#EPL- Cinque Terre etc.

Sorry I have been a little MIA again- just got back from another vacation ‘forced’ on me because the office was closed. Oh darn **snap with an arm swing indicating a sarcastic “oh shucks”**

So now, back to catching up here. I got back from London on Sunday July 8th, and my sister Kathleen landed in Milan on the 10th! Having visitors is nice :-) I met her at the airport and took the bus back to Centrale with her.

Somehow I managed to keep her awake with dinner, wine, and gelato until about 9pm to get her adjusted to the new timezone.

Unfortunately I did not have enough vacation time to take any days off, so while I drudged off to work on Wednesday, she slept in and had the day to herself. She only broke a few things while unsupervised :-) and then explored the Duomo and downtown Milan a bit.

That night we made a reservation at a restaurant called Rossini and went out to have a nice Italian meal cooked by a professional hah. I had an amazing pizza, Kathleen had some extraordinary ravioli, and the two older ladies sitting next to us actually struck up a conversation!!! Faith in Milan humanity restored (at least in that moment)!

We stopped at a bar called Twenty (which I realized upon arrival I had been to for lunch in my first week (see post from early March)) for one more drink and to watch the end of the England Croatia world cup game.

Thursday morning I went back to work while Kathleen did a DAY TRIP to Rome (3 hour train ride each way… crazy girl). But… it was disgustingly hot out so a day was about all that could be managed. She obviously got back late, so after work I ate a quick dinner and then headed out to do laundry. I can’t remember quite what happened that morning when I got to work, but something irritated me, again, and the depression from the week prior was still lingering. I was frustrated and frankly acting a little childish because I kept thinking, “I just want to go home.” Of course my instinct is always to send Matt a message when I am feeling down, so that is what I did. When he finally woke up and saw it, he was concerned that he had been waking up to a lot of these sad and frustrated messages. So that night, as I walked to the laundromat listening to some positive tunes, I made a resolution. I had exactly 50 days left in Europe. Fifty days is more than most people get in a LIFETIME in Europe. I made the choice, a resolution, to stay positive and appreciate these last 50 days. And in that moment, my entire perspective changed. I made the choice to see the good, and so I did. That’s all it took.

After Kathleen got back, we sat at my table and drank wine and talked until way too late.

I realized at some point during all of this that Kathleen and I had surprisingly never spent one-on-one time like this before. We are five years apart in age, and she hated me when we were growing up, but looking at us now you would never know. Our jokes and laughter flowed as freely as the wine. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Melanie had been there too.

Friday morning we once again parted ways as I went to work and she headed to explore the Castello Sforzesca in Milano. That night we made some dinner, of course had more wine, and then headed for an actual night out in downtown. There is an area called Naviglio that is known for its bars and restaurants, particularly along a canal that runs through the area. We wandered up and down the water a bit searching for that ever-illusive perfect bar that I look for in every city- crowded and local enough to be cool, but empty enough to get seated and touristy enough to have the employees speak english.

We started at a little Osteria kind of place where our waitress was not pleased that we were not having dinner. I tried my first (and only) Aperol Spritz. A Spritz is a super, super common drink for aperitivo in Europe- a drink consisting of Prosecco + “Aperol” or “Campari” which are both liqueurs that I have ONLY seen as mixers for a spritz haha. Honestly? I didn’t like it. I thought it tasted like licorice, which I don’t like, and kind of had to force myself to finish most of it.

Also, I had forgotten that I had purchased bug spray ONLY because folks had warned me that the bugs get really bad in the summer…. Specifically near the canal. Therefore we did not have any bug spray on. And therefore the bugs ate us alive. I think I got crazy eyes after about 5 minutes of sitting down and was about to start flipping tables when we gave in and spent 7 euros for a small bottle of bug spray from one of the street sellers. They know their audience, that’s for sure.

After we doused ourselves in bug spray, we moved on to another bar on the water.

We mostly stopped here because it was across the canal from a bar hosting a silent disco. Yes, you read that right. A silent disco. So people were wandering around wearing headphones which were playing music by a DJ that we could all see, but only they could hear. So bizarre and SO wonderful.

We wanted to join when we were done but all of a sudden it was after midnight and we needed to catch the metro back.

After getting back to our stop JUST in time (a lady was literally closing the gate as we were coming up), we decided we wanted one more stop. We grabbed seats at a bar I had been to a few times earlier called Mogamo. Since we were but a 1 minutes walk away from my apartment, we let ourselves relax and have a couple more glasses of wine (prosecco in my case.. Of course). That night our shenanigans led to the discovery that if you hold down an emoji, phones now let you select what skin color you want that emoji to be. #progress #mermaid

Saturday was our adventure day! After we woke up we had a couple of hours until our train to Cinque Terre, so we got ourselves cleaned up, stopped at the little cafe across the street for cappuccinos and croissants, and walked to the market a couple of streets down.

