Our weekend destinations:
We met at school early Friday morning and took a double-Decker bus to our first stop, Genova. Since this weekend trip was put on by our program, almost all 70 of us went, so that was awesome. As soon as we got to Genova, we were met by tour guide ladies who split us up into small groups and took us on a tour of the city - such a perk because college kids on a budget don't go on guided tours. ;)
Welcome to Genova.
St. Lawrence Cathedral in Genova, where it's believed St. John the Baptist's ashes are buried.
St. Lawrence Cathedral in Genova, where it's believed St. John the Baptist's ashes are buried.
We walked around the city and learned fun facts like Genova was the childhood home of Christopher Columbus and once was a bustling medieval port. :)
A few hours later, we were dropped off in the ritzy town of Santa Margherita. Ritzy as in.. Las Vegas + Palm Springs x 4,000. It was drop-dead-stunning. Sort of like Disneyland on steroids. Yes, it was actually MORE extravagant than Main Street Disneyland. Super colorful buildings, perfect landscaping, bright colors everywhere. We went to a whole-in-the-wall focaccia place for lunch and then walked up to a charming church and gardens on the top of the city.
Also, Madonna has a house here! Too bad we couldn't stop by.
Looking down at the town of Santa Margherita
Later in the afternoon, we found some gelato and took it to the beach (and finally got our toes wet in the Mediterranean!) While we were at the beach, we met two guys (Frederico and his friend) because their yellow lab was playing on the beach.. and who can resist an adorable dog?! We found out they lived in the town and worked at a bar up the street. They recommended some good places for dinner and told us there would be live music on the water later that night. We headed out for a late dinner and enjoyed great pasta, live music and the all-around amazing scene of Santa Margherita. (And we also ran into Federico again!)
Gelato & the beach.
Federico bought us all some drinks!
Saturday morning we took the train to Riomaggiore, the last and most southern of the 'five cities' of Cinque Terre. We walked up to the highest point of the city and were blown away by the expansive sea, and the quaint, bright houses nestled into the mountainside.
Top of Riomaggiore.
We decided to first head even more south to the city of Spezia for lunch. After discovering a great cafe for lunch and shopping in the city, we took the train up the coast and stopped in each of the five cities along the way.
In Spezia, lots of colorful boats.
Manarola was our first stop, and was a gorgeous town filled with boats. In between the rain (and thundering), I was able to snap some pictures of the electric blue and turquoise water. It wasn't cold outside, so it was really hard to resist the urge to jump in the clear water, (especially after being so hot from walking around all bundled up.)
Manarola. Loooving this town.
Happy happy happy.
We skipped Corniglia, a smaller town at the top of the mountainside, mostly because climbing the 365 steps didn't seem too appealing in the pouring rain. Plus we only had a few hours of daylight left, and wanted to appreciate the other two cities as well.
Vernazza, the second most northern city, was beautiful and complete with a protected bay and towering cliffs.
May I please move here?
Vernazza.
Kelsey & Natalie.
Our final city was Monterosso. We had a great dinner on the beach and could hear the rain pouring on the terrace all night. It was beautiful to watch and hear the rain on the ocean, be warm while still sitting outside, and be enjoying the surreal setting!
Conveniently, almost everyone in our group ended up at the last town around 10, so we sort of took over the train station for an hour while waiting for our train back to Santa Margherita. It was totally hectic and hilarious and funny.
Sunday morning began with a boat ride to Portofino, where we were able to see amazing mansions off the Italian coast. If anyone wins the lottery any time soon, I would definitely recommended real estate in this area.
I mean, this one wasn't too bad:
We got to Portofino and I was literally dazzled by the harbor. I can only think of words like ritzy and dazzling to do all of these places justice. We found a tiny road up a hill and decided to hike for awhile until we soon saw sweeping views of the port, the Dolce & Gabbana house, villas tucked into the mountainside, yachts parked in the harbor, and people zipping around on jet-skis. Rough life. I wanted to handcuff myself to this a ginormous private yacht and never leave:
View of Portofino, I'm in loooove.
Say hello to my new summer home:
I can't even really tell you what we did that day because it was just the most relaxing and beautiful day. I felt so clear headed and peaceful, just taking in the gorgeous-ness of the Italian coast and feeling like I had zero obligations, worries, or things to think about. It was a great day.
(Too bad as I'm currently writing this I'm supposed to be doing my Italian homework, but since I'm totally confused it can be put off until tomorrow, right? So much for having zero obligations.)
We then had the rest of Sunday to relax, which consisted of this:
The natural beauty of Santa Margherita, Portofino, and Cinque Terre is a type of beauty that I never could have dreamed up, nor can any my pictures fully do justice. I feel so blessed and extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to venture to this incredible place.
(Side-note: Not too worry, not everything Italy is in fact absolutely perfect-and-beautiful-every-second; on the metro home today we saw some guy shooting up herion. For real. So I guess the world is not a perfect place.)
Miss everyone!
Love,
Lauren
