La Dolce Vita

     This was the longest yet fastest week of my life, and now that I’m back on the ship it almost doesn’t feel real. For us to do everything we did and see everything we saw- its incredible.
     Last I wrote I think I was in Florence, with the day almost done and us getting ready for dinner. Megs was feeling really sick so she stayed and slept in the hostel while Alex, Candice, Katie and I went out in search of a good authentic dinner (at a restaurant recommended by Rick Steves, obviously!) Three hours later and after Alex eating a Florentine steak meant for two people, we walked to the Duomo and Baptistery.  It was neat to see them at night, and even though it meant we couldn’t tour and go inside I was glad to be able to say I had seen them.  The walk home was, of course, not complete without a stop for gelato- this time yogurt and raspberry flavors and caramelized sugar waffle pieces! We made it back to the room by about 12 and went to bed soon after.
     In the morning we got up early to get breakfast before our train to the Cinque Terre. We went back to the cute place we went for lunch the day before and had the standard Italian breakfast. Our train ride was uneventful (we were pleasantly surprised and cautiously optimistic about the fact that everything had gone so well so far) and we got to the Riomaggiore (or as Alex says “Rigor mortis”) about 1. We met two American kids about our age who were living in Italy and on a holiday to the Cinque Terre who were really nice and let us know what stop to get off at. It was kind of confusing because you had to take different trains depending on what town you were going to but luckily they helped us figure it out. When we got off the train we began the long trek up the steep hill to the hostel’s main office, but a few minutes in we saw our two friends and the woman who runs the hostel coming down the street. She explained that although the office is at the top of the hill, the rooms are near the bottom and she took us there right away. Our “room” was amazing. It was actually a big room with our beds, a nice bathroom, a kitchen area and a balcony- all situated right in the middle of the Riomaggiore harbor. She had clean towels for us and even made our beds up with nice fresh sheets when we went to get lunch. We were all pretty hungry so we stopped to eat before heading on the hike between the “Cinque Terre”, or five villages. You start from Riomaggiore on the famous Via de Amore (lover’s road) and walk to the following towns of Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. The views are incredible and so unlike anything you’ve ever seen. The homes and buildings are brightly painted, sitting perfectly on the edge of rocks and cliffs jutting out over the sapphire blue sea. All around there are grape vines, trees and flowers as far as the eye can see. The walk was pretty tiring, including an area with 382 steep steps (some taller than Katie is!) and a few kilometers of so called “slightly treacherous” ground (understatement of the year).We were pretty beat by the time we reached Vernazza, and since we got a late start we ended up doing the bulk of the 4 hour hike in the hottest time of the day. We decided to stop there for the day, eat dinner at a cute place right on the harbor and leave Monterosso for tomorrow. 
I woke up early the next morning feeling pretty sick, and was actually thinking about going back to the ship a day early to try to see the doctor. Luckily, after a few rough hours and a 6 am run to the pharmacy (though we found out the only one in town doesn’t open until 10 AM), I was feeling much better and decided to stick it out. A yummy breakfast of eggs and crepes left us feeling ready to go and we headed to the beach at Monterosso excited to relax.
     When we got there it was already pretty crowded, but we were able to claim a sliver of the rocky beach to lay out our towels and lie down. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to be, but after the hectic week the sun was just what we needed. Still, after an hour or two we were all fading from the heat so after some quick shopping, smoothies at a fun bar that blasted American country music we headed to see Manarola one last time. The path we took the day before left us without going into the town and harbor so we wanted to stop quickly on our way home- you cant come the “five towns” and not see all five! We stopped for lunch at another Rick Steves approved café (Alex is officially in love and has already promised we can come to the wedding) and headed down to take some pictures.  The views were incredible, the houses were perfect and the view somehow managed to make everything else we had seen seem like nothing special. We were also pretty impressed with a group of kids climbing to the top of the rocky cliffs in the harbor and jumping off for a crowd of people standing on shore. If you’ve been following my blog for long (which clearly is the best decision to make) you probably remember me talking about our bucket list. You also may remember that cliff jumping in the Cinque Terre held a pretty firm spot at the top. Keeping this in mind, and reminding each other that we’re determined to leave this summer with plenty of stories but no regrets, Alex, Megan and I left our stuff with Katie and Candice and headed toward the water. The water was pretty cold but adrenaline works wonders, and before we knew it we were at the top of the deceptively tall rock. Alex went first with her typical grace (haha love you Alex!) followed by Megs and her screams that could probably be heard in every town. I was third, and vaguely remembering the lesson we had in 7th grade swim class about there being some specific way to safely jump from high distances (not that I remember what that way was) I decided to go for it.  It was a bit unexpected when about 3 seconds in I found myself still in the air, but long story semi-short I eventually made it safely into the water and with another check on the list.  We all jumped once more before making our exit and changing to head home.
The rest of the night consisted of an amazing dinner at the restaurant right across from our balcony, gelato at the gelateria up the street and hanging out outside with some other vacationers. The guy who ran the restaurant was a perfectly grumpy Italian old man who had no problems telling people exactly what he was thinking. He quickly found his way onto of our list of favorite people we’d met, and Alex’s 3rd or 4th male “best friend” over the age of 75. The food was among the best from the trip and we all felt like it was a good way to end it. We used the phase “its our last night” a lot, including to justify a second cone of gelato on our way home!  
     Today we woke up early for our train from Riomaggiore to the main station, then luckily got there with just enough time to catch the first train from there on to Pisa. We got to Pisa around 9, had a quick breakfast of cappuccino and yet another unidentified (but obviously delicious) pastries, then mad the 30 minute walk to the infamous tower.  The typical tourist “look-at-me-holding-up-slash-knocking-down-the-leaning-tower” photo shoot ensued, and when we’d just about exhausted our posing options we headed back to the station. The 11:45 train got us to Civitavecchia at around 3, and after stopping for lunch and our final (but actually this time) gelato we made our way down the port and to the ship. With over 2 hours to go until the last call for on ship time we were finally able to let out a sigh of relief and congratulate ourselves on A. nobody getting pick pocketed and B. getting back in time to avoid any penalties. All in all we were tired, but definitely so glad (and a little surprised) that we’d done it.
Well that’s the no so short but still the shorter version of a very full few days, and while I’d love to add some pictures and entertaining details its currently 23:50 (11:50 PM) and I have two days of classes coming up here before we get to Croatia. So much for weekends, right? More to come from Europe!