italia and some word vomit... yum!

A ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS…
First off, I feel like I should apologize to anyone who has talked to me recently- I’ve been in the weirdest mood of my life! And it’s been a little crazy- kind of a mixed between dead tired, homesick, really happy, and sort of stressed out. It makes for a fun combo- trust me. Living and studying in another country really runs you through the gamut as far as emotions are concerned- you love where you are but some days you have a harder time understanding than others and that’s hard, places are familiar but no place is home, and people are friends, but unless you came with someone, these people aren’t your closest friends. And surprise, surprise, I miss my Mama and Daddy and brother! It’s hard when I only get to talk to them once a week, if that. I don’t know- it’s weird and it sounds silly. I’m not really sure why I’m posting this on here, but now everyone knows where I’m at- so to speak, haha. And thank you to Josh Kercho (who is not reading this, but if any of you know him, pass along the message) for introducing me to Matt Chandler’s sermons. Chandler is like Dane Cook but in preacher form. He’s wonderful, and I’m hopelessly addicted to his sermons. I listen to them all the time. They’re keeping me sane, to an extent.

CINQUETERRE, ITALY- where in the world, or rather Italy, is that?
Okay, so we had our first holiday weekend and Amanda and I headed to Cinqueterre, Italy. For those of you who are scratching your heads wondering where that is, it’s on the north western coast, just south of Pisa. It’s five small towns built into the rocky coast line. The towns have only been reachable by land within in the last 50 years- previously, they were only reachable by boat. They are connected by paths, the most famous of which is the “Via Dell’ Amore” or “street of love”. This path connects Riomaggiore to Manarola. The path is lined with graffiti proclaiming the love of thousands of couples. Once upon a time (yes, story time!), the walk was the only way young people could meet from the two towns and that’s where they had “dates” and fell in love. Anyway, it’s beautiful, and at the end of the walk, couples “lock” their love on the railing with actual locks. It’s a really neat thing… I liked it a lot. The towns are beautiful, and now they are connected by local train. The place is off the beaten path, and until recently, has not been a tourist destination. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a break from life. It’s a place out of a fairy tale, a place trapped in time with no desire to escape or change. The CT is a place without the hurry of real life, a place where young adults come to take a break from school and traveling, it’s a place to rest, a place to revitalize the soul.

OUR ADVENTURE BEGINS- getting to the 5 Terre…
Amanda and I rode the bus from Bilbao to Madrid on Thursday to catch our flight from Madrid to Milan. The bus ride was uneventful and we were able to sleep and listen to our iPods sin problemas. We arrived in Madrid with some time to kill, but we headed to the airport anyway (we’ve done Madrid twice before) to explore terminals 1-3 (we explored T4 on our way to Switzerland). We walked around and found a place to sit and break out our rations- a box of cookies, granola bars, oranges, and a tortilla con patata (my favorite!!!!). We had about 3 hours to kill before we needed to check in, and for real, I looked at my watch after what I thought was about 30 or 45 minutes to only to realize that it was time to go! We headed up to check in only to learn that Travelocity had messed up our reservation and Amanda’s ticket was a child’s ticket. Thankfully, the fares were the same price and she only had to pay 15 euros to have the ticket reissued. Anyway, we checked in and had a 1.75 euro chicken sandwich from the greatest American restaurant, McDonald’s, and waited to fly to Milan. We arrived in Milan and caught a cab to the train station- thinking that we would make the 11:20pm train. HAHA- CHISTE GRANDE! Trenitalia’s website did not have correct information on it, and the next train to Monterosso was at 6am. Our cab driver didn’t want to leave us at Milan Central Station, but we told him that we were poor college students and stayed anyway. We hung out in the freezing cold station, moving every 20 minutes or so and keeping watch over ourselves and each other. Finally, we saw a couple and a woman sitting next to a wall. We went over and sat next to them, and shortly after that, a policeman came up. I showed him our ticket (thinking that we needed it to be on the platform), and he escorted Amanda and I to a heated room with benches and security guards and sleeping people! I actually slept, and it was wonderful and I had some crazy dreams- if only I could remember what they were. We boarded the train and slept almost the entire three hour trip to Monterosso.

THE LORD IS GOOD- and upon stepping off the train, we saw the Mediterranean…
I thought I was going to cry- we were so tired and our trip had, up to that point, been a crazy logistical nightmare. We stayed on the beach for about 45 minutes before purchasing our Cinqueterre cards (access to all hiking trails, trains, and buses- a wonderful deal) and heading to Riomaggiore to find a cheap place to sleep. We arrived in Riomaggiore and were greeted by pirates who were eager to offer us a cheap place to sleep. We found a place with MarMar rooms for 20 euros a night. The walk up smelled of wine, but the place was great- I would definitely stay there again. We put our stuff away and began to wander. We walked the Via Dell’ Amore and hit up a beach in Corniglia- the weather was perfect! We ate a late lunch/dinner at a pizzeria in Vernazza. The food was so good and wonderfully cheap! We watched an amazing sunset and headed to our room. We were asleep by 7:30pm- we hadn’t really slept in about 36 hours.

THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN DOES EXIST- it’s called the hike through 5 Terre…
Amanda and I set out to hike through all five towns- everyone there calls it “THE” hike. We took at train from Riomaggiore to Monterosso as Rick Steves recommends doing “THE” hike backwards. I’m glad we read his stuff on Cinqueterre- his information was crazy helpful, especially the info about the hike. Anyway, the first leg was hard! Monterosso to Vernazza is all stairs, and really, it’s pretty much straight up. The views are gorgeous, as you hike along the rocky coast line. There were plenty of people on the trail, so we were “forced” to take lots of breaks and drink lots of water. We made it to Vernazza around lunch time and hit up the same pizzeria for some fried bread (I can never remember the name of the stuff but it’s wonderful!). I had normale and with pesto, while Amanda tried the normale and with sun dried tomatoes. All were wonderful. We walked around Vernazza for a little bit- read: enjoyed the Mediterranean and rested. We found the trail marker and began the second leg of our hike- Vernazza to Corniglia. While this leg had plenty of stairs too, we found it to be easier but still crowded. The scenery just got prettier as we passed the vineyards on the hillsides. We arrived in Corniglia, and did just as Rick Steves suggested- tried the gelato made from the local honey at the only gelateria in town. He wins again, it was wonderful! Then, we headed from Corniglia to Manarola- a very easy hike. As we arrived in Manarola, the fishermen were lowering the boats in for the day. We stopped and watched them, and before we knew it, the sun started to go down! We watched a gorgeous sunset in Manarola before skipping down the Via Dell’ Amore to Riomaggiore. We watched the stars come out and headed back to our place in Riomaggiore to shower before dinner. We showered and went on a search for real Italian food. We found lasagna and ravioli and crepes (with Nutella!) and some crazy company. While we were eating (on a terrace outside), we met some Australians, a crazy Tasmanian called Tazzy, and two other Americans. All were close to our age with incredible stories to tell. One of the Americans, Jason, is 22 and traveling the world. He fights forest fires across the US (although he left before the San Diego fires got huge) and wanted an adventure. Another crazy thing about this dude- he was one of the first people down to New Orleans after Katrina, and I wish y’all could hear him talk about the things he saw- a total war zone littered with dead bodies. Clearly, this guy was really interesting to talk to. His journey started in London and is moving his way eastward across Europe to Athens, Cairo, and Thailand (but he’s skipping Spain- shame, shame, SHAME!). His adventure will end in December after some time in Australia. He taught me how to use the “manual” setting on my camera, and this made me very happy. Anyway, we chatted it up with these cool kids for several hours (they were all sorely disappointed that I did not have a deep south accent… ) and then headed back to our place to get some sleep.

WE HAVE RADARS FOR PARKS…
We caught the 6:05am train from Riomaggiore to Monterosso and the 6:55 train from Monterosso to Milan. While in Monterosso, we got yelled at by an angry Italian man for sitting at his tables eating cookies- we were 2 of 4 people at this place. Anyway, we said buenos dias to our amigo and moved down to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous! We arrived in Milan with several hours to spare before our flight, so we explored the city for a little bit. Milan is okay- parts are pretty. We found a park with a castle. The leaves were really pretty. We ate some of the cookies from our box. We finally headed to the airport, and wait, when did we get our gate number? 10 minutes prior to boarding. We rode the tram to the plane, boarded, and took off. We arrived in Madrid and headed to the bus station. We made it in time to catch the 7pm bus. We were dead tired on the bus, but our bus driver was determined to prevent us from sleeping. For real, the guy blasted the radio (Spanish radios all play American pop music/ early 90s music) for the ENTIRE bus ride until we stopped. When we got back on the bus after our 30 minute stop, a Spanish woman asked him to turn his dance party down. Finally, we were able to sleep. We made it back to Bilbao around 12:30am and waited in line for a cab. I slept at Amanda’s host family’s apartment since the metro was closed and I am too cheap/ poor to pay for a bajillion dollar cab ride from San Mames to Las Arenas (a 45 METRO ride). Amanda and I slept and then headed to school for her 9am class and my 10am class.

OVERALL…
Overall, it was a great weekend. Logistically, it was a nightmare and I wouldn’t do that part again. I was blessed with a great travel buddy, and we kept each other’s sanity when we both wanted to break down in Milan Central Station on Thursday night (yes, we went through every guy we’ve every liked, relived every sappy sweet moment we’ve had in our lives, etc.)We had a blast in CT and we met some really cool people. Everyone has a story to tell, and traveling through Europe as a college student has been a great way to hear a few. I’m headed to Germany this weekend, sadly, without Amanda. I’m going with another friend and I’m excited- I know we’ll have a blast. More on that adventure next Monday…

THIS WEEK’S SET OF SHOUTOUTS- in case anyone is really reading this… haha.
Palace ladies- you’re in my thoughts and prayers daily- the purple beads come with me everywhere. I love all of you!
Amigos- I can’t wait to see yall when I get back to the states! And I mean all of my friends across the US- from Arizona (JULIE!) to Texas to Mississippi and everywhere in between.
Mama and Daddy- I love you and I miss you and I can’t wait to talk to you soon! Tell Grandaddy that I love him and I miss him and that I can’t wait to see him when I get home!
Robbie- I wish you were here with me! You’d be so much fun to travel with… someday, we’ll do Europe together, someday. In the more recent future, can we just hang out? Over Christmas break, please? I’ll fight Cameron and Albert for time with you… haha, but seriously. Good luck on Friday night!