After having some difficulties traveling [while still slightly groggy from not really sleeping on our night train, we missed our stop], we finally arrived in the train station in La Spezia, not knowing what to expect. We then took a train to Monterosso, in the way passing the other 4 cities of Cinque Terre, being equally amazed at each one. When we finally arrived at the fifth town, Monterosso, we looked out at beautiful beaches looking out to the bluest water any of us could ever imagine. After spending a few hours relaxing on the beach and playing some frisbee, we decided to find our spot to camp. After seeing the thousands of people around and signs on the beach that said no camping, well we decided to find a cheap place to say. After a hotel which cost way too much told us of a couple of possibly cheaper ones, we were approached by a woman who spoke no english. She called her friend, who called her husband, and between the english they knew we talked them down to 50 euro a night for the three of us, and we asked to see the room. They then showed us an apartment. Living room/kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and bedroom. All to us, for 50 euro a night. No name taken, nothing. Just our own apartment. Yeah, we were in. We gave her the cash, she left, and we settled in for the weekend. Seeing our kitchen, we decided it was only right to cook dinner, and we went out and got a bottle of wine, some pasta and some sauce. That is called living the dream; home cooked Italian food, our own apartment, and then a night of wandering the town. Included in this was some time spend climbing a massive rock on the beach and sitting and watching the water, and some serious time spent working on our rock-skipping abilities. Needless to say, it was a good first day.
On Saturday, we woke up and set our for our 9 km walk [I am convinced it's about twice that] from Monterosso to Rio Maggiore. The walk took us about 5 hours [we didn't hurry, just enjoyed it], and was worth every second of struggle and pain which has lasted about 3 days in our calves. The highlights of the walk include the gorgeous views, awesome people we met along the way, and most of all JW's cliff jump. After looking for a place to jump all day, we finally found one he could use. We used the rope we brought, lowered him down to a good spot, and he prepared to jump from about 3 1/2 stories up into the bluest and most gorgeous water ever. At this point, a large crowd had gathered to watch [many of whom yelling at karl and I to get him back up, but it was in italian so we didn't 'understand']. When he decided it was time, he then plunged into the sea, doing a perfect cannonball, leading to applause from the people, and he swam to the shore where we met him excitedly. Yeah, it was rather fantastic. We then finished the walk, boarded a train, and headed back to our apartment [it's still funny to me to say that]. We changed, picked up some supplies for dinner, went back to the beach, and hung out for a while. We then showered, and Karl then began to prepare the massive amount of pasta we had bout while Dubs and I proceeded out to the town looking for random people to invite over to eat [we had an apartment, why not]. After not meeting anyone, we went back, enjoyed a delicious meal of penne pasta, italian tomato sauce, oregano, Parmesan cheese, and some meat, and of course a decent amount of wine. After that, we enjoyed the city one more time at night, including some time spent out our window on the roof of the neighbors place just hanging out with some Peroni and having a blast. And that ended day 2 in Cinque Terre.
Day 3 in Cinque Terre began with a cleanup of our apartment, washing of dishes, and heading to the beach to chill for a while before mass. We watched the waves, which were huge because the weather had changed from beautiful and warm to windy and stormy. We went to a kind of weird mass in the parish church in Monterosso, got some pizza, and went back by the beach to eat. We then climbed some rocks and debated exploring a cave, but it wasn't the day for that sort of exploration [i'm still not convinced, but the rocks were already rather tough to navigate]. After a tragic death to my camera [thank God it had lasted until the traveling of the semester was over], we changed and headed to the beach to just chill all day, since the sun was out. After trying to go in the water but turning around because it was too cold, losing a frisbee in the Mediterranean, and spending some time laying out, it was time to head back. A long and tiring journey back, where sleeping on the train was more or less impossible, could not ruin what was definitely one of the most enjoyable trips imaginable.
Lessons from the last trip of the semester: Cinque Terre is absolutely gorgeous; views like none other, and a place unrivaled anywhere else. Gelato is delicious anywhere in Italy. Having an apartment with a shower and kitchen > sleeping on the beach. Italian pasta, even when bought in a small store, is delicious. Sometimes you have to be a little crazy to get the best views. And that's about it.
Cinque Terre. Five cities. 3 days. No better way to end the traveling of Europe.
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