chile, Vina del Mar actually, where jacqueline and i were planning to visit while we were down in south america but got stopped by snow in teh mountains (the same day my bag got stolen in mendoza argentina funny enough) anyways hes in germany for 6 months for school, and is travelling with two of his friends. so we all meet up, have some gelato (like i needed to be convinced - i didnt have ANY yesterday!!), and decide to to the lovers lane walk together.

then we get to Rioamaggiore and they are trying to get to florence. so we all hop on the train together and i manage to figure ut where to get off in viareggio, and say goodbye to my new friends. might run in to them in pisa tomorrow, who knows.

for breakfast i had a kit kat bar and a croissant from a vending machine. great breakfast i know but nothign was open! then for lunch two slices of pizza. well, one pesto pizza which was awesome - fresh pesto mmmm, and another that was pizza crust, cheese and onion. LOTS of onion. it was awesome. fed some pigeons some of the crust right out of my hand, relaxed down by the water, befriended a black cat who sat on my lap in the sun while i read my book. so relaxing. i nearly fell asleep but figured thats a great way to get robbed! haha

for supper i just had a milanese burger. chicken burger with emmental cheese and mayo. mmmm delicious.

now i'm at super expensive internet so i should be goign befoer i go ovr a half hour. 5 bucks for a half hour! ripoff but the only gig in town i could find open. guess thats why.

off to pisa and florence tomorrow. excellent.

home on monday. not excellent.

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Comments

[B. Mackey]

Italian baymen?
Hi Jason: Another interesting commentary. Your experiences and adventures are many and varied. Had to laugh at your dilemma with roommate -- hard to be a match for it, eh? The European transportation system is exercising your wits but you're winning out there. I'm looking forward to the pics of the marvelous scenery you're seeing -- sounds just fabulous. You're taking it all in -- down to the very last Italian outport (ha ha). Bye, N.

[Lori]

Well I just have to say that the Scrovegni Chapel is a breathtaking place and I am so jealous that you were there in person to see it. I figured that I am going to google every place that you have been so tha I can see exactly what you mean when you write! Phenomenal! Can't wait for your next entry from Pisa.....You know...there is a place in Ottawa that sells gelato...best ever!! LOL although I am sure not as good as the authentic Italaian made.....safe trip home on Monday Jason!