So Happy Making

I don't even know where to start.... There is just so much I have to say, and there are so many little off shoots on a main story - like an episode of How I Met Your Mother, just bare with me and you can hear an unbelievable story.

Firstly I was so excited to be going on this trip, Cinque Terre was on my list of places that I really wanted to go to. Cinque Terre for those of you who don't know is a set of five small cities interconnected by a foot path and train system. Cinque Terre literally means "five lands", and is a protected historic land mark by the Italian government. Each Town has its own individual flavor to it, although each four towns are located on the cliff's of the Mediterranean and one town is more inward. Chronologically we went through Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia,Vernazza, and finally Monterosso al Mare. Our hostel was in Riomaggiore, and was by far the best choice of towns to stay in. Riomaggiore is on one end of the chain of towns, so we we able to start our hike and go in one direction for the whole day - although I use "one direction" loosely. The hike was unbelievable tough, but now that you have some idea of what Cinque terre is I will start from the beginning.
So I have work on Fridays and the girls I was traveling with didn't have plans on Friday so I was going to join up later in the day after work. I am not going to lie I was a little nervous taking the train alone, I have had a couple disastrous experiences with taking the train alone , and this would be my first time since my return taking the train. Thankfully this was nothing like the first time, using all my knowledge of trains I had acquired and timetables I was fine!



I had to take three trains to get to Riomaggiore - changing in Pisa and La Speza, and by the time I got to the train station I had already missed the train that was direct to Pisa. There is a big paper board that lists by time - each train that departs Santa Maria Novella station (SMN) along with their stops, so I just jumped on the next train that stopped in Pisa which was three minutes later. As soon as I got off in Pisa I legit booked it to the tunnel under the station and made it on the train to La Speza seconds before the doors closed, and my train to Riomaggiore from La Speza was scheduled to depart just four minutes after I got there. It was one of the most fortuitous chain of events I have ever had with trains! I am just putting this down as practice time for when my sister gets here! So three hours and three trains later(around 7:30), I got to Riomaggiore and was starving. As soon as I got off the train I knew that this was going to be an amazing trip. The train platform looked down on the ocean and cliffs, the sun had just set so the sky was a beautiful twilight. It was breath taking, I just stood there for a few minutes and I am pretty sure some locals were laughing at the awestruck tourist who was gawking at the view but I couldn't help myself. That was the most beautiful train station I have ever been at... Ever.
Thankfully Kathleen, Allison, and Tara had not yet eaten and had made reservations for when I got there! So as soon as I met up with them and dropped my bag off we went to the restaurant, although it turned out to be so much more. When we sat down the owner immediately greeted our group - he really liked us, as it turns out when they found the place all the locals when to eat! So not only is it phenomenal food, but its also authentic. Our table was on the patio overlooking the small inlet, so we could hear the ocean and watch the skyline as we ate. Although we didn't know it as we ordered - but all the food we were about to eat was fresh and hand made - down to the pasta.

I like sea food - but I also have this textural objection to anything slimy or squishy: I will only eat eggs if they are over cooked(which drives my dad crazy), I don't eat bananas, I hate smoked fish on its own (although surprisingly I am really ok with sushi) but you get the picture. So this textural foible tends to eliminate a wide variety of sea food which up until now I had been perfectly fine with. Four years ago for fall break I went to Belgium I tried a mussel and loved them, but when I returned to the States and tried them again it was a flop. I had just figured it was a fluke that I had liked them so much in Belgium and that I truly only like fish. In an attempt to try anything new(although technically speaking this is a re-return) I ordered the pasta with mussels and a shrimp(a whole shrimp with its eyes and legs and everything). Beyond my wildest dreams. Seriously. People would and have paid hundreds of dollars for the meal I just had(that we each paid €15 for including a ten Euro tip and the wine). WHAT? I couldn't believe it! The mussels w

eren't slimy they were delicate and perfectly cooked (and also caught that day or the day before from very the ocean we were looking out at). We each ordered a different dish and passed it around the table, and there was not a bad one in the bunch. They each were amazing in their own way. I left in a food coma - I don't think I will ever be able to eat sea food again because I never want that taste memory to fade and ever other dish will be compared to that dish. Needless to say, we didn't even have a discussion about finding a different place for the next day.

I think it is worth noting that soon after we sat down a pretty tabby walked onto the patio where we were eating and was meandering around. It apparently decided that my chair was the best spot to sit because it sat its self down, and with no food incentives, stayed under my chair for the whole night. I went to grab my purse and it nipped me! I mean in actually got offended that I was reaching near its "personal space" under my chair... The jury is still out as to if I may turn into a were-cat next month, but I'l let you know if I start sprouting whiskers.

We woke up early so that we could get our hike in before it got dark. As I started rubbing in the sun screen my heart started pounding, my adrenaline was rushing and I was ready to kick this hike. We stopped at this small cafe for breakfast where I had this amazing - I'll be it powdered sugar covered- crepe. It was a little slice of heaven on a platter. Then we set out on this hike.

