Cinque Terra - you heard me right, that's FIVE!

Our next blog post brings us back to Italia for a long weekend full of beaches, old Italian women, and hiking!

Our morning started at 4:30am when we woke up. Early, yes, worth it, yes. We caught the 5:16am train from Nice to Ventimiglia (border of Italy) so that we would not be late for our 6:33am train to La Spezia. We were on time, but let me mention the group of 6-8 people (18-24 age range) who boarded this French train in Monaco. Wow, these people were awfully loud and awake for 5:30am! It was then that we finally realized they still reeked of booze and were walking a little funny.. ah yes, that makes sense now. So here we were, motoring along to Italy while the drunks made their way home from the bar. Classic.

So early in the morning to be on the train

Most of the hostels in the Cinque Terra region were booked or way too expensive, so where we stayed was a distance away. To get there, we needed to take a city bus about 30 minutes from La Spezia. On this lovely bus ride, we encountered a thong of elderly people.... one of which stands out in our mind. Plopping down beside Ryan, a lovely Italian woman began having a conversation with her friend across the way. Obviously jealous, Ryan must have sent out signals to this woman that he wanted to talk too, because low and behold, she began blabbering in Italian to him! Looking at me to translate (no, I don't speak Italian), all I could say was "Non capisco italiano"! So this woman was fully aware that we didn't speak a word of Italian, I could only pick up a few words here and there, she continued (throughout the 45 minute bus ride) to speak to Ryan in Italian. Luckily, a girl beside me spoke English, French, German, and Italian (overachieve much?) so she was able to translate some of what the woman was saying. Turns out, she pointed out exactly where we needed to get off the bus - YAY! If we didn't have this angel of a woman who was in love with Ryan, we would have been lost in the mountains. Thanks random lady!

"Yeah I'm the Man!" But Ryan, she was 78 years old. "So?"

Anywho, we checked into our hostel a-okay and the room and views were lovely. There was just one problem: we had brought groceries with us to cook dinner since the web site said they had cooking facilities. Turns out, cooking facilities to them meant a refrigerator.... and that's it! Look on the bright side, at least the meat we brought wouldn't go bad! Some quick sandwich-making and eating, and we were off to explore and sleep on the beach (remember, we were up at 4:30am).

The view from our hostel balcony outside of La Spezia

We arrived in Monterosse al Mare to enjoy the sunshine and take a little napski on the beach. It was beautiful.... waking up with towel lines on your face and all. We had some peaches, and definitely some lovely Italian gelato and ventured our way along the cliff's edge to hike to the next town (it's just what you do). We thought the hike was going to be short or something... needless to say, it was two hours of up and down (but mainly up hahaha). Quite an experience though, walking along the edge of a mountain on a two foot wide path. The interesting parts were when we crossed paths with people.... who was going to take the inside, and was someone going to fall to their death? Luckily, no tumbles occurred.

Apes 'n Ju enjoy some gelato in Monterosso

After the long hike, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hostel (after all the last bus into the mountains was around 8:30pm - it was approaching slowly). Unfortunately, no old Italian women were flirting with Ryan on this bus trip back to the hostel, but it was fun nonetheless. We got back, showered, and headed down to the restaurant for some 4 euro pizzas and cheap wine. Somehow, the chef forgot to add cheese to mine and April's pizzas, but we weren't complaining (much). After dinner our beds were waiting.

The next day we headed to Vernazza to start our morning on the beach (aka laying on a rock like hermit crabs). Luckily, we beat the crowds and got a place to lay down and enjoy the sunshine. Ryan, being the little boy that he is, went scavenging for hermit crabs, shrimp, and starfish. Much to his luck (does that make sense?), he found a starfish and brought it over gleefully to show us. So fun! There were also numerous hermit crabs, and point sea urchin things at the bottom that you definitely didn't want to step on.

Starfish movin' around on Apes' foot. Nice pedicure.

Some delightful swimming and tanning occurred this lovely morning, we ate some sandwiches, cherries, and pringles, and we were off to hike the next 3 villages - Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore! If you ever go there, please do the hikes rather than taking the train from town to town. The whole experience was in the hiking with breathtaking views and dusty shoes.

Lovely photo shoots occurred, pushing strangers on the mountain's edge happened, and a lover's walk endured for this lovely Saturday on the Italian Riviera. Here are some photos:

The Canadian trio trailblazing

Just some of what we saw along the way

Another eve at the hostel with some pizza (with cheese this time) happened, along with some Phase 10 (thanks Bev!), and Italian wine made for a lovely night. I think Ryan lost again, right? Just like usual.

The pretty colours of the villages and the lovely town where Ryan caught his starfish

Sunday morning we were up and at 'em bright and early to explore just a little bit more before we were to catch our 1pm train back to Nice! Unfortunately, it was a blistering hot day and the train wasn't air conditioned very well... AND the windows didn't open like usual - very disappointing. It made for a very long and sweaty 5 hours, that's for sure! You really start to appreciate the French SNCF trains once you've been in Italy for more than a day! WOOOOOT.