cinque terre adventures + a little more

IS THIS REALLLL LIFEEEE

alright, this is going to be more pictures than words. i find it harder and harder to update this thing as school progresses and travels during the weekend take up much of my free time. alsoooooo i cant even explain the views i am blessed to see, so enjoy the pictures!

when i made my last post, a beautiful sunset was approaching and i managed to catch it in time to take a photo or two. this was my view out of my window (unedited).

i also saw the pantheon finally! the sky was so amazing that morning. (by the way, if you click on the pictures, you can enlarge them - tip for those who dont know).

early saturday morning, after waking up at 6:07am for our 6:10am train, and not being able to take the 9:45am one since it was full, we finally caught the 12:10 train to cinque terre. we gave in and got mcdonalds (for the first time) while we were waiting.

i cant even describe how beautiful cinque terre was. so here are some pictures:

in front of riomaggiore (the first of 5 cities and also where we stayed overnight)

panorama of riomaggiore

the view of riomaggiore at night

we hiked the through all 5 cities, which was 11 kilometers long (about 7 miles), and the trail is called "sentiero azzuro." there is a total elevation difference of 500 meters between the highest and lowest points of the trail. this means that many "steps" (aka rocks that could reach up past my knees) lined the cliffs. we hiked on trails that were sometimes no wider than 1 foot. this made is especially difficult when people were passing from the other side.

via dell' amore
couples attach locks to fences, bridges, etc.
then throw the the keys into the sea
to signify their love
(like the bridge in paris)

the fourth of 5 cities - vernazza
we were up this high!

one of many jellyfishes we saw
jackie later got stung by one at the beach
no worries - the lifeguards had ammonia
so no one had to pee on her :)

an especially narrow part of the trail
with a cliff immediately on the left

this experience was unbelievable. while im not the hiking type, and definitely felt some complaints arising during the 6 hr trek (did i mention we had our backpacks and everything we had brought with us?), it was unforgettable and im so glad we accomplished hiking all 5 cities, even if we wanted to die at some points, or felt like we were going to fall off the edge. the views were amazing, the water was the clearest i have ever seen, and i did it with some of my best friends. and if i learned anything from the hike, i learned to ease my fear of heights. as one who gets uneasy while 50 stories up in a glass elevator, i was eerily calm while scaling the edge of mountains.

in the mountains
and loving it

an example of the "steps" we had to scale
going up was just as difficult as going down

monday was spent catching up on homework (as we already have much to do and not enough time!). we also happened to visit the trevi fountain during a tour my professor gave for my mixed media class today. i made a wish and tossed a coin in :) the fountain was wayyy larger than i imagined. the detail put into sculptures around here leaves me at a loss for words. sorry the photo is a little dark, it was still about 9am and a little overcast. i plan on visiting again though! next time with friends and a bottle of wine.

(still working on the nice video by the way! hopefully ill have it done soon - im running out of time to work on side projects!)

look at these opportunities!!!!!
heres our weekend schedules for the semester:

Sept. 17 - 19: Day trip on the 18th to Assisi, Italy

Sept. 24 - 27: Day trip on the 25th to Florence, Italy

Sept. 30 - Oct. 4: South field trip to Sorrento/Naples/Pompeii, Italy + Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest

Oct. 8 - 11: Staying in Rome (maybe?)

Oct. 15 - 18: Prague, Czech

Oct. 22 - 25: Book workshop (staying in Rome)

Oct. 29 - Nov. 1: Venice, Italy with my LOVELY grandma - how lucky I am that she gets to visit me AND show me around Venice

Nov. 5 - 8: North field trip to Basel and Zurich, Switzerland, stopping in southern Germany, and spending the rest of the weekend in Milan, Italy (probably)

Nov. 12 - 15: London, England

Nov. 19 - 22: Some famous cooking class in Rome

Nov. 26 - 29: Dublin, Ireland (still planning)

Dec. 3 - 6: Athens, Greece (still planning)

Dec. 10 - 13: No travel due to finals

Dec. 19th!!!!! HOMEEE