The Italian Riviera (need I say more?)I thought that after Rome and Florence my parents would like a little break…me as well. I had been to a beach during my trip, but my roommates had gone to Cinque Terre while I was in Paris with John and told me I had to go.
So my parents and I decided we would stay there for a few days. There are five cities in Cinqe Terre (hence the name), and we stayed at the last one, Monterosso. It was a sleepy fishing village that was known to have to best beaches.
Just the view from the train was amazing. It looked like something straight out of a postcard. The water was clear and you could see where the color changed from light bluish green to dark blue. The beaches were lined with striped umbrellas and lounge chairs. People we floating in the water, and sun bathing on rocks.
We took the first night to settle in. We went to dinner near the beach, and then walked around the town, with a few stops for gelato.
The next day we walked down to the beach, got our umbrella and chairs and settled in for the day. The beach we were at was less crowded and a bit calmer. There was a line of rocks a ways out and my dad immediately got in the water and swam out to the rocks. After a bit of persuading he got me out there. I climbed on them and sat there for a bit. It was such a relaxing day. We later ate; I had sea bass, which was amazing. And after dinner we called it a night.
The next day we were planning to kayak and see the next city over. We woke up to grey clouds and a little rain. When we got to the water, we saw the grey day had not only affected the land but the ocean as well. The waves were crashing against the rocks and there was a red flag up announcing, “no kayaking”. So, we decided to take a look at the next city, Vernazza. It was supposed to be the most picturesque according to Rick Steves', but I would have to say the Monterosso was.
I liked Vernazza very much, up until we went to the cemetery. My dad really wanted to see it so we hiked up to it. I found myself a bit ahead of my parents and I began looking at the graves. These graves were large wall like marble structures. The coffins or bodies were placed in the wall. On each tombstone there was a vase and most of them had flowers (many fake). I fixed one of the flowers that had fallen to the ground. As I was walking by some of them I grazed past the flowers and read the dates and looked at the pictures. My mom caught up with me and was looking as well. I reached the end of one wall and went to look at the one behind me. As I walked up to the wall something moved in the flowers closest to me. I quickly examined it and saw a SNAKE! (for all of you who don’t know me when it comes to snakes, I really really dislike them. I used boast that I never saw one in the wild and asked that the Lord take me home before I did…that obviously didn’t happen…but it was close). I screamed as loud as I could (and I am not a screamer). My mom looked at me like she wanted to help but it was in between us. There was a cliff next to me and I could have jumped off right then and there…thankfully the Lord gave me restraint. The snake slithered down the wall and we were waiting to see where he was headed. He was black with yellow stripes and in between 4 to 5 feet long. His belly met the tile floor close to me, and I screamed again (I don’t listen to the whole stay calm and quiet). He slide across the tile to the other wall where I had just come from and parallel me to the brush. When he was gone I ran to my mom who said, “Where is your father we are leaving.” Dismissing all quiet rules in the cemetery, as I had done earlier with my screaming, my mom quickly walk to the different sections yelling, “Michael!”…”Michael!”. My dad finally came out and we told him we were leaving.
We got to the bottom of the hill and back on the train to Monterosso. We all headed to the beach to read and enjoy the rest of the sun.
When we were on our way through the garden to dinner, we were met with another snake, a baby one this time. Baby or not, I really really really do not like them.
That night I had dreams of snakes and Gatorade (don’t ask me about that Gatorade), needless to say I didn’t sleep well…and was ready to get going to my favorite city in the world…Venice (snake free Venice).
(My last day in England)
A Piece of Home in England
I would have to say, one of the most restful days of my two months had to be with Colin and Ann. Jessica and I agreed we should have missed our flight and stayed with them for another week…but seeing as we were out of funds and reaching the end out our trip, we settled for an afternoon.
Colin and Ann were informing us of places we might want to stop on our way back to London, but Jessica and I just wanted to hang out with them a bit longer…so we asked if we could see the beach near them. And it was set…we would sleep in a little and then off to the beach we would go.
