Weekend adventure in Cinque Terre:
We boarded in the train at midnight on technically Sunday. The train was icky: old, remember in harry potter how on the trains they are in little room things with three seat facing each other...that's what it was like. it was we 3 girls and 3 men in a box. the air conditioning didn't work, there was 0 leg room...ugh...it was pretty terrible. we rode that until 4:30am and then transferred to another train. the second train was much more spacious, but just as filthy. we arrived in the 1st village of Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore at 5:30am
Stepping off the train was glorious! not only was there fresh air and room to move, we were on a cliff over the Mediterranean sea! it was just before dawn so cool! we walked through the silent town, very tired but really excited. we followed signs to the beach. the beach was just rocks (no sand. you could compare it to the north shore) so we each picked a rock and decided to rest until around 8 when the cafes opened so we could get some breakfast before beginning our hike. so.. wrapped in the hotel bedsheet that i had packed ad brought along, i slept on a rock for 1.5 hrs with the spray of the Mediterranean sea floating in the air around me as it crashed in the rocks beneath me. pretty surreal :)
Around 8am we went into town and had a hearty breakfast at a local cafe and then started the hike. the trails are marked very well and were easy to find. the trail from Riomagiore to Manorola (the 2nd village) was super easy, paved and level all the way. it was beautiful thought. its carved into the edge of the cliff/the edge of italy and the only thing separating me on the tail from the sea was a railing! AWESOME! THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VIEW I HAVE EVER BEHELD!!! the water beneath was perfectly turquoise and clear. we could see all the huge rocks beneath and occasional fish!
The 2nd village was really cute, but we pretty much just passed right through and continued toward the 3rd village: Corniglia. On the way to Conigilia we encountered easy access to some rocks the sloped down to sea level; so we changed into our suits and went for a swim! it was incredible! the water was so refreshing and beautiful! ahhhh! :) i was loving it! swimming it so great :)
After swimming we finished the trail into Corniglia. There we had lunch and restocked on water. The guide book warned that the next leg of the trail was much more arduous, and it was right! We began it in the heat of the day too! It was all rock and dirt and uphill, uff da- intense! The views made it so worth it though; it just got better and better! like i said, the most beautiful thing i have ever seen!
So after like an hour of uphill climbing, looking at the beach far far far beneath us we encountered a sign that said "to beach" :O you can imagine the joy! The beach looked so great and we were sooo hot at this point, and wanted to spend our afternoon at the beach...so down we went.....down down down down down down......down the mountain we spent over the last hour climbing up! the trail was a rabbit trail---so skinny, SO STEEP, at some points hardly visible, at some points the brush was so thick and over grown we had to crawl, which on and incline was practically a belly slide! it was insane! by the time the excitement and adventure wore off though we were much too far down to turn around and go back up. (we figured, and dreaded that we would have to eventually, but at least then it would be after a refreshing afternoon at the semi-private beach; also a private beach was very enticing because the beaches in town are very small and therefore soooo crowded) so we finally reach the bottom and see i sign in the distance. we approach it and read "Nudist Colony Beach. No gays allowed. Paid entrance on other side. Not an entrance"
ahhhhh! can you just imagine our horror! oh it was terrible! lol. we walked to the railing, on our left and sure enough, about 100 feet beneath, was the perfect beach spotted with about 30 naked people! ugh!
So, literally 10 min after finishing our descent we turned around and began the climb straight back up! ahhh! Honestly, it could hardly find the strength and will to do it! ps- i was also wearing my a 15pound backpack.
The climb up was rough. Few words were said except: "help, step here, grab this, pause for water, etc." (hahaha, we laugh now, but at the time it was near agony. lol) So needless to say, we made it back up. We took a break at the top for water, during which i took of my tank top and WRUNG IT OUT. Yes, it was completely drenched in sweat! lol, ewwww. After that we managed to complete that last hour of the climb to the 4th village: Vernassa, of stairs zig-zagging uphill. We arrived in Vernassa at about 4:30pm.
In Vernassa we immediately got in the water. Through it was crowded and murky (in comparison to our morning swim off the rocks) it was refreshing :) After chilling at the beach for awhile we got dinner.
Then it was time to head back to Rome.
So we are on our way back...we had a transfer in Florence....but for some reason the train stopped at the stop before florence???? no one on the train knew why? soon we heard that the Train station staff had gone on strike! and no trains were leaving or coming! ahhhh! lol. What on Earth?! hahaha. so after an hour of utter chaos and mass panic in the station, that i will explain later in person...we dashed on to one train that miraculously was leaving and got to the next station where we caught the right train back to rome! PTL!
after a MUCH NEEDED SHOWER, i crashed into bed at Hotel Primavera around 1:30am!
whew! sorry that was long, but i wanted to tell you about it because it was such an adventure!

we went to the Barberini Gallery this morning--great!
we have our last exam on Friday---keep it in your prayers---it'll be the hardest yet for sure!!
ttyl and see you soon!
love you so much!
xoxoxoxoxo
neen