Short Vacation

After the Agritourism I set off to Cinque Terre to meet up with Belen and Carlos. We rented a place in La Spezia which is a nearby city with a naval base.

Cinque Terre consists of 5 small towns situated on rocky cliffs with mediterranean plants and the blue sea. There are trails connecting all 5 but you can also go by train. As in most places in Liguria, traveling by car takes longer because the roads are so convoluted to get around all the mountains, so trains are really fast and direct.

It is a very touristy place, but with the natural beauty, its evident why.

We spent some time on the less crowded rocky beaches, and took slow strolls through the towns.

At this point, its sounds like my trip here has been all fun and sun and gelato. In reality, traveling and being on farms has its downside, like everything.

things like:

-being fined 5 euro for not validating a ticket (twice)

-expensive tourist prices

-long tourist lines

-getting around the train station with my huge backpack to catch a train

-losing the bus ticket

-late trains

-touring hours by myself (gets old after a while, gelato by yourself just isn't the same)

-no air conditioning on train

-waiting for host family to pick me up without knowing what they look like

-talking to creepy men because I thought they might be my host (twice)

-Being stuck at a random station at night because the train conductors were on strike

-Missing the last bus back, having to walk and hitch a ride

-walking on the side of the road because no one picks up hitch hikers

-Ants, wasps, mosquitoes, nettles, poison ivy, splinters, cuts, bruises, and blisters.

These stories all end well though, a few moments of stress or discomfort, but I always trust that its will work out, its just a matter of inconvenience. I did finally get a family who felt bad for me to give me a ride, after which I rode my bike and then walked the last bit back to the farm in the moonlight.