Cinque Terre {Five Lands}

On Saturday, Becca and I left for the beautiful group of towns on the west coast of Italy, called Cinque Terre. The towns, from North to South, are Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.

Our trip was full of setbacks. Before even reaching our destination, while getting off the train, Becca was pick-pocketed. The entire car of the train was packed. We could barely move, it was so crowded. We arrived at our stop, and for some reason, the door we were trying to get out of kept shutting on people. It was very stressful because we were worried about getting separated. Becca was behind me, and in front of her was a 13 or 14-year-old girl who would not get out of the way. Becca said her hand was on her purse the entire time, expect for when she had to physically move the girl out of the way. We are guessing that while one of the girls distracted her, another one snuck into her purse and took her wallet. Becca was rightfully panicked and upset. We went to the ticket office of the station to see if we could report it, and they were not helpful at all. They told us that unfortunately, it happens a lot, and you really have to watch your bags. We felt like saying, "Well, a whole lot of good that does us now!"

Despite the catastrophe, we still had to find our hostel and get ahold of her mom so she could cancel her credit cards. Usually Becca is the navigator, but thankfully the town of Corniglia is easy to navigate so I was able to get us to where we needed to be. We finally found a caffe that had wifi, and we asked the owner if we could use it, telling her it was an emergency. She quickly gave us the password. Becca didn't have a way of contacting her mom other than Facebook, but it was really early at home and we knew she wouldn't be checking her account any time soon. Thankfully, we were able to call my mom using the app Viber, and my mom was able to call Becca's mom to let her know what had happened. Thank God for the advances of modern technology! Five or ten years ago that would not have been possible.

After we got that taken care of, we figured we better buy something from the caffe, since the lady was so nice to let us use her wifi. She spoke a little English, so we were able to tell her what had happened and why Becca was so upset. You could tell she truly empathized with our situation; Becca's tears made her eyes fill with tears!  She even gave us the bread and water for free. After being faced with the pickpocket's deception, it was so nice to be reminded of the good that still exists in humanity. God sent us a friendly face just when He knew we needed to be reminded of His faithfulness.  

As you can imagine, it was quite tricky to recover from a situation that leaves you feeling so vulnerable and helpless. This entire study abroad experience, Becca has been my rock, but this time I got to be her's! It was so nice to be able to support her through such an awful situation, and to repay her for all the times she kept it together when I felt like falling apart. We are so lucky to have each other:)

So here it is: our trip to Cinque Terre. It was chaotic, stressful, and frustrating. But at least it was breath-takingly beautiful. 

Corniglia

Our hostel was in Corniglia (Corn-nee-yah), the town in the middle of Cinque Terre, so naturally it was our first stop. This town was the least touristy and most raw of all the towns. It felt like we were actually walking into a community, instead of just a tourist attraction. It was probably the least impressive of the group, but it was still quaint and adorable. 

Little chapel of Corniglia

Laundry out to dry

It was a little foggy, so it's hard to see, but that's the sea back there!

The gate to our hostel. By far, this was the best hostel we've had yet! Rooms were
divided between men and women, so we didn't feel as awkward about changing or
sleeping next to random dudes. The girls in our hostel were super nice! Two were Canadian,
traveling together, and another was Brazilian. They invited to gelato to drool over the
adorable Romanian guy who worked there. 

The view from the top of the hill in Corniglia. Yes, that is the train station we arrived at, and yes, we had to trek up the hill. Several times. Let's just say my calves are still sore, several days later.

A small section of the stairs we had to climb

A view of Manarola from the hill of Corniglia

The caffe where the kind lady gave us free bread, water, and let us use her wifi. We
went back the next day to thank her and she wasn't there, but did have a delicious
cappuccino and pastry to support her business. 

We were feeling the love <3

Hilarious sign outside the caffe. This one speaks for itself:)

Monterosso al Mare 

We have really wanted to swim in the ocean this entire trip, and we were advised that Monterosso al Mare had the best beach, so we put our suits on and took the train to the northern-most town. Little did we know, the water is still pretty darn cold. We both wimped out, but there were some dedicated tourists who braved the water. We opted for dinner and wine instead :)

Can you picture how crazy this place is in the summer? I'm sure it is absolutely packed.

No sand here! The pebbles were tough on my feet, so shoes were put on soon after this picture was taken.

No, that's not a bright blue rock. It was some sort of squishy sea creature. They were all over the beach by the water. Also, check out how colorful the rocks are. So beautiful.

We didn't swim, but we did put our toes in the water.

There were all kinds of chairs and umbrellas laying out on the beach for tourists to use

We stumbled upon this cool statue carved into the hillside. He definitely looks like he's got the weight of the
world on his shoulders

This little boat was so close to the shore

We got back to Corniglia just in time to see the sunset behind the hill. It was gorgeous.

Vernazza

The next morning, we woke up and headed to the little town of Vernazza. We met two guys from Utah who were backpacking across Europe, and had just done all five towns in one day, and they said Vernazza was their favorite. The guy called it, "the Caribbean of Italy." The two guys were headed to Venice and then Siena. Funnily, we actually ran into them at the train station in Siena. What a small world!

Where else in the world are you going to see a view like that!? So incredible.

Braving the wet rocks for a photo

This wonderfully sassy Frenchwoman offered to take a photo of us. While she was taking the photo, a rude man bumped into her. She said to him in her thick French accent, "You know, it's not that hard to say 'excuse me!'" She had the guts to say what I've been thinking this entire trip.

Narrow staircase we climbed to get a great view

Part of the walkway had to be blocked off because the waves we constantly crashing up onto the rocks

We went into a little souvenir shop, and this kitty was just sleeping casually on the shelf. I completely embarrassed myself as I proceed to squealed and told her how cute she was. She seemed pretty used to the attention. I was able to tell the shop owner "Ho quattro gatti in casa." She seemed surprised to learn I had four cats.

Manarola

The train system in Cinque Terre was very difficult to navigate. We would look up the
platform we needed to be on, and stand and wait for the train. However, we missed the train
on more than one occasion because it would announce a platform change over the speaker,
but we didn't know we had to be listening for it. We ended up spending a lot of time at the
train station waiting for the next train. Depending on public transportation in a foreign
country can be quite frustrating when you're used to having your own car and going
where you want, when you want.

Boats just sit in the middle of the street!

Cute porches and doors were everywhere. Of course I was in heaven.

The beautiful rocky coast. The air smelled so salty; I guess the ocean smells the same
everywhere you go!

This pigeon was ready for his headshot. Strike a pose!

This is the kind of view that leaves you speechless.

Riomaggiore

Our last stop was Riomaggiore. We were happy we made it to all five towns so we could soak up all Cinque Terre had to offer, but each town had a pretty similar view. One thing that set Riomaggiore apart from the others were the cool mural they had painted throughout the town.

Another kitty! Made my heart so happy to see some of my feline friends, but it made me miss my girls back home.

Stairs just carved into the stone. Crazy!

I have been so in love with all the doors of Italy, but this has been my favorite so far!
Had to get my picture in front of it.

Our trip to Cinque Terre started off pretty horribly with the pickpocketing experience. We could have let that situation ruin the entire trip, but I'm proud to say we made the best of it. We met some amazing people. We ate great food. We saw breathtaking views. And we came out of a tricky situation stronger women.