The Five Lands

Ciao amore! This weekend, my friends and I went to Cinque Terre in the Liguria Region of Northern Italy. This UNESCO World Heritage Site was one of the most beautiful place I've ever been to in my lifetime. I knew it would be amazing before I left because several other students who had been there before me have raved about it so much. Some even praised it to be "their favorite place in Italy," but even so, I truly was taken aback. To see the sites in person, from sea level to hundreds of feet in the air, were all just full of incredible natural beauty.

Between each of the mountains are five quaint seaside towns on the water, Riomaggiore,

Corniglia, Manarola, Vernazza, and Monterosso. It was an adventurous and fun weekend complete with lots of hiking, stunning views and natural beauty, prosecco, pizza and dancing under the stars. On Saturday morning, we took the train to La Spezia, and a connecting train to Riomaggiore, the first of the five towns.When we started the hike that early morning, it was foggy and cloudy, but still very beautiful. For a minute, I forgot I was in Italy because it reminded me of some Nordic seaside mountain range. The hike from Riomaggiore to Manarola along Via dell' Amore (Lover's Path) was extremely easy - so easy - I was unimpressed. I had no idea what I was in front of me. Once we arrived in Corniglia, after climbing over 400 steps and hills to get up there, it was starting to get increasingly difficult.

After the long hike to Corniglia to Vernazza, we were so tired that we took a long lunch break and rested by the sea. Lucky for us, the sun eventually came out while we were in Vernazza! The belltower and colorful houses sparkled in the sun, as small fisherman's boats bobbed up and down in the calm, iridescent blue sea.

From Vernazza, we hiked the most difficult mountain of them all - a two hour, 3 km journey to Monterosso. After sweating profusely and nearly passing out from the narrow trails hundreds of feet above sea level, we arrived in beautiful Monterosso al Mare. Luckily, we found a hostel apartment that fit exactly eight people as soon as we got off the mountain. We quickly put our backpacks down, changed and headed to the beach where we immediately jumped in the ocean. Submerged into the cool and crystal clear water, my body was instantaneously relieved from the physical stress of the arduous hike. That night, we went out to dinner for my friend Sophie's 20th birthday. Walking back from the restaurant, we passed by the beach and noticed an Italian dance party with a live DJ and decided to join in. At first, I could tell the people surrounding us were a little apprehensive about the eight American girls barging in on the dance floor, all obviously buzzed. However, after a couple of songs, and a few genuine attempts at Italian line dancing, we were in with the crowd and made a few friends. It was a very fun night in a stunning place. I hope that everyone gets a chance to go here at some point in their lives. I can't wait until the next time I go back already.