Friday, November 26
I arrived in Cinque Terre’s Riomaggiore early yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, I lack internet here, so I will be creating a continuous post and then uploading it all at once. So this will likely be a longer one, though chronologically correct.
On the train ride here, I met a couple from Bend, OR. We recognized it as each other’s first time here by our gasps as we came out of the tunnel onto the coast line the first time. It was nice to be able to say and hear a Happy Thanksgiving. They will be staying in Vernazza, where I have since run into them in passing.
Riomaggiore is definitely a smaller town. I got through it in that first afternoon. It was a nice sunset, though I wish I had a better view of the sea for it. When my roommates came back last night, I have to say I was less than impressed. One, a gal from NJ, was sullen and terse the whole night. I never even learned her name though I tried to make conversation several times. The other is a guy from Brazil. He has said one word since I’ve seen him. “Bye” as he left this morning, though in his defense I think he is shier and doesn’t speak English especially well. Still both just seem completely detached and NJ is annoyed by any one interacting with her. Hard to avoid in a one room space.
I tried to make it to a payphone last night, figuring I’d at least call on Thanksgiving to say hi to everyone, since I wasn’t going to be able to facetime them. It was here that I learned apparently Italian payphones do not like American calling cards. They only accept Italian ones or credit cards. So sorry I didn’t call mom, I’m ok. I promise. It was pouring rain at this point, and I loved it when a lady walked passed me in it on my way back to the room and looked at me saying, “Mama Mia!” It was a good moment.
Today I woke up to slightly more overcast skies. I spent the day in Monterosso and Vernazza. It was nice just to sit on the beachside all morning and wander slowly through the towns. There isn’t a whole lot to do here; it’s more just a slow down time. I think I may have booked too many nights here though, and I will likely be antsy my last day. Maybe I’ll try and do a day-trip out that day. I’ll have to see how I am feeling. It doesn’t help that all the walks except one are closed due to a landslide a bit ago. That was what I was hoping would take up most of my days, was walking between the cities. Ah well, it is what it is. I have a feeling I will be out of books again though by the time I get to Florence.
When I came back to the room, since it is siesta time and I am cold, it was to find a half empty room. NJ has left, which I find amusing because I know she was booked until Sunday. Apparently we must have encroached on her space too much. I just don’t understand why if you don’t want to be talked to, and want your space to yourself, you would ever book a room termed “Dorm.” The websites made it very clear what to expect for bunking. Her problem I guess, though I am not sorry to see her gone I must admit. I’d rather not have people here, than have surly people.
The sun has started to come out for the afternoon. I’m going to go decided if I will use it to dry laundry or to go on as much of a walk as I can.
Saturday, November 27
Today I got two new roommates, and they are much nicer than the others I had. Jillian and Andrew are from Ontario, Canada and we had a lot of fun hanging out today. We started out trying to hike up to the sanctuary above Rioaggiore, but we got mildly lost and ended up turning back, though looking back we think we may have been close. It is such a pretty area though, and we did get some amazing views.
Once we came back down, we got some lunch at the restaurant just underneath our room. The owner was such a nice guy; he sat around chatting with us for awhile. He spoke almost no English, and us no Italian, but we had a phrase book, and a couple key words, so we comingled a conversation together. We all learned new words in each other’s languages. We learned how to say to eat, to drink, to walk, and he learned how to say friends and girlfriend and boyfriend. Not to mention that the food was delicious.
I do find it fun to see how much people respond when you try to speak their language. I didn’t have my phrase book like Andrew did, but our guy obviously loved when I would say a random phrase like “como si dice” and would get really into finding ways for us to make each other understood. He even gave us a lesson in how Italians greet each other for the first time. Taking the time to shake hands one at a time and make the eye contact when learning each other’s names. So much nicer than America’s quick rush passed greetings.
We tried to do the waterside walks, but only lover’s lane was open. Still it was a nice walk, though fairly short. We tried to walk up to the cemetery above, but Jillian is afraid of heights and we didn’t want to leave her behind. Once we got to Manarola, we could see why the other roads were closed though. The landslide was huge and obvious, as was how much of the trail had been taken out by it; completely impassable.
