In Rome, we skip April showers.

Saturday, April 2

After beautiful weather during the first week of April, we decided it was time to hit the beach to get some color. Sperlonga is a town about an hour and a half south of Rome by train and known for its beautiful, sandy beaches. Sarah and I woke up early to go to the market to pick up some picnic food. We took sandwiches, fresh fruit and chips with us to enjoy a long day of just laying on the beach. The weather was unseasonably warm, so the beach was nice and quiet.

Although the water was too cold, we all went in for a dip to cool off from the burning sun. Forgetting that the sun is strongest in the spring, no wanted to buy sunscreen, which is upwards of 18 euro here. And yes, we all came home with sunburn.

April 7-10

Thank you Leslie for making sure I made it to Cinque Terre. The five towns nestled together along the northern Italian coast could not have made for a better vacation.

While in northern Italy, my friends and I decided to take a look at the leaning tower of Pisa on the way to Cinque Terre. The tower really is leaning. And it is pretty much the only sight the small town of Pisa has to offer...the square was crowded with tourists taking ridiculous pictures with the tower (my group included).

Cinque Terre is the exact opposite of Rome...but the two cities are each perfectly Italian. While Rome is chaos, Cinque Terre is calm. We stayed in a beautiful apartment in the center town, Corniglia, which is set high up in the cliffs and surrounded by a rocky coastline. After being in the town for only a few hours, the locals began to recognize us. Most tourists skip Corniglia when touring the five cities because to get into the city you need to walk up "hundreds of steps." Yes, for once my roommate Sarah's Rick Steve’s tour book was correct. Every time we wanted to go back into the town, we needed to convince ourselves that we could survive another exhausting climb. 

The view was worth it.

Day number two was full of views. We decided to hike between the three northern cites (Corniglia-Vernazza-Manarosso), which we were told would amount to about four or five hours total. The first hike was beautiful. The early morning air was so fresh and we were surrounded in new springtime greenery as we looked down to the waves crashing on the rocks far below.

Once in Vernazza, we treated ourselves to freshly squeezed orange juice and foccacia with pesto (Cinque Terre is famous for its pesto). After touring the city, we made our way towards our second hiking path. After finding that the main path was closed, we got directions to the alternate route. After four hours of hiking up and around three mountains, our tired, sweat-soaked bodies made it to Monterosso.

After another snack, a gelato and exploring the city for a little while, the only thing I could think clearly about was a nap and a shower! We took a train back to Corniglia and miraculously were able to climb the stairs into town for a siesta.

Day three we headed down south to the town of Manarola where we took the “Love Trail” to Riomaggiore. The trail was easy (thank goodness – my body felt the hike from the day before!) and beautiful. In Europe, couples in love will write their initials on a lock and then lock it to a bridge. This trail was covered in locks and all other symbols of affections: baby bibs, colored string, hair ties, and more. It was a beautiful way to end our trip.