Rob’s European Vacation 2009

Cinque Terre…what more can you say but amazing, wonderful, beautiful, awe-inspiring…

I loved this area so much four years ago that I knew I wanted to come back and in good weather so I can do all the hiking I didn’t get to do before.  Iam so glad I did!  I had a great time there, even if my hostel was a bit out of the way and it took me six trains to get there!

So my trip to Cinque Terre started out a bit off.  I was supposed to catch the early train at seven thirty out of Interlaken so that I could get the fastest connections and all that jazz to Cinque Terre.  Well I woke up one minute before the train was supposed to leave!  Ooops.  Lol…well that was too damn early anyways!  I’m on vaction for crying out loud!

So I woke up, ate breakfast and took my time.  I left and grabbed the nine thirty train out of Interlaken and like I said, had six trains to get to La Spezia.  I also had a two hour layover in Domodossola which is this dinky town right over the border in Italy.  I walked around for a bit and went into the local grocery store to grab something.  Ended up with some Coke Zero (it’s crack and I blame it all on my coworker Lisa!) and some crackers.  That ended up being pretty much the only thing besides breakfast I’d eat that day.  No wonder I’m losing weight like crazy.  So far I’ve had to tighten up my belt by one belt hole.  Anyways…back to the trains.  I ended up in La Spezia just in time to catch the last bus to the hostel which was in a town called Biassa, high up in the hills above La Spezia.  That was the last bus for the day too which means you’re probably stuck up there all night.  I got to the hostel and met some other people there and watched Something About Mary with them.  Then we all headed to our rooms and I ended up catching up Survivor that I had downloaded in Munich and Switzerland..lol.

The next day I got up and got the bus down to Riomaggorie.  We all waited there for the trains and that’s where I learned there was a major rail strike the day before.  Thankfully I didn’t get too delayed but that’s probably why it took so long the day before.  So we hopped on the train and headed to Montorosso. We all got off and because a couple of them were just going to chill out for the day I said my goodbyes and took off for the trail.  The hike between all five towns is about six miles long with varying degrees of difficulty.  I choose to take the hard part first and I’m glad I did because it was only getting hotter and by the time I got to Vernazza, I was sweaty and beat.

In Vernazza I took a bit of time and relaxed, enjoyed the views, had some pizza and gelato (I LOVE GELATO) and continued on my trek.  By the time I was done with all five towns, I was exhausted, but I was also accomplished and happy that I got to see some of the most beautiful area and be in the Italian sun for a few hours.  I just love love love this area!

So I caught up with some of my hostelmates again and we hung out for a bit before the bus took us back to Biassa.  Once there I grabbed a quick shower and got all the salt off of me.  Then I settled down for the night and easily had a good nights rest.

I already miss Cinque Terre.  I’ll be back I’m sure, how could I not!

Tags: 1, Europe, Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Europe, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.