cinque terre = love

view of some of the towns

view from the pier

Vernazza, where we stayed

i have two words for you all. cinque terre. please make room in your life plan to go here. because it is the most amazing place i have ever been in my whole life, which i realize has only been like 21 years. but i have been to disney world. so keep that in mind.

no seriously. this place is gorgeous. it is a string of 5 coastal downs on the side of the meditterranean sea. and every last one of them was amazing. we stayed in Vernazza. google it. it has this amazing pier where i would just go sit for hours and stare out at the sea. it never got old. i could have sat there for days.

as soon as we got there we checked into the most precious hotel ever. and it had a lovely shower, even though the shower curtain attacked me. it was one of those that clings to you. so everytime i got to the body wash phase of the shower i got completely wrapped up in it. but other than that it was nice. and you may think you have had good continental breakfast at hotels, but you haven't. sorry you've been lying to yourself your whole life. this place made amazing pastries every single morning. i can't even begin to tell you how good they were. and then they gave you a cappuccino too if you wanted one. and you may think you have had good cappuccino too, but you haven't. so don't tell me you have. b/c you will be lying.

so after we checked in we all started wandering around the city. every building was a fun color, like pink and green and red and all pastel colors and stuff. and then we got to the beach and there were precious boats tied together in the bay. and these big rocks that you could sit on. and an amazing bell tower. and oh my goodness it was just precious. so then i discover the pier. and i couldn't extract myself from it for hours. i cannot even begin to describe how gorgeous it was. i wish you could look in my brain. but its probably just easier for you to look at the pictures. so do that instead.

so they have a hiking trail between all these towns. so the next day after breakfast we all take a train to the first one and start hiking back. the first one was called the road of love or something. so robbie made us mack on eachother the whole way. but it was precious. and i had to stop every 5 seconds and take pictures of the view. eventually we found a beach and this is where my obsession truly began. i was just sitting there looking at the water and i noticed that the rocks were basically gorgeous. and so i started collecting them like they were seashells. and pretty soon my bag was full of rocks. and some of them were massive. but i didnt care. so now i have like 25 rocks from cinque terre. and i am going to shalack them and put them in a vase. and you will all be jealous of my rock collection.

after we left the beach we kept hiking. and then we got to stairs. and mind you there were over 300 stairs. and so we had to trudge up them. and i thought i was going to die by the time i got to the top. but there was a restaurant so we stopped and fueled ourselves so we didn't pass out. i got pesto lasagna. maybe one of the best things i have ever eaten. oh and did i mention that pesto originated in this area? yeah. so it was extra good. and surprisingly, i tried swordfish and liked it. and i hate seafood. like, i despise it. but it was really good. then we keep hiking on. and this trail is basically the trail of death with a few gorgeous views interspersed. and i had a skirt on. but it was ok. and i am glad i persevered on. like 2 hours later we made it back to vernazza and then got on a boat to the next town and people swam and stuff. and i just stood there with my feet in the water staring at the sea. i spent a lot of time staring out to the sea on this trip.

that night we spent more time wandering around. and i had pesto pizza, because i thought i should soak up the oppurtunity to have really good pesto. and spent more time staring at the sea. and we had a sunset devo on the rocks. and it was amazing. and these people from southern africa asked us to sing silent night. and it was precious.

the next day we had to do a photography assignment and then, me and andrew trekked to the top of this tower in vernazza and there were amazing views from that too. then after we came down, surprise surprise, i sat on the pier and stared at the sea. listening to coldplay's "swallowed in the sea" while staring at the water and listening to the waves was probably one of the best moments of my life. i almost cried when we left. this place was just amazing.

after that we had to find our way back on trains with our massive backpacks on. and it was hilarious. and we looked like crazy tourists. and people were annoyed with us but it was fun. then something happened on the bus and i went insane. and so the rest of the night everyone was hyperactive. but eventually i fell asleep. and it was good.