Livin the Dream

A dream.

Life has really been a dream since beginning this month long adventure through different parts of Europe.  Starting with two weeks in Italy has definitely been a great way to set the pace-- with Venice, Cinque Terre, and half of Florence done, I am completely in love with this country. I think the food has been the most amazing change, after three and a half months of fried Spanish food, I have anxiously been awaiting the deliciously fresh food here in Italy. It started with freshly made pesto from Cinque Terre, where we made our dinners in our apartment rental each night: pasta with pesto, wine, and fresh tomato slices and broccoli, followed by a late night hand of Hearts (our new favorite way to pass the time).  Cinque Terre was an absolute treasure.  It is an area on Italy's north western coast, where there are five small towns built into the coast, and they are connected by a trail that is maintained by the national park.  We hiked this 7 mile hike during one of the days we visited-- starting in Monterosso, the town we were staying in, and ending in Riomaggiore five hours later.  Each town had something fresh to offer us, whether it was a great view to sit by and eat our packed sandwiches, or a juicy piece of fruit from a fruit stand, or amazing coconut and dark chocolate gelatto.  Somehow, it always came back to food-- surprise surprise.

As I hiked between each town, I was flooded with memories of the first time I heard about Cinque Terre: a friend of mine that I met five years ago, the summer after my sophomore year of high school, had taken a trip traveling through Italy.  I heard all of her stories about how she fell in love with the country, especially Cinque Terre. From that summer five years ago, I had been planning the day I would do the hike myself, and everything was finally falling into place. I had finally made it to Italy, into Cinque Terre, and hiked through all five villages (with some amazing friends, to top it off).  The intense smell of flowers that follows you through all five towns, and the brightly colored buildings built into the coast, combined with the people you meet on the hike made for one of the most accomplished feeling days of my life. 

Our second day in Cinque Terre was set aside to soak up some sun on the sandy beach of Monterosso.  Unfortunately, we had to check out of our apartment by 10 am, and drag all of our bags to the beach with us.  So we rolled up to the sand with all of our belongings, and camped out all day, looking like a bunch of homeless people.  After hanging out reading on the beach all morning, we rented sea kayaks.  We had to go in shifts, because someone had to stay behind and watch all our bags. So Thomas and I went first, and without an ounce of direction from the guy renting us the kayak, we made our way out into the Mediterranean.  We headed in the same direction that we hiked the day before-- towards Vernazza, the next town over from Monterosso.  The frigid water soaked us as we paddled ourselves all the way into the harbor of Vernazza, and then turned around back to Monterosso.  The salt in the water dried on our skin, leaving white lines traced all over our bodies like lines on a map.  By the end of the day,  we were covered in combination of salt from the ocean, salt from our own sweat, sand, and sun screen.  Once we got a good stench worked up by the evening, we gathered our bags and walked to the train station, to head to Florence with sand in our pants.