Monday, December 9, 2013

Cinque Terre

For my last weekend in Italy Jenna, Shelby and I went to Cinque Terre for the weekend. We stayed in Manorola which is one of the 5 cities. We had a couple of difficulties with the train on Friday morning one of which included Shelby and I buying tickets for the wrong days. We figured it out and we finally made it to the city around 4, just in time to check into our hostel. That night after putting our stuff down we went and watched the sunset from the top of a hill in the city. All 5 cities rest on hills and in between are mountains with hiking trails. After sunset we walked around the town and went down to the water where there were a couple people fishing. Because we had been traveling all day we were all exhausted and starving, so we got dinner earlier than normal and then went to bed. For dinner we got pasta with pesto which is really famous in cinque terre. The next day we were up early to shower (hot water available from 7am-10am) and we were on our way hiking a little before 10. It was such a nice day out that we could've been wearing shorts while we were hiking. Even though I'm afraid of heights, and not the best hiker, it was definitely worth it for the view every time you reached the top of a peak. We went from the second city where we were staying to the fourth city. About halfway in-between the third and fourth city there was a man who lives in the mountains who had an area for people to come and rest and fill up their waters with fresh spring water. He had an excellent view of the water and he had made a lot of crafts that represented cinque terre. It was so cool and a very nice place to take a break. When we got to the fourth city we decided to go down to the water and take a break because we knew we wouldn't be able to hike to the fifth city before dark. So we stayed in the fourth city for a while and watched the sunset again. While we were there we ran into these two girls who we met at dinner Friday night. It was really funny realizing that we knew someone there (kinda). After we had taken a break we took the train to the fifth city where we got pizza and calzones for dinner. For dessert we had foccacia and nutella. It was so good even though I was a little worried about how it was going to be served. Foccacia is another thing that is famous in cinque terre and we were told we had to try it. By the time we got back to our hostel we were exhausted from all the hiking we did but we stayed up for a little bit just to hang out and reminisced about all of the good times we've had in Rome. Our last day in cinque terre we were carrying around our luggage so we took a train to the first city and hung out in a bar until we had to leave to catch our train. It was nice to sit and relax while having a cappuccino after such a long weekend. Our train ride back went a lot smoother than the train ride there and we were all able to get some studying done for our finals this week.
Going to Cinque Terre for the weekend was definitely a great way to wrap up the study abroad trip. Hiking through the mountains gave us time to reflect on everything that has happened and everything we are looking forward to when we come home. Just a few more days left in Rome and then I'll be on my way home! Can't wait!

1 comment:

  1. You have made the most of every minute of your semester abroad. I am so happy for you that you had this experience. Cinque Terre sounds incredible. Dad would be so proud of your hiking skills. I love you. Love, Mom

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