Cinque Terre:
The Chase (a train station story) The excitement of our Cinque Terre trip starts, not on the beaches of the Ligurian, but in bustling Termini Station in Rome. We were a little too relaxed in preparing to catch our train north. We slept-in, ate breakfast, and took our time getting ready that morning. Julie took some extra time to dry her hair, but as she put it, "When a hostel like this provides a hairdryer – you use it!" Anyway, we got to the train station with just enough time to print out our ticket before heading to the platform... except we had no idea where or how to print out our ticket. Cue the music; Flight of the Bumblebee in F-Sharp. We waited in line at Information as the minutes ticked by. Our departure time approached and we began to feel uneasy. Then we started to scramble. The music picks up. With 6 minutes until our train left we decided I needed to run anywhere to find a way to print out the tickets. So for the second time since arriving in Europe, I sprinted like a running-back (that's an American football reference), side-stepping and juking through crowds of people, hopping over suitcases and the crumpled bodies of anyone who got in my way. I ran across the train station to find a small terminal and, after putting in some information and cursing the machine to hurry up, it spit out our tickets. Like a flash, I was back to Julie and we headed toward the platforms. Running up the stairs, I may have heard whimpers behind me, something like, "Trav... slow down... please." I didn't look back. I was in the zone. Of course, I never would have left Julie behind... but thankfully I didn't have to decide. We made it onto our train like champions and left Rome behind in a disheveled, sweaty, out-of-breath stupor. Classic.
LOST + Bonus Reunion #2 For our stay in the Cinque Terre, we had decided to splurge a little for our accommodations. Rather than another hostel close to the train station, we opted to rent an apartment in the first of the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore, a short walk from the coast. We couldn't have been happier. The 1-bed, 1-bath was quaint and clean and we had it all to ourselves. It made it all the more tragic when we thought we might never see it again. You see, the buildings of Riomaggiore were built somewhat hap-hazard along the cliffs leading to the sea, making for many small alleyways and staircases that are almost indistinguishable from each other, especially at night. To put it plainly, for about 45 minutes on our first night, we couldn't find our apartment. We scoured high-and-low the tiny alleys along the main road certain it would be the next one, only to be disappointed and increasingly desperate. Finally, after almost an hour of searching and re-searching and amazingly stumbling across some friends from our study-abroad group (they happened to be visiting the Cinque Terre the same time as us) we came across the familiar door that led to our home-away-from-home by the sea. Sometimes it takes a few moments of misery to make the next ones so happy.
Hike and Be Rewarded The Cinque Terre is amazing no matter who you are or what you do, but in my opinion, the best way to see its beauty is to hike the trails along the cliffs, and the best way to eat there is to enjoy the fantastic seafood. I can safely say that Julie and I had our fill of both. We are not experienced hikers so we stuck to what we believed was a pretty short hike from 5th village, Monterosso, to the 3rd village, Vernazza. It was perfect – right alongside the water most of the way with gorgeous views of the seaside villages and the landscape. We climbed up-and-up until I was sure we would meet the low hanging clouds, then came back down some very steep sets of stairs. Julie was still getting over her cold. She trailed behind me most of the way up and we took frequent breaks to rest our burning legs, but there was a drastic change towards the top. It was like an enormous weight was taken off her back (I took her backpack and carried it the rest of the way) and her pace quickened 3-fold. After that I was struggling to keep up with her! As we trekked on we noticed the people passing in the other direction seemed more fresh and less sweaty so we knew we were reaching the end. We made it to Vernazza and found possibly the most exquisite bit of grub I've ever encountered. Making our way through the town we noticed lots of people with paper cones full of fishy fried goodness. I quickly discovered the origin of these creations from a group of satisfied customers and got the Grande. The beach was close by, so we found a nice spot in the shade, enjoyed our meal and relaxed on the sand watching the people and sea. Bottom Line: You should visit some time.
Torino:
I think visiting Torino was the best decision we made with this trip, because we got to see some of Julie's family from the Philippines. Aunty Melly, Mark Hill, and Franco were very kind hosts, and I couldn't thank them enough for letting us stay in their home. It was really nice to be able to relax after the stresses of travel, and so enlightening to meet many new friends in Julie's big family. We spent dinner with our hosts plus Julie's Aunty Salving and her husband, their sons Mark and John Paul, and Mark's sweet wife Glesie. It was a delightful affair despite the fact that I ate entirely too much. Easter Sunday we spent exploring Torino with Melly, Mark Hill and his girlfriend Sharon then we were taken to some more sites in the hills surrounding the city by the cousins and even more new friends. They were great fun to be with and the evening was full of laughs. All in all it was the perfect end to an amazing through Italy. It was a great time with even greater company.
Well that just about wraps up my Spring Break to Italy. It only took three posts and about three weeks to document. So, it had to be a pretty good trip to come out with all those memories, right? I hope you've enjoyed reading so far. I only have three more weeks left in Europe, so there will only be a few more blog posts left!
Thanks for reading!
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