Camogli and Cinque Terre

The last two days have been simply amazing.  I have heard about the Cinque Terre region for years, as it's one of Wes's favorite places. Not only did it live up to the hype, but yesterday and today have been my two of my favorite days on this grand adventure.  I guess that doesn't mean much in perspective though, as every day was been pretty mind blowing. Each city offers something completely different.  Venice was about the canals, Galelio, gelato, and overcoming jet lag (fun fact- when Audrey Hepburn filmed a scene from one of her movies in Venice, she insisted on doing her own stunts.  In one scene, she falls into the canal.  Well, the canals are absolutely filthy with gas and debris and probably dead bodies. She suffered from eye infections ever since).  Florence was the cradle of the renaissance, so thoroughly infused with its history it's hard to separate out in my mind any other era, and was home to the most impressive architecture I've ever seen. Volterra was ancient, a fortress, and quirky?  I'm not even kidding when I say it was also haunted.  It was like stepping back into a time when vampires and warewolvs could have easily been real.  I don't know why I've mentally tied Volterra to those haunted images. It was gorgeous, but to each his own interpretation, and that was mine.  Maybe because it rained while we were there and I drank lots of red wine? 

Camogli is, again, totally different.  Stepping off our bus and down exactly 90 stairs to our hotel, I felt rejuvenated.  Maybe it's the ocean and the fact that our windows swing out over surf, maybe it's the tropical-like hills that surround us, or maybe it's the Art Deco style buildings (that we're obviously built way before Art Deco was a thing) but I LOVE it here. 

(Yep, a shameless selfie.  Had to rock my OARS hat for a photo op)

Yesterday we caught the train from Camogli to Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre is a collection of five tiny costal towns all linked by a paved-though-precarious, cliff-clinging walkway (like the alliteration there, Dad?)  

This is the train station in Camogli- prettier than BART? I think so...

I got most of the Cinque Terre shots on my camera, so you'll have to wait for those (they're worth it. And I'm not even that good at photography).  But this is one of my favorites from my phone:

Photos don't do this place justice, not even minutely.  My one and only disappointment was we didn't see any cliff divers, which apparently this area is known for, according to my wonderful boyfriend, Jordan Baxter, and my imagination that it could totally be possible.

Colorful boats abound!

This morning I woke up super early and hiked up along the ridge line outside of Camogli.  I have been staring up there since we arrive, wondering if it was possible. It has to be a killer view from up there, right?! So I got up just after the sun (because I couldn't sleep, not because I was miraculously motivated), took a right outside our hotel, and mimed hiking uphill while pointing at the ridge to a poor chap just up and out getting a cappuccino. 

When I got to the top, there's a plaque that says it's over 900 stairs. I was surprised to find a bakery, bar, and church (heaven? Maybe so) at the top.  Oh, and then a road.  I could have driven up here? Well damn. Then I ate gelato. 

 

That little cove down there is Camogli.  It looks farther than I think it is- the hike took me about 2 hours to reach the top.  But with 900 vertical steps, it felt like I had climbed 20 miles.  So worth it, though- as are most things that difficult (I'm pretty sure my mom taught me that?) 

About 30 minutes after I got to the top, it started to rain and the skies progressively darkened. As tempting as it was to watch the rain fall and eat some more gelato, I quickly decided to make my way back down.  As chance plays it's usual game, the skies cleared as I reached the bottom and it turned into a beautiful day.  But you couldn't pay me to climb back up, unless maybe on the back of a donkey or the sculpted back of David that all the vendors in this country sell in their shops. But, as no donkey or David materialized, I headed back into town to seek out an espresso. It is now looking like it's going to start raining again, and I'm relaxing in our gloriously white and coastal themed room.  Okay, I'm resting because the hike wore me out. 

Ciao!