Hiking Cinque Terre

7-8-07

Cinque Terre, or Five Grounds, is one of the most raved about places in Italy. The past study abroad students at Purdue insisted we go visit, our school scheduled special trips, and most importantly, cousin Kate wrote it under my “places to visit” list. Now I know why people love it so much. Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore are the five towns that make up Cinque Terre. The colorful towns are built up on steep cliffs with hiking trails, railroads, and shuttles connecting them. They each have their own private, rocky beaches as well. Jessie and I decided that if we were going to visit Cinque Terre, we were going to wear our hiking clothes and hike the entire thing. I am proud to say that we accomplished our goal. We started by taking the train to the very last town to purchase our hiking passes for the day. They equipped us with a map and a water bottle and pointed us in the direction of the next town. We took a minute to look over the map and decided to tackle blue trail, which started hard and ended easy. The reasoning behind our choice was that we would rather be convinced early the trail was hard and be surprised later when it got easier. It was a great plan. The trail shot straight up for the first half hour and I quickly realized how out of shape I am. Hiking trails in Tennessee and Colorado used to be a cake walk! Because I am so competitive, I was irritated by my shortness of breath and shaky legs and started hiking faster with less breaks. Jessie, on the other hand, took tons of breaks. While she would rest, I would take pictures and look at the map. We reached the second city in about an hour and stopped along the cliff’s edge to look down onto the beach. The beaches have very little sand so people set their towels on huge rocks in the middle of the water. I am beaching it there before I leave. We walked around the city for a few minutes, grabbed an apple at the market, and started back up the cliff. Between the second and third city, the trail was more of the same. Hike straight up and hike straight down. The trail slowly started to move closer to the cliff’s edge and all I could think about was how mom would have been flipping out. Another hour passed before we arrived in the third city and we were starving. We found a small café off the main street and ordered focaccia caprese sandwiches to sit and eat in the shade. The temperature and the sun were starting to get to us. After sitting down for a good half hour, it was extremely difficult getting up and getting back on the trail. We only had two more towns, so we were motivated by our approaching finish. The trail started to ease up a bit and Jessie was much happier. We booked it through the last two towns because there was not much to see and I started craving gelato. Finally, we finished the 5 hour hike in Riomaggiore. We were so proud of ourselves and no one could believe we finished in one day. It was a great accomplishment and an even better workout. To reward our physical fitness, we ordered gelato. Hey, we deserved that strawberry and lemony goodness after working so hard. Jessie and I were more than ready to go home and hit the sack. We had a huge weekend, but it was the best we have had here. Partly because Jessie and I planned two amazing trips on our own, which was a first for both of us, and partly because it was our last weekend in Italy. Time is running out and I am starting to get sad about leaving my home away from home and my Italia friends. I have really bonded with Jessie and after this weekend, we decided to rendezvous in NYC for my fall break. We figured that if we could survive this weekend, traveling in American will be easy as pie. Next weekend…Paris!

