Sunday, September 17, 2017

Cinque Terre (Week 1 Part 3)

Hello again everyone!! I know I have been really slow going on the blog posts the last couple weeks, but it was all for good reason! I have been traveling like a maniac, and am finally home in Florence for the first weekend in a couple weeks, so I am dedicating time to posting about my last few trips! This post is going to consist of more photos than words, because Cinque Terre is quite literally too beautiful for words. This will go down as the trip of a lifetime for me, because the natural beauty of this place is something I never expected to experience in this lifetime. I feel so blessed to be seeing the wonders of the world like this, and I will be thankful every day for these experiences! (okay, sappy part done, I promise...this trip just makes me emotional I miss it so much! 😅)

Most people did this trip through a guided tour program that buses you over to Cinque Terre and takes you on the hikes, but Caroline and I decided to do this trip ourselves. By taking the train we were able to arrive at the beach earlier, and stay later than the tours that had to leave at 4:30. (ironically this did not work in our favor in the end, you will understand what I mean soon).  Caroline and I got off the train at Monterosso, which is the part of Cinque Terre that has the best public beach. The water is a crystal clear blue, almost turquoise color, and incredibly warm. The entire beach is surrounded by beautiful cliffs and mountains, and by noon the beach was packed down to the very last inch of sand. We were lucky enough to have a sunny and hot day, which of course called for the buckets of frozen daiquiris you see us holding below 😋. After spending the day with all of our other Providence College friends enjoying the sun, Caroline and I left to do the hike from Monterosso to the town over, Vernazza. This hike was about two hours long, and it was up a long set of stairs THE WHOLE TIME. By the time we made it to Vernazza, our legs were shaking our muscles were so tired. It was all well worth it though, as the views were absolutely stunning. After our hike and earning our calories, Caroline and I enjoyed a delicious meal with a view. We had a pesto-themed meal, because this is considered Cinque Terre's specialty. Needless to say, it was delicious! The best part about our restaurant was that it was right on the water, so we were able to watch the sun setting right in front of us the whole time! It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

After dinner we went to the train station to start heading home, only to find that we missed the last train back to Florence! Luckily we kept calm and researched other ways to get home, and through a very indirect route that required 2 train rides and a bus, we finally made it back home at 3 o'clock in the morning! We found a wonderful American husband and wife along the way who happened to be in the same position as us, so we ended up teaming together to make sure we all made it back to Florence safe and sound. There really is never a dull moment while we are here! Even with the traveling fiasco, I will always look back fondly on this day, it was truly an amazing experience!














No comments:

Post a Comment