As planned we slept in (really slept in according to Colin’s days…his day was half over by the time we opened our sleepy eyes). At 10:00 a.m. we were ready to go. First they took us to an old castle. I felt as though I had been dropped right into the middle of an afternoon with the Bennett’s…getting ready for a ball…(Mr. Darcy possibly in attendance). I LOVED IT! I could have sat there for hours and had a spot of tea (which is what Ann does with her lady friends).
We moved on to the beach. We took a nice walk down to the beach and along side of it. We stopped for a drink…Colin went back to fetch the car while Ann took on “tour guide” role as we walked to the fishing town at the end. Colin and Ann used to have a boat but timing never allowed them to take it out. At first I didn’t understand this concept, but once I saw the boats sitting on sand I fully understood. When the tide goes out the boats left are sitting on sand. Apparently it is an issue if you are out in the ocean during this time because you cannot get back to dock.
We had a wonderful time…but it was coming to the time when Jessica and I had to catch our train to London, so we could make it to the airport on time.
We said our goodbyes, and though I was sad to leave it made me even more excited to plan another trip back.
We made everything in excellent time. The only thing that didn’t work out “brilliantly” was that by the time we got off our flight and to the train station, the last train to Florence had already left…leaving us to sleep in the Bologna train station. I called John to see what I should do and he told me to sit near some guys and see if they would keep an eye out for us (yes…this is very surprising coming from John).
For a while Jessica and I were in a room full of people sleeping, waiting for their train to arrive…but some seemed to be eyeing us and waiting for the moment we feel asleep. So we left the room and decided a little fresh air would do us good. We settled on a little piece of tile flooring overlooking all the beautiful tracks. We decided we wouldn’t sleep…we would have to entertain each other for a few hours. Well 2:00 am rolled around (our train wasn’t until 5:45) and I was getting a little sleepy. Jessica was talking on her cell phone and I decided to close my eyes.
After a little (maybe 5 min) catnap, this Italian guy near us asks me if I have any “chocolate cakes”. Surprisingly I did, I had this roll of “Hit” cookies John had given to me. The man smiled and rubbed his tummy with a little wince on his face. Suddenly he just got up and left. He left all his stuff sitting in the floor. Jessica and I were trying to figure out what he was doing, but we soon found out he asked people for a lot of things. He had gotten a few cigarettes from someone down the way.
I tried to get comfortable again when he addresses us again. He said, “You sleep, I will watch over you.” We thanked him and I tried to get comfortable again. Then I heard his voice again, “Where do you come from.”
Needless to say we didn’t get any sleep, but time really flew. He was a riot, Jessica and I were laughing at him. He was trying to teach me Italian, and I sadly was a bad pupil. I cannot remember a thing he taught me. 5:45 a.m. rolled around and we checked our train to find it had been delayed over 30 minutes.
We had nothing to do but sit and wait. 6:30 rolled around and finally our train arrived. Our friend, Carmen, said goodbye and pulled a bracelet off his wrist and gave it to me.
We boarded the train ready to sit in a normal chair only to find the 6 men ahead of us had taken the last chairs and we were left to sit in the walkway next to the door and the water closet.
I was sitting there looking at Jessica and we both started laughing, this day had been too much. We were just glad we were on our way home.
The sun was just rising. I gravitated to the door to get a glimpse. This was the first time I had seen the sunrise in Italy. There is something different about the sun in the morning; it looks so much fresher than the evening glow of the sun. It was touching the top of the hills running down the valley, causing the trees to shake off their sleep and straighten up for the day ahead. I immediately thought of Colin and how he sees the sunrise every morning. While we were overlooking the beach he told me he had been there earlier that morning he said, “Its amazing how I am alone, I get the entire beach to myself. Sometimes I am worried that other people will discover it, and I will no longer be alone.”
Seeing the sunrise that morning, as tired and worn out as I was, made me think of how much I miss in my own neighborhood or surrounding areas by just going on with my daily routine. I don’t want to be one of those people “asleep” missing out on treasures…but anyone who knows me knows, I do enjoy my sleep!