Instead we ended up taking the train to Corneglia. This is the city that is set higher up on the hill. It started raining on us up there, but we found a store to buy some local wine, and found a sheltered entryway in which to enjoy both it and the view. After enjoying our wine, we found a flight of stairs which took us down to a cove on the backside of the city. We were followed by two different local cats, which jumped from dry spot to dry spot, wanting us to pet them. One even followed us all the way down to the cove despite getting wet along the way.
Then we continued along the way to Vernazza to buy some bread. Nothing was open until five, so we explored the city a bit until then. It was fun to stand on the breakwater and watch the huge waves come in, and see the bit of a sunset we were getting due to the clouds.
Eventually we made it to the stores, where we bought fresh baguettes, some dessert pastries, cheese, pesto, and pasta. I also found a place which carried fresh coppa. Delicious. It was nice to be able to share what little I know of Italian culture with Jillian and Andrew too. The niceties of how the meat/cheese person hands you a receipt so they don’t have to handle the money. Our gal was very glad that I knew that when Jillian tried to hand her money, because I don’t think she spoke enough English to get that across. She made a point to thank me after I explained how it worked here. They also hadn’t known about how it is more expensive to sit at a table than to take something to go. It’s nice to know that even after all this time, I do know some of the little things, and can pass them on to other travelers to make their trip easier and more enjoyable.
We came back and had a delicious dinner of pesto, bread with cheese and coppa, and local wine, while having great conversations about books (Andrew’s a literary major), Italy, and whatever else popped into our heads. It amused me when Andrew commented on how well read I am, more so than some English majors he knows, and all I could think was that he should meet some of my friends and family. I haven’t even read a fraction of what some people I know have gone through. Although there really is nothing better than a good book, I will admit.
All three of us also couldn’t help but laugh at how we became instant roommates. We all bought different parts of the dinner and are just sharing amongst ourselves and taking turns with the dishes. I have really enjoyed having them share this spot with me. Though they only stumbled onto it by accident this morning, not even having booked the location. I love how life works out that way sometimes. Especially since I had just been thinking how lonely this spot was going to be if the room was to myself for the next several days.
We finished off the evening playing Go Fish, but to make it more fun, we learned how to say “go fish” in Italian and required ourselves to say the numbers in Italian as well. It took us over an hour to play one hand because we had to keep looking up the words and phrases in Italian. Best round of the game I have ever played.
I just seem to keep having moments where all I can think, is that there is really just no place quite like Italy. It is truly a world unto itself, both in the landscape, food, culture, and people, and I love every minute of it here.
Sunday, November 28
Today was a very cold day! Andrew and Jillian decided to brave the temperatures and rain (it started hailing on us yesterday at one point, and someone told me it was snowing not far away from here on Friday. I can’t believe it went from mid-sixties to this cold so fast!), while I huddled in the room for a bit first. I was listening to random music on my computer, and Chicago with Tony Bennett came up and it made me think of Jinnie, plus the fact that I was eating coppa at the same time. It was a good moment.
Once I warmed up a bit, I decided to head out for at least a while too, though I didn’t make it very far. I had just missed the train to the next town and the subsequent one didn’t come for another hour, so I headed to the grocery store and got some nibbling for dinner tonight. I also took the opportunity to go through my photos here and clean them up a bit, something I haven’t really taken the time to do with too many of my photos. I have to admit though, after using gimp on this trip, I am really missing photoshop. There is nothing quite like a good photoshop program, and while gimp gets me through, it really just doesn’t quite cut it. Probably doesn’t help that I only know how to use about half the software features for it too. Ah well, it is what it is.
Overall it was quite a lazy day. Just to cold and wet to do anything outside. If the weather is good tomorrow, we are talking about doing a quick morning hike before we have to check out. All depends on how it looks outside when we wake up. Still, being inside led to some more awesome conversations from evolution and man’s place in it to Harry Potter. Overall we have had some interesting conversations the last two days.
I find it strange to think that tomorrow I will be in Pisa again. A couple days ago it felt like I was going to get bored here by the last day. It’s amazing what a difference having a couple people to hang out and spend time with can make. It makes me miss my friends back home for sure though. Some days I can’t wait to go home and see everyone, others I would be happy to just sit here forever. It’s amazing how quickly your perspective on things can change and all due to minor differences too.
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