Quickly, Pisa:
Okay.
So Cat and I went to Cinque Terre while she was here. Might be the most beautiful place I've ever been. It's these five tiny towns in a National Park on the Italian coast, with a trail that connects them all. According to the brochure at our hotel, the trail:
So. We left Thursday after I was finished with classes and showed up in Monterosso, the largest of the five, around 7. It was completely deserted (off-season) but we found an open hotel and got a room, and set off for dinner. We both got fish that had most likely been alive probably minutes before we ate it, and was served as a whole fish, scales and everything, which was both ify and amazing.
Next day we left Monterosso and took the train down to Riomaggiore (the last of the five). We set off to hike the trail, both wearing very (not) appropriate hiking clothes. The first stretch (Walk of Looove) was a very paved, very flat walk on the side of the cliff with gorgeous, gorgeous views. Second stretch was closed (avalanche) so we took the train to the next town and spent a good amount of time being lost, trying to find the trail, which we eventually found next to an abandoned looking farm with giant chickens. We thought that the whole trail was like the first part, which is why Cat was wearing a dress and we were both wearing flimsy, flimsy shoes, but turns out this two hour stretch involved some actual hiking hiking... lots and lots of up and down and sort of creepy houses tucked into the cliff, but still so pretty. And lots of wild cats, everywhere.
We eventually made it to Vernazza, where we stopped and proceeded to accidentally get drunk at lunch. Found the trail again, and managed in our tipsy states not to fall off the edge of the cliff. Another few hours through hillside gardens and more abandoned cottages and cats. We met a man in one such garden who sold us a bottle of limoncello. I told him I was from Texas and he got really excited, and asked if we knew where Chuck Norris lived. No, I don't. I then got his phone number so that I would text him my address, to which he would send something related to his friend Chuck Norris.
So, continuing, we made it back to Monterosso in time for drinks then dinner. Damn Italian wine is sneaky and I spent much of the 3 hour train ride back to Florence not completely sober.
I wish I was a better writer and could do this place justice; it really is absolutely beautiful. I took about 8 million pictures so I'll post some of those when I put them on my computer.
Okay.
So Cat and I went to Cinque Terre while she was here. Might be the most beautiful place I've ever been. It's these five tiny towns in a National Park on the Italian coast, with a trail that connects them all. According to the brochure at our hotel, the trail:
...connects all the villages of the Cinque Terre, it turns out to be the most frequented of the zone and the stretch Riomaggiore - Manarola is the famous Via Del'Amore. It takes 5 hours to walk down the whole path (even if it's possible to walk by stretchs), but the fatigue is repaid by unique views, characterized by a typical mediterranean background falling sheer to the sea, by the scents of plants and herbs, by steep cliffs, by the fascination of isolated inlets. An experience to be done with calm, not forgetting a halt in one of the villages for a typical bite drinking the local wine.
So. We left Thursday after I was finished with classes and showed up in Monterosso, the largest of the five, around 7. It was completely deserted (off-season) but we found an open hotel and got a room, and set off for dinner. We both got fish that had most likely been alive probably minutes before we ate it, and was served as a whole fish, scales and everything, which was both ify and amazing.
Next day we left Monterosso and took the train down to Riomaggiore (the last of the five). We set off to hike the trail, both wearing very (not) appropriate hiking clothes. The first stretch (Walk of Looove) was a very paved, very flat walk on the side of the cliff with gorgeous, gorgeous views. Second stretch was closed (avalanche) so we took the train to the next town and spent a good amount of time being lost, trying to find the trail, which we eventually found next to an abandoned looking farm with giant chickens. We thought that the whole trail was like the first part, which is why Cat was wearing a dress and we were both wearing flimsy, flimsy shoes, but turns out this two hour stretch involved some actual hiking hiking... lots and lots of up and down and sort of creepy houses tucked into the cliff, but still so pretty. And lots of wild cats, everywhere.
We eventually made it to Vernazza, where we stopped and proceeded to accidentally get drunk at lunch. Found the trail again, and managed in our tipsy states not to fall off the edge of the cliff. Another few hours through hillside gardens and more abandoned cottages and cats. We met a man in one such garden who sold us a bottle of limoncello. I told him I was from Texas and he got really excited, and asked if we knew where Chuck Norris lived. No, I don't. I then got his phone number so that I would text him my address, to which he would send something related to his friend Chuck Norris.
So, continuing, we made it back to Monterosso in time for drinks then dinner. Damn Italian wine is sneaky and I spent much of the 3 hour train ride back to Florence not completely sober.
I wish I was a better writer and could do this place justice; it really is absolutely beautiful. I took about 8 million pictures so I'll post some of those when I put them on my computer.
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