An amazing week in Cinque Terre

Sorry for not getting on the computer and updating this, but I got way too carried away with enjoying Cinque Terre. For those of you who do you know, its five costal towns located on the Italian Riviera. These five towns are very much isolated from your typical tourist places and are really only traveled by train. I stayed in Riomaggiore (the Southern most town) and enjoyed a week of 'real' vacation with no museums, tourist sites, and (for the most part) crowds.
I can't stress how amazing and gorgeous this whole place is, so I'll just quit trying. BUT if you ever have a place you want to go to relax, folks, this is it.

One of the big things to do while in Cinque Terre is a hike between the five towns. Its advertised at 6 miles (give take) but due to a recent landslide, one of the easy sections was shut down. Lucky for me though, I wore hiking boots and came prepared. On one fine morning, I set out with a bottle of water, a monsterous sized chocolate bar, and an apple. The hike takes you through every imaginable scenario. There were cliff side narrow passages, switchbacks up mountain sides, paved roads, and potentially 783,294 stairs to conquer. (disclaimer: about to be disgusting, if you don't want to read, go to the next paragraph) It was all fine and dandy for me until I took a break at the third town. Let me backtrack slightly...the night before, I think I ate 4 or 5 servings of pasta because I'm a fat slob. Anyways, by the time I sit to take a break, I'm thinking, "hmmm, I need to poop". Of course, when the need arises, there is never a bathroom in sight. Then a brilliant idea comes to me, "Of course, I'll just find the train station because there is always a bathroom there". This idea would have been great, but I was in Corniglia, and the town is separated from the train station by about 300+ vertical feet of stairs. Since I didn't know this, I follow all the signs and finally come to the point where I realize this. Now right here is a big decision point - if I go ALL the way down the stairs and there isn't a bathroom, I'm screwed. If I look around the town (which is where I am), and can't find anything, I might not be able to make it down the stairs later (keep in mind, 4 or 5 servings of pasta). I decide to take the risk and head down, LUCKILY there is a bathroom, but of course, no toilet paper. By now I'm hurting, and I go into the station to attempt to get some from the attendent. BY THE WAY, I don't know any Italian, and the guy couldn't understand what "toilet paper" was! I had to act out the motion, and then he informed me there wasn't any. By now, I'm thinking, "oh my...do I have to climb this MASSIVE stair case to town and look"? I do a mental check, and nope, I don't think I can make it. Plan B: find some paper. To cut the story short, I had to look in the trash and find clean looking napkins. There you have it, the lesson should be: always carry some form of TP with you! Afterwards, I was 100% better and did the rest of the hike with no problems! I only wish I could upload some pictures of the trails so you could get an idea how cool this was!

Back at the hostel, there was much to do! The place I stayed at was more or less a complete apartment with 5 beds. The first night, by complete chance, I end up staying with two guys who I met and partied with in Nice. Later in Rome, I also ran into them on the streets. By the time I got to Cinque Terre, by luck of the draw, we end up staying at the same place! Cinque Terre night life is not so great, but we managed to get a few drinks at the local bar. They left the next day, and I had a bunch of other great roomates. During the process, I noticed how picking hostels can be completely hit or miss. You could end up in the 'worst' rated hostel, yet have a bunch of cool people around, and it turns out to the the 'best'. Also, you could book the 'best' rated hostel and have a bad experience, and you'd find it to be horrible...so fickle. In my case, I had an awesome experience!

Finally, I would like to conclude this entry by saying, socks and sandals, no matter how gay looking, is actually very comfortable. I have always been against socks and sandals, but my hiking boots have started to smell so bad from daily wear, that I tested out the waters with Tevas and socks. Now, I am in the know, and I want you to know, its really comfy!

Just to shed some light on my geographical location, I have now left Cinque Terre this morning and arrived in Florence, Italy. I'll spend a few nights here and then make my way to Salzburg, Austria. Sound of Music anyone?!!