The Most Amazing Hike of My Life: Cinque Terre

Wow, what a weekend! We went to Cinque Terre: the most beautiful place in the world, I'm convinced! We did a 7 km hike up and down the incredible mountains, through the five islands of the Cinque Terre, and the view was just breathtaking! At one point we'd be down at the beach of the Mediterranean, and the next we'd be up in the clouds!

There were nine of us that went; 5 girls, 4 boys. It was so perfect. Again, I find myself at a loss for words...

















Hiking has become a new love of mine. It keeps me fit, it's fun, and most of all, it makes me feel at one with nature.

We ended up (after a long day of hiking) in Monterosso, where we stayed in an apartment set up for us personally by an angel-- Jerry. You see, Ali and I were stuck planning most of the trip. The week of the event. On the weekend of a special holiday. While everything else was relatively painless, finding accommodation was not! To make a long story short, after hours of fruitless phone calls to hotels, hostels and the like-- trying to book for 9 people no less-- we found Jerry, who worked in a hotel in Monterosso.

Jerry is one of those people. The people who are so nice you can't even believe it. He ended up offering us his own apartment, and a friend's place for the boys! It worked out perfectly, and I give all the credit to our angel Jerry.

Immediately when we ended our 5 hour hike along the cliffs, the nine of us went straight for the local wine shop that Jerry had recommended per our phone conversation. It was amazing, and the people were incredibly hospitable, feeding us cup after cup of delicious wine and cheese-- all homemade!

After this, the girls decided to head for the Mediterranean coast, and told the boys to meet us there with more wine and cheese! They brought the wine, but accidentally bought wax instead of cheese. But it didn't matter; we were in the most beautiful place on Earth! And Jerry was riding his bicycle up to us, ready to show us to his place.





This has been the best weekend so far on my trip... Perhaps one of the best weekends of my life.

Roma, my Home-a

So I wish I had time right now to write a post of epic awesomeness, but alas, I do not. I have plans with the German ladies to take a walk on the beach and chat while we lay out in the Grecian sun.

It's our last day here in Greece, and we leave tonight for an overnight ferry to Italia. Then we take a train from Bari (which is on
the east coast of Italy) to Rome (which is closer to the center). We were trying to leave tomorrow, but this is the last ferry out until Sunday, and then we would have one less day in Roma, which would be unacceptable indeed!

It has been a great stay at The Pink Palace, but I must say I am very eager to get to Italy. For those who may not know, I studied abroad there a couple of years ago, and fell in love with Rome. I can't wait to show Dan the ropes! He's really excited, especially for the Vatican and the Colosseum. Hey, I can't blame him.

We also plan to go to the Trevi Fountain, because it will be my third time there! And you know what they say... Actually, I don't entirely know what they say. I think it's something like, the first time you visit the fountain you will go back to Rome. Check. The second time you visit the fountain, you will fall in love. Check. The third time you visit the fountain, you will have a great and long life. If you know how the legend really goes, please comment! Otherwise, I'll just keep thinking that I'm right and that's fine.

But we're off for a walk on the beach, so until next time, YAMAS!