The street markets have been one of my favorite things I have found in Europe. Even on the days I don’t buy anything, I love walking through them simply because I love that they exist.

We made our way to the train station, grabbed a few sandwiches for the road, and hopped on our train to Monterosso! Our ticket there was on a regional train (not a fast train) so it was only minimally air conditioned and therefore hot as all get out. I let Kathleen have the seat next to the vent so it took about half the train ride for me to stop sweating hah. The train ride took about 3 hours in total.

And then Finally! We arrive in Monterosso!

We stayed at a cute little hotel called La Villa degli Argentieri. It was a nice hotel to the North / West of the town (kind of out of the way of the main stretch) but essentially right on the water. Our room was… small. It only had a double bed instead of two twins or a queen, so we were cozy, but, still nice.

They have a rooftop area accessible so you can take a few of the [free] beverages from your room’s mini fridge up there and enjoy (which we did that night). Unfortunately there IS a parking lot right in front of you, but it doesn’t much matter. The breeze and the lights of the towns down the coast are still incredibly soothing.

Anyway, we checked in, dropped off our bags, and headed out in search of a snack and a drink. We ended up at a place called Nuovo Eden Bar which DOES overlook the beach and the water directly. They even sat us at a table right at the railing of the deck. Perfect.

We ordered a cheese plate and a bottle of prosecco to split. We may have been a little ambitious on the prosecco, but we did it! Ha. Needless to say, we felt just fine as we left.

Kathleen wanted to see some of the other towns in Cinque Terre, and I was determined to hike at least part of the trail that connects the 5 towns (Cinque = 5, Terre = Lands…. 5 lands… 5 towns...get it? Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore).

We went back to the train station and went to a ticket counter. The lady was actually very nice and helpful, and we ended up buying the “Cinque Terre Card Train” for about 16 euros/person for 1 day which allowed unlimited rides within Cinque Terre (plus some other benefits I think). The plan was to go to Riomaggiore then work our way back north to Monterosso.

The train ride from Monterosso to Riomaggiore is about 20 minutes or less. We got off and wandered in town for just 20-30 minutes. We walked past some 5 year old’s birthday party where they had filled an entire plaza with bubbles… it looked so fun…

We then started looking for the path to hike from Riomaggiore to Manarola. I knew some friends and coworkers had mentioned that pieces of the trail were closed, but I couldn’t remember which ones. After finding the trailhead in Riomaggiore with a closed gate and a lock, I figured that was one of the sections. Power of Deductive reasoning.

I spent a little more time googling and it sounded like the southern 2 sections were closed, but that from Corniglia to Vernazza and Vernazza to Monterosso were still open. At this point it was already about 6pm? So we had a brief debate about if it was smart to start hiking, but I felt confident that the trail would only take about 2 hours and that the sun did not set until about 9pm. So.. we hopped back on the train, skipped Manarola and headed straight for Corniglia.

When we got off the train, we paused for a moment to take in the view, and in that moment I saw a FANTASTIC walking stick... just sitting there… all alone… with no one to care for it. Unfortunately, as I almost went to grab it and as Kathleen and I briefly discussed if anyone would miss it, we heard a voice from above, “There it is Dad!!!” We looked up- a girl was standing on a little overlook about 10 feet above us, pointing down at the stick and giving us disapproving glares as a middle aged man came down the stairs towards us. He made some joking comment, and I awkwardly tried to joke back but ended up just saying, “I almost stole it.” Leslie struggles.

The next two hours were spent hiking one of the most serene and beautiful hikes I have ever done. So many stairs. So so many stairs, but so so gorgeous.

This is the road that heads towards the town of Corniglia and the 'Sentiero Azzurro Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre' from the train station.

First set of stairs, the Scalinata Lardarina....

Chiesa di San Pietro

The Trail blazes, though it would be REALLY difficult to get lost unless you went far off the trail.

Corniglia

More stairs

Looking back at Corniglia

And we got to Vernazza right as the sun was setting. Absolutely perfect moment.

We walked through town just a bit and then headed towards the train station. We saw the next train heading towards Monterosso didn’t leave until about 9:45pm, so we had some extra time. What do we do with extra time in Italy? All together now…. Gelaatttooooooo.

We got back to Monterosso around 10pm, and we found that the downfall to a perfect sunset hike is that this surprisingly touristy town does not stay open late. We actually got a little nervous because at that point we were HUNGRY for real food, and we actually couldn’t find a restaurant on the main strip that was still serving dinner. We ended up having to use the power of the internet and find a spot up a side road that was open late (I think midnight or so) called La taverna di Monterosso.

We got a table outside, had some incredible food, and split another bottle of prosecco. #EPL

While sitting there, the couple next to us heard us speaking English and decided to strike up a conversation asking where we were from etc. We ended up talking for awhile (they were a pretty neat couple- from San Francisco, had their first DATE in Cinque Terre, have been coming for 30 years, lived and traveled all of the world etc.)