Gorgeous Sorrento and Capri

7-7-07

Talk about the most beautiful places in the world! Sorrento is a cute little beach town situated on top of enormous cliffs with beaches, marinas, and amazing views. Our hostel/campsite was conveniently located at the very tip top of the cliff, so we opted for the bus ride instead of climbing. We were a little nervous about the condition of our accommodations because this was in fact a hostel and we had seen the movie and heard the horror stories. When we walked onto the grounds, we were pleasantly surprised and on the verge of ecstatic. It was perfect! There were trees everywhere, a pool, a market, a restaurant, great views, and a beach. High five for Jessie and me for booking such a great place. We had the option of staying in a “dormitory,” a tent, a camper, or a cabin. Guess which one we chose…the cabin. The cabin had one double bed and one single, for Brice, and some lawn chairs outside to look out onto the coast. Our shared bathroom and shower was a good two minute walk down the hill. We immediately threw down our bags, put on our swimsuits and headed for the pool because day light was fading fast. After traveling all morning, it was so nice to swim and nap in the sun. The stresses of the day completely melted away. Before the sun went down for the day, we left the campgrounds and hiked higher looking for good photo ops of the coast. However, the higher you climb, the more trees stand in your way. So back down the hill we go. I was feeling the burn already. We turned back into our campsite and found that the best views were down by the beach. The beach was located all the way down the hill and was littered with small, glazed tiles instead of sand. I took a handful as souvenirs. The sunset was so beautiful that I think we all used an entire memory card because we could not stop watching. When we finally pulled ourselves away, we hiked back to the cabin and fell into our beds. We were more than exhausted and were planning to rise early to catch the ferry to Capri.
Around 7:30, we got out of bed, walked down to the restroom, packed our things, checked out of the cabin, and hiked down to Marina Grande. It was a peaceful morning walk, but the Marina was buzzing with tourists waiting for ferries. We had heard rumors that ferry tickets were 50 Euro, so we were crossing our fingers for cheaper prices. And we found them! They were less than 20. The ferry was huge and when in motion, it rocked back and forth just enough to put me to sleep, which isn’t too surprising. I fall asleep to everything. The ferry docked and we hustled our way off and to the nearest boat tour stand. It was the greatest investment I have made here. Well, except for my leather boots. The boat took us around the entire island and weaved between hundreds of rich and famous yachts, such as Roberto Cavalli. We visited hidden grottos, passed under huge arches carved into floating boulders, marveled at cliff side neighborhoods, where Georgio Armani lives, and soaked up every ray of sun in the Italian Riviera. The only disappointment was the two hour wait for the Grotto Azzurro. This was supposed to be the highlight of Capri because you can hop off the boat and swim through the caves. Obviously, we were not the only ones excited about swimming there. The other highlight of Capri is found on land. Handmade, leather sandals. At the sandal stores, you choose a design from the wall, the strap color or colors, and then the workers begin making your sandal. I was waiting in line with my design and colors in mind, but backed out at the last minute. I know, I know. Why would I pass up handmade, Italian sandals? I am actually not sure why I decided against them, but I do know it is a very hard subject to discuss. Moving on…We stopped for a quick lunch before boarding the ferry and I ordered fried calamari. Oh how I have missed seafood. It was a satisfying meal and I left Capri one happy girl. As we were pulling away from the dock, I decided that once I make my first million, I will buy a white house in the fancy neighborhood, rent the yacht from Roberto Cavalli, and spend every summer vacationing there. Sounds like a fantastic, realistic plan to me.

American Immigrants

7-7-07

Why would anyone want to travel 1st or 2nd class when one can travel luggage class? That’s right…luggage class. The definition of luggage class is when three American travelers purchase a ticket without seat numbers on a train with seat numbers and are forced to sit with the luggage. Here is what happened…Jessie and I planned an entire weekend trip, by our selves, to Sorrento and Capri. We scheduled an itinerary, purchased train tickets, and booked a hostel/campsite. We were pretty impressed with our organizing abilities and went to sleep Thursday night feeling confident that the trip would run smoothly. Then the 4:00 a.m. alarm sounded Friday morning. It was not too difficult waking up and getting ready, but we forgot that Florence is still pitch black that early in the morning. In America, as everyone knows, only crazies are out and about that early so two blonde headed girls should not be. Well, the same applies in foreign countries. The walk to the train station was the scariest time in my life. A man on a moped stopped next to our sidewalk and started growling, two other men started cursing at us on the bridge, and the homeless people along the station wall were being creepy. Italians, thank goodness, will only cat call, so we were more than fine. Just a little freaked out. Our morning continues to get better when we realized that our 5:30 train was no where to be found on the board. That’s a problem. Train station workers do not arrive at the office until a little after 5:30, so we were unable to ask for help. Finally, we ask a security guard and he shows us another board that says the only other train to Napoli leaves at 8:30. How frustrating! Even though we knew our tickets did not match that particular train, we decided to go back home, relax, and head back to the station for the 8:30. We could get away with it right? Wrong…very, very wrong. As soon as we stepped on the train, we realized that people were looking for their assigned seats. Oops. This is when we found our seats with the luggage. Obviously, I thought this was the funniest thing in the world and could not stop laughing. My laughter was soon silenced by the ticket checker. He does not miss a thing and immediately charged us the difference. The train stopped in Rome and we were approached by an American that, ever so politely, reminded us that luggage racks are for luggage, not people. Needless to say, we had to move, even though we paid good money for those seats. Oh well. We went to the food car and stood for the remaining hour. When we finally arrived in Napoli, we had to find another train to take us to Sorrento. We, along with what seemed liked the entire city of Napoli, were lined up on the same platform. How we were all going to fit onto the same train, I have no idea. It was going to be an all out shoving war. We won! The train was scorching hot, sticky, and smelly with about 100 people crammed into the space between the cars. No seats were available when we boarded. The smell that started filling the room was the worst smell you have ever smelled multiplied by 100. I thought I was going to pass out. People slowly started getting off the train at various stops and I could finally move and breathe. But as people started exiting, little gypsy children playing accordions started entering. Those poor kids are the dirtiest, scariest kids I have ever seen. It’s sad that you have to grab a hold of your wallets and bags when they walk by because if you don’t, say goodbye to your things. Finally, the train stops in Sorrento and we no longer feel like American immigrants.