The hike was a little different than I anticipated, the first section or Via dell Amore (lovers lane) was a beautiful section of cobblestone path that followed the coast line, couples had carved this names into anything they could find: locks (a tradition in Italy where a couple would take a lock and secure it onto some anchor- the premise being that the lock symbolizes eternity together and only they hold the key), into the rock face, and even into the plants growing next to the path. This was a calm and very easy part of the day, we just were walking around the edge of the island.

When we reached Manerola we discovered that the "easy coastal "path between the next two towns was closed and we would have to hike up behind the town through the mountains, then back down to reach the next town. Now I am not going to say that it was impossible... But there was portions of this path that were smaller than one of my feet, and there was scrambling up and down rock piles. Some portions of this hike were at an unbelievable angle (both up and down). As I ferocity apologized to my body for every Gelato, biscotti and pasta dish I have consumed over the past two months I realized that this was my wake up call. I was in such good shape by the end senior year because of crew, unfortunately that sick exercise regiment fell by the wayside when I got here. I knew by the end of this day, that things had to change and I have to get back on track. I really liked being in shape, and walking up 10 flights of stairs everyday to my apartment doesn't count no matter how much I tell myself it does.

So we kept hiking on through, it was one of the most amazing views I have ever seen, the water was so blue it looked fake. I really wouldn't have believe this kind of beauty existed outside of photoshop if I hadn't have seen it myself. Through our hike we met a fellow traveler by the name of Mike, he was an American soldier posted in Germany who was traveling by himself for the weekend. It was really interesting to hear some of his stories, as our group invited him to hike with us for a while. What I really enjoyed most, I mean besides the incredible views, the gorgeous landscape and all that, was the people. There was so many friendly people on the trail, everyone said hi to each other, we stopped a few times to chat with different groups of travelers and heard some amazing stories. I was wearing my "Spill The Beans Clemson SC" T-shirt and had a nice conversations with some boys from North Carolina about it.  

Photo by Kathleen

By the third town, we were approaching lunch time and so we stopped and had lunch at this cute little pizzeria, before heading off again. In the forth town we stopped to see a little more of what was in town, to take a minor break. We refilled our water bottles, looked in at shops then walked down to the cove to dip our feet in the water. I was really excited, so I whipped my shoes and socks off and started scrambling over the VERY slippery-algae-covered rocks to get in as far as my shorts would allow. It felt amazing, I know it was the first weekend in October but the water was cool and the sun was hot and it felt good. I was standing knee deep in the water, between the rocks, chatting with the girls. They opted to sit on the rocks and dip their feet in, when all of a sudden I felt something brush my foot. That brush turned into something covering the bottom of my leg, as I had climbed around the rock I noted the sea life around me, there was; rocks, sand, and algae. So what ever was touching my leg was most definitively alive, as I peered down I saw an octopus was wrapping its tentacles around my leg. Needless to say I screamed and booked it as fast as possible without slipping out of the water and up on a rock. He was just chilling out darting between the rocks, I have no idea what he intended to do with my leg but I really wasn't in the mood to find out. I exacted my revenge later by eating octopus pasta, but I will get to that.

The rest of the hike was far less daring than my foray in with sealife, and we made it to the last town by 6pm. We found a beach and despite my brush with death, I jumped in and swam in the Mediterranean. Twenty minutes later, soaking wet and covered in sand, we made our way back to Riomaggiore to shower, change and eat dinner. We went back to that place we had eaten at the night before, and ordered a anti-pasta that came with many different plates of sea-food. AND we each ordered our own plate of pasta. The anti-pasta came with a huge plate of mussels, four assorted fresh sea food dishes (a fresh fish, a stuffed clam, deep fried shrimp) and bread and olive oil. By the end of this "appetizers" I was stuffed, and we shared this with everyone. Then our real dishes came. Now we can't be positive, but we are 90% sure we ate all of the mussels in Cinque terre by the end of our meal. Which again, cost less than 20 euro each, with the wine. Unbelievable. It is honestly now, one of my FAVORITE places in Italy. If you ever come here, stop in Chinque Terre and eat in Riomaggiore at La Lanterna (Via San Giacomo,46).

We realized that night, although it was totally a lie, that our train schedule listed that the only train out of Riomaggiore left at 10 am so we had to get up and get moving. On our way out we picked up a couple pieces of focaccia for the road and said good bye to a great weekend. Our plan was to head right back to Florence but sadly the Italian train system had other plans. and we were going to be stuck in Pisa for an hour, so we super-power-walked to the tower took a couple pictures, and then super-power-walked back. My legs were dying, between the hike the day before and the fast canter we did from that walk, the next two days I was really sore. Sore but really happy and glad to be traveling again. I got the bug - and now I want more.

Four years - Different camera same picture.