Cinque Terre

I haven't been able to upload photos, so this entry is just going to be words and I'll add the photos in the next entry later.

Before hiking Cinque Terre, I spent one night in a hostel in a little town called Levanto, which was right on the Mediterranean. After gettign settled I wandered down to the beach and jumped right in. The water was gorgeous; much warmer than I'm used to (granted it doesn't take much) and saltier with views of old Italian castles on teetering on the edges of high cliffs. I probably could have stayed in that water for days.

Afterwards I took a very long, hot shower (good water pressure is hard to find in European hostels) and then headed out for supper. I have been living pretty religiously off of bread (mostly stolen from the complementary breakfast buffet and eaten with packets of jam, nutella or honey), cheese, tomatoes, cheap fruit, water and the occasional full meal. So I decided to take the plunge and eat a full meal at a nice restaurant for the first time in a long time. It was a great decision, especially considering the huge hike I would be taking the next day.

So I hiked Cinque Terre, and it was gorgeous. And I carried all of my belongings on my back, which was not quite so fun, especially since the first mile considered of staircases. Just stairs. For one mile. With a 25 lb backpack. It was hot. But like I said, gorgeous.

After the first big hike I ended up in yet another Mediterranean adjacent town. I jumped in fully clothed, ate an apple, then took the next hike. Which was also quite challenging. Then I ate another apple and took the train to the next town (a landslide blocked the path so it was the only way to get across).

The last hike wasn't so much a hike as it was a path. But it was gorgeous. It was called "Via del Amore" or something. About halfway through there was this big white wall in which people had written their names or initals in a heart or the like, so I stopped and drew an octopus. I'll put in the picture in the next entry.

Then from Cinque Terre I went right to Rome, and that's where I'm writing from now. I'll post pictures from Cinque Terre and I'll write about Rome in the next entry.