We took the midnight train going....

What a spectacular weekend. Cinque Terre lived up to every expectation and many more were surpassed, as well as dismally realized. We'll start from the beginning since that usually makes the most sense.

11:58 train ride from Termini station to La Spezia, arriving at 4:14 am. The 6 of us; the roommate James, Henry from Connecticut, Tracy from New York, Emily from Massachusetts, and as some of you may be familiar with, Zach from Villa Park, hopped on the train with no inclination of the odor and horror we were about to encounter. Besides the train being seemingly overbooked and under sanitized, we were all under the suspicion that the people who were already on the train had been on there for what could have been weeks, without cracking a window or showering their moldy bodies. the stench was horrendous, and with no open cabins (rooms with 6 chairs, about 10 per car) we were forced to situated ourselves in the hallways, with basically standing room only. We did the only thing foreigners in a sticky situation knew how to do, drank. We popped open a bottle of rum and began what appeared to be a long and arduous journey. We soon realized we had English counterparts, Shane Watson and his tired friend Dan, who felt the same dismay we did and we politely shared our beverages. We mingled and drank for the remainder of the trip, with Henry passing out on the luggage racks above the hallway(about 1 foot wide, metal bars meant for duffel bags and carry-ons). We arrived in La Spezia and switched trains to make it to Monterosso Al Mare, the furtherest of the 5 Cinque Terre towns. At this point it was about 5 o clock and we found a beach that seemed peaceful and serene enough to lay our bags down and take a nap. I decided to take this opportunity to strip naked and jump into the Sea. Before I could take my first gasp of air after jumping in, my fellow journeymen and women were already scampering away as a security guard had shooed them off the premises(private beach). I slowly realized that I would need to quickly get dressed, stuff everything back into my bag, and drip my way back to the main road. After about 2 hours of walking around and waiting for the sun to arise, we had a nice little breakfast then proceeded to a public beach where we all, fully clothed in street clothes and absolutely worn out from the long night that had slipped away, passed the hell out into our own little dream worlds. Only to shortly be awoken (about 3 hours later) by locals and tourists who felt it necessary to photograph our napping. After the confusion wore off, we changed into our bathing suits and jumped into the sea.

Then came the treacherous hike to the next town, Vernazza, where we hoped to find a comfy place to rest our heads for the next night. The hour and thirty minute hike was a strenuous one with many rocky steps and steep and narrow pathways, engulfed by breath taking views of the coastline and clear waters. We made it into Vernazza and Zach and James went directly to the beach to wash away their sweat while Henry Emily Tracy and I went to look for a room. After a few unsuccessful attempts at contacting room renters, we ran into Egi. Egi could have been the shadiest, sketchiest looking Italian I had seen in my 2 weeks abroad by far, but after a few greetings and hellos, as well as a little bargaining by your author[me:)] we managed to pull out a beautiful room on the main road for 20 euro a night per person(everyone began their bargaining at 30, and Egi was the only one who was kind enough to compromise) under the condition we stayed for 2 nights. We decided it was well worth it and after putting our bags down we joined the two boys on the beach. Later that evening, us guys decided we would surprise our two ladies with a gorgeous reservation atop the highest restaurant in the city, directly on the cliff overlooking the Sea and facing the sunset over the nearest hillside. Truly spectacular.

We called it an early night and set off to bed with the plan of hiking across the next three towns on Saturday, and returning back before nightfall to our room in Vernazza, at Egi's palace. The hike from Vernazza to Corniglia was only 45 minutes but nevertheless a bit challenging, the sights and sounds were once again impressive beyond expectation and we even managed to make some friends on the trail. We met a couple from San Francisco who was also doing the 5 city tour, but that was only a small detour on their year long vacation which began in New Zealand and worked its way Westward through Southeast Asia Eastern Europe and will end up in Brazil in December. Quite the luxury to be able to take a year off work, and life, to adventure around the world and build such amazing memories. definitely made me contemplate a similar itinerary at some point in my life. Either way, we stopped in Corniglia for not too long as there was not much to see within the city itself. but there was a set of switchback stairs, ones that zig zag back and forth to make the steep climb a bit more bearable. it probably included 30 or so switches, which was nice and easy on the way down, but not so much fun on the return trip.

after a short 25 minute walk to the next town, Manarola, we stopped and Tracy got some pizza to eat, we thought she got lost because it took her 30 minutes to find her way back, but it turned out she just waited 30 minutes for the pizza to cook. The next hike was another short one, lasting about the same time and also right along the coast, and it was called Via Del'Amore. There was one nice point where a nice bench was placed in front of the railing of a tunnel overlooking the Sea, and the entiure section of railing was covered in locks. Apparently couples are suppose to leave locks there to symbolize them locking their love to each other, then stop for a photo-op on the bench. Once at the last town, we headed to their beach(aka big marble rocks jeti-ing into the water) Henry and I wanted to do some kayaking, but I guess 80 degree weather with minimal winds and no clouds is a warrant for unsafe conditions, and they would not rent us a kayak. :(. this town was called Riomaggiore, and the 4 guys shared a large pizza, just cheese, which might have actually been the most american, and therefore most unsatisfying pizza of my trip thus far.

Zach and James took a ferry back to our town of Vernazza, Tracy and Emily walked back the same trail, and Henry and I aimlessly and unsuccessfully looked for a more exciting path to take home. All roads were either closed or the stupid bus system which is suppose to get you to the top of the mountain for the extended hike was either not operating or the towns are full of lazy liars who did not want us to make the trip and we also ended up taking the same trail back home.
our last night consisted of some light drinking by the Sea, the guys stripping naked and jumping off one of he ledges into the water, with mine stunt ending in a terrible headache as my front flip went half a turn too far and my face was the first to separate the water molecules of the Sea, and finally a game of musical beds with everyone moving around throughout the night to find the most comfortable and cool location.

We woke up a little later than initially planned, clean up our terrible mess, which consisted of Zach dropping a half full bottle of Rum and pounds of sand everywhere. We headed back to La Spezia where we feasted on the most expensive and least filling Mcdonalds I have every been to. Which by the way, I have calculated a formula for why Americans are obese and Europeans are skinny.


50% more expensive + 50% less food = Every fucking meal. but maybe pizza and gelato.

We then took a train to Pisa to visit our buddy, the leaning tower. besides the nothingness that Pisa encompasses, the leaning tower wasnt quite as impressive as I had been imagining all my years. It must be much greater than I can fathom as thousands flock every day to take the same picture, we all know it, in a place where this is the ONLY tourist attraction. Maybe im just not that understanding of greatness...Oh well...

after our last 3 hour train ride we arrived back in Rome, tired hungry and ready for our next weekend at the Almalfi Coast with the rest of our API gang.

on a side note, Cinque Terre is mildly populated by city dwellers and everyone you meet is a tourist, but the nice thing is the tourists are from every part of the world which is quite a nice experience to have, walking down a trail and hearing about 7 different languages.

all in all, fabulous weekend with beautiful memories, and the craziest thing is im coming back to Rome. which has been mind blowing on it own.

Pictures should be up soon, you all know how lazy I can get...

I also probably forgot to mention a few things here and there, if anything ground breaking is re-inserted to my memory I shall update immediately.

talk to you all soon!!!

Ciao!