We asked about getting an umbrella at the beach the next day and they told us which “beach” was the best and how much it would cost (if you haven’t been to a beach in europe, most of them are sectioned off with private entry to each section where they have a hundred or so lounge chairs with umbrellas. So to be in that area you have to rent a chair/umbrella from them.. Otherwise you have to search for the public beach to set up your own towel etc for free… these are typically hard to find and definitely not as nice. Unfortunately, if people have already booked an umbrella for an entire week or the day, it may LOOK like there are available umbrellas when there are not).

They even offered to pretend we were relatives if it would help us get a spot if we needed. Very sweet. Very talkative, but sweet.

We went back to the hotel and essentially took the full contents of our fridge up to the roof. At first we definitely interrupted a couple having a romantic moment, but they quickly left and we had the roof to ourselves. We stayed up until about 245am talking about nearly everything in life- the people we know and love, souls, life, purpose, etc.. There was laughter. There were tears. We even saw fireworks going off from Vernazza down the coast. Another perfect moment.

(Ignore the aforementioned parking lot haha)

Oh, and the room had slippers for us. So obviously I put those on.

Somehow we managed to get ourselves out of bed by 8am to make sure we had plenty of time to enjoy the beach. We grabbed some croissants, cappuccinos, and a fruit cup from Fornaio di Monterosso just 50 ft down the road for breakfast. Very good and simple.

We then headed to “Eden beach” as recommended by the Greens as the cleanest and nicest beach. We got there right at 9am as they were opening and were able to get two chairs under a big umbrella for the day for 23 euros. A little expensive, but honestly worth it. They make sure your chair is kept for you for the whole day, and they watch your stuff if you want to go in the water or head out for lunch etc.

Could not get over how clear the water was...

I’m not sure about Kathleen, but with the exception of maybe 2 times I got in the water, I essentially spent the morning sleeping in the chair in the shade haha. It was so nice being outside looking out on this transparent, turquoise colored water and just letting your eyes drift close….

We left around noon to head through the tunnel of Via Fegina into the center of Monterosso.

We wandered the narrow streets looking in the shop windows and evaluating the restaurants. We ended up finding a pizzeria called Pizzeria La Smorfia. It was a small place with only 2 workers at the time (one cooking, one serving), so as it got more crowded it was a little slow. Honestly, though, at that time it was the best pizza I had had in Italy. So good.

We wandered town a little more after lunch then headed back to the beach for a few more hours of sleeping, sunbathing, and water lounging. At some point the husband of the couple saw us and came over to ask how the “long lost nieces” were doing. Again, nice, but… ok. That’s enough.

Around 3:30pm we decided we needed to pack up and head out. We made a gelato stop (priorities) and then went back to the hotel to grab our bags and change. They even offered a shower on the 3rd floor too if we wanted it. How nice is that??

We started back to the train station but realized we still had an hour until our train left. It was a bit hot, and we were both tired, so we just found a spot on the curb to sit and people watch for a bit. As we sat, the Greens walked by and of course stopped again to talk to us. The wife told us she had seen us sleeping on the beach. Creepy. She then asked if she could take our picture and “post it to their feed.” We of course obliged but… again. A tidbit creepy.

We got on our first train to La Spezia, but our connecting train was 45 minutes late. We finally made it back to Milan where I unfortunately had to pack. I was heading to Switzerland the next day for a work trip that was *hopefully* just a day trip, but potentially an overnight, so I had to be prepared.

Monday, as I was working (in a building with a view of Lake Geneva…**brushes shoulders off**), Kathleen went up to Lake Como. Due to some bad rain and a few other mishaps, it was not necessarily the beautiful and heart filling trip that I had with my mom and Bob in April (see post 'Como como como Lake Como Comeleon' from April 17th). Ha. I DID get to come back that night, but did not get back until around 11pm. Of course we then stayed up way too late drinking more wine as Kathleen shared her Italian struggles of the day (I have to say, hearing other people’s struggles is so comforting to me hahah).

On Tuesday Kathleen did some final Milan-ing as I was at work, and that night we decided to try a restaurant at the train station we were both intrigued by. It is called Meatball Family hahahahah. The food was about what we expected, but it was fairly quick and we got to sit outside and people watch. It worked.

We then walked down to the nicer gelateria near me called La Bottega del Gelato Cardelli.

We had our final sister moments, but unfortunately had to call it a little early. Her flight was around 7am the next day, and we weren’t sure exactly how much time was needed for an international flight that time of day, so we had booked a taxi for her at 4am (shuttles etc. don’t run that early haha). Yikes.

And just like that my final visitor was gone. I was on my own but with the end in site. My new resolution to appreciate and enjoy my time was sticking, and I knew the last 6 weeks or so would go quickly. I felt strong, happy, and so so lucky to have such a wonderful family and wonderful people in my life.

Besides, I didn’t have time to be sad, I was headed to Napoli in 2 days!!

See you soon!!!