Day 9: The Cure

My mind is still reeling from the dreamlike events that took place today. If you are ever in Italy and are starting to feel homesick, take like five trains until you arrive at Cinque Terre. Homesickness instantly cured. This trip literally could not have happened at a more convenient time. I was definitely dreading this trip when I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and looked at the rainy forecast. However, I'm so glad that I sucked it up and went anyway (even though I didn't really have a choice).

Cinque Terre is a chain of five villages that are all off of the coast next to the Mediterranean Sea. We visited just two of the three and it was absolutely breathtaking. Years ago the area suffered from a major landslide which made for a unique architectural norm; a lot of the houses actually "hang" from the cliffs there. I don't want to sound like a typical tourist but the water was so blue. With the clear blue water, shining sun, colorful houses, and cute little shops I felt like I was dreaming. Cinque Terra is definitely the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life. I'm literally getting chills just thinking about it.

Probably my favorite village was Monterosso, the very last one. It was more of a beach setting than the rest were. I had the best hot dog with tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, and ketchup. It was absolutely delicious. There was this huge rock connecting to the beach that looked like Pride Rock from The Lion King so of course I had to climb it. The terrain was definitely more than I bargained for because of course I fell flat in front of like twenty people. I dropped my camera and got a little scraped up at the same time. Obviously the first thing I did after this was laugh hysterically and thank God that I didn't fall down the entire cliff because that would have been a tragic situation. I also got it on video which was even more hysterical. Although I completely embarrassed myself, I for sure got an interesting memory out of it.

The last place we went to was called Viajerro I believe. It kind of reminded me of a strip in like Florida (or what I would imagine one would look like). Our teacher, Isabella, has spent the past week in class raving about seafood that she always gets from there so of course we had to try it. Ever heard of a food truck? Well this was a food boat that you walked up to and there was a cute older lady frying all kinds of seafood. I just got regular shrimp and fries with a Coke. It was so good. The shrimp was extra fresh and the batter she used was sunflower so that was healthier as well. After that we went to a gelato place per usual and had a dessert. The pigeons here were extra bold but I'm bolder so we all know who won that fight. After gelato and yelling at dirty birds, we headed back to Florence where I'm now in bed trying to stay awake to finish this post.

I think it's amazing that just last night I was so utterly sad and then Italy reminded me that I should never doubt it's ability to impress. I had a lot of fun and laughs with the girls I was with for the majority of the day. I am so thankful for this trip today and for the amazing women I got to spend it with. They really boosted my spirits and made today the most phenomenal day I've had so far. Special shoutout to Veronica for being extra awesome. She also has a blog linked here!! Tomorrow I get to sleep in so homegirl is about to get a head start on them z's. Sorry this post was extra long but at least it wasn't depressing like yesterday's haha.

Smooches,
The College Natural