Cinque Terr-ific!

A couple weeks ago I realized I was getting really fat really fast, and decided I need to start going to the gym. The only (ha?) problem with this was that when I was packing to come here I couldn't find my other sneaker so I figured my converse could fulfill my sneaker requirement. False. Whenever i wear them they kill my feet and then my left knee hurts for weeks, so I trekked over to foot locker to pick out some fashionable new kicks. When I walk in I'm ushered to the "bambini" section and stare at the four pairs of shoes offered to me for about 20 minutes. After heavy contemplation I choose a pair of black bedazzled pumas. When I tried them on they were actually a little snug and the man upgraded me to real sizes with a much wider selection.  After about another half hour I pick out a pair of black orthopedic-looking nikes with the swish outlined in gold. They were a little big but I was so antsy from being in there for so long I just bought them and left. Needless to say I never quite made it to the gym and only wore them to do lunges across my former apartment and on a class trip to the Bobli Gardens.

This weekend Laura and I went to the Cinque Terre "five lands" on the Italian Riviera. Cinque Terre consists of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The towns all looked the same with clusters of colorful houses on the hills and miles of cultivated famlands. The water was the bluest color I have ever seen. Since it was the off season absolutely everything was closed except all but one hiking trail, so i strapped on them orthos and never took em off. The train was about a 2 and a half hour ride and we arrived at Manarola where we staying at about 11am. We put down our stuff at the hotel and walked down the "via dell Amore"-- Lovers Walk-- to Riomaggiore. After our romantic stroll we sat by the marina for a while and then walked "up" since it was the only direction other than back from where we came. When we reached the top of two huge hills we found ourselves in the middle of no where, with nothing but a tourist information stand. We went in and asked the woman there what we should do. She replied that everything is closed but there is a church 45 minutes away that is very beautiful. 

45 minutes my newly tight butt.

 It took us a little over an hour considering the trail was completely vertical and when we got there the church was closed. It was a nice hike though and the view was beautiful. This is the triangle looking one on the left on the map. From there we backtracked the same way and went back to the hotel to get ready for Shobbas. Friday night we ate the deli sandwiches and salads we brought in the breakfast room of the hotel and then sat for a few hours drinking wine and talking. We went to sleep early and woke up late the next morning, ate lunch at around 11 in the room then headed off for another hike. 

This hike was a tad trickier because there was no eruv meaning we had map or water. The shobbas hikes are the long line in the middle of the map. For the first hike we started from Manarola and hiked up the mountain and through a village to another town called Volastra. Since we had no water and since I am an avid fan of the Discovery Channel, I granted myself capable of deeming a stream potable or not, so when we found a nice flowing river we broke from the trail and sat and drank. It was heavenly and as of now we are still in full health. At another point on the hike to Volastra we had to stop and ask for directions when we couldn't find the trail marker. We met this man who was a captain in the Italian Navy and sailed all around the United States and now lives in arguably the most beautiful place in the world. From Volastra the next hike was pretty level and we hiked for another hour (and a half?) each way. It was breathtaking; it kills me that I didn't have my camera. When we got back to Volastra we were sitting on a bench talking about which one of us was thirstier and describing the various tastes in our mouths when out of no where laura points to a spigot by the wall and screamed "Water!". We ran to it and took turns sticking our head under it while people stared at us like we were on crack. At one point the bus that bypassed the first hike pulled up next to us full of people and nothing stopped us from drinking that gdsent liquid.  We got back at 3:30, had cookies and yogurt, napped/read, then walked down to the Marina to watch the sunset. Can some one please remind me next Valentines day do something less romantic if I'm still single? PDA is mandatory in this country, it makes you feel so lonely. Anyway, Saturday night we took a 4 minute train ride to Vernazza walked around for five minutes, realized everything was closed, and sat in a park for the next hour waiting for a train back.

 Sunday morning we checked out, left our luggage in the lobby, and went for our last hike. We took a train to Monterosso, walked around a bit and started a hike to the next town over, Levanto, and quickly realized it was way too hard. We changed our plans and decided to instead take a train to Levanto and hike to Monterosso. When we got off the train we had to walk for about a half hour through the town until we found the trail. For a while I thought it was just as hard as the first one, but after 2 hours when we reached Monterosso and went down the way we had originally started I got on my knees and thanked Gd we had turned around. it was incredibly steep rocks/stairs/hill for at least half a mile, it would have been the end of me. This hike is the one highlighted all the way on the right. It was by far the longest and hardest of the hikes and didn't have the nicest view but it was still so much fun. When we got to the bottom we sat at the beach for an hour then got back on the train, picked up our stuff from Manarola and headed back to Florence. 

After the stress of moving and readjusting to this new craphole hotel this weekend was exactly what I needed. It was the most gorgeous place I have ever seen and the weather was amazing. All my freckles came out and my cheeks even got a little burnt. I can't even tell you the last time I saw sun here in Florence. It was so quiet and birds were chirping and the people were so friendly. Get out your pens and add Cinque Terre to your bucket list pronto mi amice.