The Adventures of Anna and the place known as Cinque Terre

It's been a while since I updated. Maybe in days it hasn't been that long, but it feels like it has been a very long time. I think it's that I end up doing so much in one day they feel a lot longer. Also I STILL don't have my cell phone charger so my sense of time is completely gone. That, however, is not the point of this entry. If you'd like to see the complete summary of this entry but have little time, please scroll down to the bottom. The very last line, aside from my name, should tell you all you need to know. If you're bored and need something to read.....

The point. Cinque Terre. This weekend my roommates and I along with five other girls went to Cinque Terre. I'd only heard about this trip through Josie who went last summer and absolutely loved it, otherwise I don't know if I would have gone. We woke up at 4:30 am to head to the train station which was a pretty big struggle. Somehow, and I have no idea how, we made it to the train station at 6:30 (which was the time we had to be there). My roommates instantly fell back asleep and we all sat and waited for Stephanie to arrive with our tickets. At 7:10 we decided to call her and make sure we weren't supposed to do something else or were at the wrong place. I called her and it was really obvious she'd over slept. At first she was angry at me, for I guess waking her up then she panicked. She got there though at 7:40 and we made it. It's a four hour train ride most of which we slept for. Then there's a transfer to a local train which is another hour. When we got closer we went through mostly tunnels since we were going through mountains. Every once in a while it'd flash to the outdoors and you'd get a quick view of the Mediterranean Sea, which was to say the very least awesome. FINALLY we got to Cinque Terre.


Cinque Terre is a place on the cost of Italy that is a connection of five cities. The cities are Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We stayed in Riomaggiore for the weekend which I think was a great choice. The cities are connected by several hiking trails. A couple that go through the mountains and another that goes along the coast. As soon as we got there we decided to get our hiking and train passes so we could go whenever we want. The lady at the ticket center informed us that from 9 pm Saturday to 9 pm Sunday there would be a train strike. Not only did this mean that we probably wouldn't be going from city to city, but we might not be able to get home. Again, I called Stephanie who said they happen all the time in Italy and they have to run some trains so we shouldn't worry about it. At that point we were all tired from the train and decided to trust her.

We changed into our bathing suits, got some food, and went to the beach. When I say beach I don't mean sand, I mean rocks. Giant slabs of rock and marble that were in the water. You had to climb very carefully over and around rocks to find one big enough to lay out on and not so slanted you'd slide off. It was actually pretty cool. Something very different. I went with two girls named Suzie and Sarah and it took us a while to find the right one, but it was worth it. It was right over the water so that when waves hit occasionally it would mist you. We layed out for a few hours talking and sleeping. At one point I just looked out over the water with my head phones on playing some music. It was absolutely perfect. Just perfectly peaceful.


The Rock Beach

After a while we got up and got some food and, of course, gelato. Then we went back to the rocks to watch the sunset. This time I was MUCH cooler and wore flip flops. I slipped on a rock and almost fell between two into the abyss but caught myself. My shoe was not so lucky. I recovered and we watched the sunset over the mountain, into the sea. Again, I don't think I can really explain how peaceful and amazing it was. We went to bed early because we wanted to get up and head out at 8 to hike.


The Sunset

We ACTUALLY got up at 8 and went out to hike. Hahhaha, Suzie, Sarah, and I grabbed a quick breakfast and started when it was still cool out. From the first city to the second it was all along the water, which was bright blue and completley clear. I think I'll refrain from amazing because that word is getting old. It was such an easy trail I wasn't too worried. The second to the third city was pretty much the same, those two flew by. The third to the fourth started out the same except we got to a bunch of stairs. At the top it says something like 'congratulations you've just climbed 382 stairs' I wasn't as pumped as the sign was. We made it though and were still on a roll. That's when they get you. You start going up the mountain, not on stairs but more like random rocks. Then you'd go downhill on the same type of rocks hoping you wouldn't lean to much and trip. Unfortunately mom, this trail was not for you. I kept thinking about that the whole time. I don't really know why. There was a LOT of time to think. We got to the fourth city and were exhausted. It was about 12:30 so it was really hot. We took a break there and got lunch and cooled off a little. At the time that was a great idea. When we started for the fifth city I regretted that instantly. It's always hard to start going again and in this case it was instantly straight up the mountain. That part for sure was the hardest. I'm not saying this because it's me and I'm out of shape with a knee that no person or...thing should have hahaha. Everyone was struggling. We'd stop for a second to catch our breath or get water and so would everyone else. We met a LOT of people from all over the world that we would see repeatedly on the hike. That was really cool. We were bonded by the fact we were all dying together. It was weirdly nice. The last part of the hike was all downhill. That sounds nice but it's hard to keep your balance on those stairs and it's a long way down. At that point the trail was wide enough for maybe one person to walk on so there was a lot of concentration going on. We made it though. The whole way. I know on the inside we were MUCH more excited about that than we looked on the outside. We took the train back, showered, and napped. I got dinner with Francesca where a creepy old Italian waiter was hitting on her. I thought it was funny, she didn't. Suzie, Sarah, and I met up again and got pina coladas, nutella cake, and sat out by the water. Again...*insert amazing word of choice*. I went to bed early because I was tired. That's reason enough.


Sooo many stairs


Totally worth it.

Sunday we woke up and realized the trains definitely weren't running. The hostel place told us our cheapest option would be to call two taxis to take us. It would be about 40 euros each taxi. I called Stephanie again to ask if this is what we should do and if we could get reimbursed for the taxi ride since we had already paid for our train ticket (and also calculated we paid a 50 euro service fee to her to plan this trip and handle things like this). She was NOT happy about this. She basically just got very defensive and was upset with our whole group. We got our own taxis and when we got to the train station, called her again to talk to her about it. This time she was just yelling at me so another girl talked to her and was much more forecfull. It was all kind of upsetting. In the end she made everyone VERY unhappy with her service. We loved Cinque Terre but just not the service we got from our travel agent. I think if she simply would have been apologetic or at least somewhat professional we would have understood but she was neither of those things. It made me understand how important it is to treat people with respect. Not that I didn't know that before, but just saw how especially in stressful situations it's so important to keep calm.

Other than the travel agency I absolutely loved the trip. I know the other girls felt the same way. I think Cinque Terre is one of those places that not many people know about but is something everyone should see! It's not very expensive and I honestly would recommend it to anyone. I know that sounded like a sales pitch, but it really was so beautiful and all together great.

This weekend all my roommates and I along with a lot of other JCU students are heading to Venice and Florence. It should be a great time! I doubt I'll get another chance to update this week, I have an exam and lots of catching up to do. I do get to check my facebook a lot so if you do want to get a hold of me that's a great option. Which is nice!

To sum up. I loved my weekend.
Anna