Venerdi 24.04.09

It was still dark when we all met up in the lobby that morning to catch the train to Cinque Terre. Among the bleary-eyed travelers:

·Josh, so ready to go that he was practically panting

·Hilary, barely had her eyes open just like me although we were the first ones in the group to arrive

·Aamir, happy-go-lucky as always and kept exclaiming "I'm so EXCITED"

·Charles, silent, obviously keeping his excitement on the inside

These reactions were pretty bright-eyed-and-busy-tailed considering we had all been up till the wee hours of the morning and I myself never went to sleep at all. I just had to change my clothes and grab my backpack before I was ready to hit the road. This is of course was the main reason I was so successful in being on time for the painful 7:20am train. However convenient this was, it also made it easy for my friends to take embarrassing pictures of me passed out with my head slouched to one side during the trip. Hilary and I slept for the 4 hours it took to get there from Milano save for the very end when Josh yelled "Look at the water!" The best part is that he didn't mean to yell so loudly, he just couldn't contain his enthusiasm. He was acting as cruise director for this trip and couldn't wait to start the itinerary.

Since we were headed southbound, the train went first through Monterosso Al Mare, Vernazza, and Corniglia through the tunnels bored into the cliffs. We arrived in Manarola, the second to last town before Riomaggiore, around 11:30am. Josh had seriously done his homework and found us one of the only affordable hostels in the whole area. There was a different type of price to pay however:it was so eco-friendly (very trendy thing to be especially when surrounded by a gorgeous national park) that showers were only 5 minutes long, the hot water heater turned off at 10pm anyway, and there was a midnight lights-out curfew. Not typically what we go for but it turned out just fine because all the fresh air and sunshine associated with hiking put us to sleep even before our little heads hit the pillow.

We were saving the big hikes for Sabato e Domenica so that afternoon we just did the Via Dell'Amore (Lover's Walk) from Manarola to Riomaggiore. Unfortunately, the only purpose of this walk was to get to the beach on the other side. I tried not to let my heart break as I passed couple after couple holding hands and then after a while, just tried not to throw up from the cuteness overload. Everyone who walks through there either writes their names on the portiocoed section or attaches a lock with the date to a part of the railing so it has turned into a layered mess of scrawled declarations. Not my style anyway.

The secluded cove of a beach we found was worth braving it though. The sun-warmed rocks provided the perfect base for more napping and we just wiled away the remaining daylight before heading back for dinner.