Cinque Terre

This past weekend we went on our first overnight weekend trip to Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre is a group of five little cities on the western coast of Italy.  IT WAS AMAZING!!!! I had heard so much about it but it really exceeded every expectation that I had!  The perfect weekend just renewed the fact that the coast of Italy is my favorite and is seriously the most beautiful place in the world.  

We arrived there on Friday by train and settled into the apartment that we rented for the weekend.  We found the apartment for pretty cheap so we didn't know what to expect but it ended up being perfect!  AND it had an INCREDIBLE view!  The next day we went on a hike that connects all five cities.  The weather was overcast which ended up being perfect.  I think if the sun had been out we would have roasted.  The hike was 9 kilometers long, a bit more challenging then I expected but was worth every single second.  I cannot describe how awesome it was hiking on these mountains sides over looking the ocean.  It is something that I will never forget!  On Sunday the sun finally came out and it was really hot so we spent the day at the beach before heading back home to Siena. 

I could not have imagined a more perfect weekend!  I had so much fun and of course took A TON of pictures...

The view from our balcony 

Inside our apartment looking out the window 

Our Italian/German roommate Barbara came along and we had so much fun with her! 

Our balcony view at night (It was MUCH cooler in person) 

AMAZING gelato

The water was crystal clear! 

This was the pass we had to buy for the hike 

Hanging out at the beach 

Enjoying the long hike

They have the coolest flowers here

Stopping to stretch

We did it! 

At the very end of the hike there is a tunnel called the "Via Dell'Amore" which means "way of Love"  It is this cool tunnel where couples put a lock on this fence then throw the key into the ocean showing that they will always be together.  Mckelle and I made a promise that we will come back here with our husbands some day!  

At the entrance of the Via Dell' Amore

There was a wedding going on right by the tunnel with music and dancing so we had a little dance party of our own... it was awesome! 

This is the bench in front of the key fence where the "lovers" are supposed to kiss... we didn't have anyone to kiss... so we just pretended 

Everyone writes their name and the name of the one they love in a heart on the wall. People get really creative and there was really cool graffiti all over the tunnel 

McKelle and I did a heart of our own :) 

 

We had so much fun watching the amazing sunset at the beach  

Dancing at the beach 

The view was indescribable 

Hanging out at the docks on our last day there 

Eating nutella sandwiches on the train

The weekend was perfect!  Barbara said it perfectly in her broken english and cute German accent "This I will never forget, my whole life!" 

Good old homemade chocolate chip cookies

One night at dinner McKelle and I discovered that Manjola (our host "mom") and Barbara (the other Italian student living with us) had never had a homemade chocolate chip cookie!  They just don't make cookies at home like we do in America.  We realized what a tragedy this was and decided to make them cookies.  Manjola loved the idea so she bought us all of the ingredients and everything.  It was so fun cooking in our little kitchen and they turned out great! 

It was quite the adventure trying to convert the recipe without access to the internet or any kind of encyclopedia but we did it! 

They don't sell chocolate chips so we had to get chocolate bars and crush them up 

Zucchero- sugar 

McKelle, Manjola and Barbara waiting for the cookies to cook

We burnt the bottom of the first batch but eventually we got the hang of it 

They were delicious! 

They loved their cookies

We were so happy that they liked our "American" treat 

Evening Stroll

The other night McKelle I went for a walk and found the most amazing view right by this quaint little vineyard.  We loved it so much that we hung out there and watched the sunset.  It was so fun and so incredible.  I really don't think I've ever seen anything quite as beautiful.  This is just a little taste of how my everyday life is here.... I LOVE LIVING IN ITALY!!! 

The leaning tower

The Next Adventure was visiting the city of Pisa and of course the leaning tower.  I really thought it was so cool and we had the opportunity to climb up to the top.  Walking up the staircase was so weird!  It sounds so dumb but you really can feel yourself leaning to one side as you walk up.  Not to mention that the stairs are really steep and slippery and I totally fell on our way down- but don't worry no serious injuries occurred.  The area around the tower  is pretty much the only cool place in Pisa though so McKelle and I had plenty of time to take cool touristy pictures.  We did all of the classic poses and then got a little creative... 

On the top of the tower

Leaning over ON the leaning tower of Pisa

hanging out at the bottom

The duomo next to the tower

Classic pose

I think the tower looks really fake  in this one

Thank goodness for Drill 

This one is my personal favorite 

Calcio!

For one of our activities as a group we went to a Calcio (soccer) match in Siena.  It was so much fun!  McKelle and I got really into it and were cheering really loud the whole time.  Unfortunately the final score was zero to zero... but hey, at least we didn't lose.  

San Gimignano and Volterra

For our next weekend day trip we traveled as a group to the cities of San Gimignano and Volterra.  They were both really beautiful places and had a lot to see.  We visited San Gimignano first.  It is the city of towers and we saw the most beautiful view from the top of one of the highest towers.  Volterra is where that the second Twilight book takes place so that was kind of cool.  The second movie wasn't actually filmed there (we plan to visit that city another weekend) but it is the name of the city that the author actually used.  Surprisingly my favorite part of the day was the bus ride to both the cities.  The country side was amazing and it was fun to just relax and look out the window at Tuscany.  

San Gimignano 

View from the top of one of the towers in San Gimignano 

They have these little one-person trucks everywhere! They are so cool.  My friends and I are trying to figure out how we can get one back to Provo. 

McKelle, Lizzi and I 

On the top of a tower 

In San Gimignano they have a Gelateria that has won the "Gelato World Championship" multiple years in a row.  Needless to say it was delicious! I got mixed berry, mango and lemon :) 

We saw the most amazing rainbow on the way home, this picture doesn't really show how bright and big it was but it really was incredible! 

My favorite shoes 

McKelle, Julia, Brooke, Me and Lizzi in Volterra