cinque terre

buongiorno!  i am back from cinque terre.  it was quite possibly the best weekend of my life.. no joke.  i love when you look forward to something and then it ends up exceeding your already-high expectations.  that is how it was with new york for me, from the first time that i went there when i was fourteen, to the three months that i lived there last summer.  sweden, rome, and now, cinque terre are also on that beloved list of mine.

we left on thursday after our italian classes, and arrived to one of the five towns, rio maggiore (in italian, cinque terre literally means five cities) that night via bus and train.  when we caught the first glimpse of the mediterranean shoreline from our train windows, there was an audible gasp from our train car.  it was cool/hilarious.

after finding our hostel, we were on our classic search yet again for food.  pesto was invented in cinque terre, and being on the coast, cinq is also known for its delicious seafood.  luch and i shared a trofie pesto pasta and a salmon penne pasta, and we definitely got the best of both worlds.  ahh. delicious.  the little old man that seemed to own the restaurant loved talking to us, and finally cut us off after a few bread baskets saying that bread makes people fat. uh huh. he obvs doesn't understand that we are eating our way through italy at all costs.

the hostel that we stayed in that night was at the top of the mountain.  the view from up there was well worth the 300+ steps that it took to get there (hey, maybe it counteracted some of that pasta+bread too?)


on friday, we hiked from town to town, from the fifth to the first.  i know this is a really bold statement, but i think it might have been the best day of my life (so far, at least!)  maybe it had something to do with the too-good-to-be-true views that we saw along the way, the endorphins that were kicking in from hiking, the gorgeous weather, and the good friends that i was with.. 

it felt as if all the events in my life had brought me to that moment.  it just felt so "right" and i couldn't imagine myself being happier with things any other way.  what a beautiful, blessed feeling it was.  at one point along the hike, i wondered how i could possibly explain the magic of cinque terre to any of my family or friends back at home, and then i realized that the things that i was feeling inside were as beautiful and exciting as any of the views that i was seeing.  its just one of those things that cant be explained.  i wish i could though.  all i can say is, what a beautiful life this is!

friday night, we stayed in a hostel in monterosso, and spent saturday morning and afternoon on the beach.  fresh fruit, attractive italian men, gelato, lots of sunshine, and turquoise waters = a noteworthy beach day.

 

later that afternoon, we took the ferry back up to rio maggiore. 

in rio mag, we we ate more pasta, more gelato, and found mamma rosa, who hooked us up with our final hostel... and.. oy.  it was an experience. the super cheap price and the sheer memory of it made it worth the unbelievable conditions that we slept in that night.  as for the bathroom, it was basically outdoors.. think aladin.  the shower was a thick drizzle. 

'cept she gave us an even more discounted price, which she WAS necessary for the place  that we got.  at least we didn't have a curfew!

making the most of the experience though, we pushed our beds together, and eight of us ended up sleeping on that one massive bed made up of seven baby ones.  we couldn't be too sure about anything about that place, including/especially the sheets, but we tried not to think about it.  there were a limited number of blankets, so lucy and i resorted to the final object on the bookshelf, which was some sort of old velvet curtain.. and oh, the smell.  we never would have used it if we wouldn't have totally frozen alive otherwise, but having spent the night before that tossing and turning from the cold, we used it.  and we shared one baby bed (the mega-bed was intended to be shared among all of us hostages, but somehow it ended up that everyone got to sleep on one, side by side down the line, except for lucy and i..)  so yes, we spooned all night long. underneath the blue velvet curtain.  we laughed until the moment that we both passed out (probably from the smell + exhaustion). 

this was taken earlier on saturday, after putting the beds together.  lucy was OUT (almost to the point of snoring). and in my arms, naturally.

on sunday, we woke up and made our way to la spezia, where we went to church.  alli has a friend on a mission there, so we went to his ward.  it was fast and testimony meeting, and enziano (elder) bona translated for the ten or so of us english-speakers, which was a change for us--we actually understood a sacrament meeting here!  it was great.  i love seeing the church uplifting and bringing people joy even in these random towns in italy! 

on our way back to siena, we made a stop in pisa to get a leaning-tower picture.  the best part of pisa was laughing at people posing, and then being ultra-ridiculous and watching people laugh at us.  #toomuchfun

life is good, and i am very blessed.  if i've come to really KNOW anything in my life so far, it is to trust in the lord, follow my heart, and "seek after all things virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy," and beautiful things will follow!

as i checked lds.org to put a link to that quote above from the articles of faith, reading over the whole 13th article really struck me... i love it more than ever:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

no matter what you think about religion, that is a wonderful way of living, dont you think?

go read the 12 other articles of my faith here. 

get in on my way of happiness by checking out this website. 

im struggling with internet connection again and it wont let me upload the rest of the pictures that i wanted to post, so i'll be back with more from cinque terre soon!  pictures from pisa, siena, san gimignano, and volterra are on their way soon as well!  ciao!