A Brief Encounter With the Cinque Terre

I'm on my way to the Monegros desert in Spain, after a day and a half in the sun-drenched mountains of Cinque Terre. It was inexpressibly beautiful there, and my initial plan was to spend three or four days peacefully hiking through the scenic trail that connects all five villages of the Cinque Terre. But I had to cut my time in half after hearing about a Burning Man copy festival in Spain called Nowhere festival, which I absolutely couldn't miss, and I was unable to hike all the way through in the two days that I had. So I spent most of my time sipping Cinque Terre's premium wine and soaking up the sun in the first and fifth villages, Riomaggiore and Monterosso. I couldn't find a CouchSurfing host, but my hostel was located in the heard of Riomaggiore, just a few steep steps down hill from the jagged cliffside where tired travelers and lifelong locals cool off after a long day in the Tuscan sun.

Since my room had 12 beds in it, there were plenty of people to hit the town with. When I first arrived in my room, there were already two people sitting at the kitchen table drinking wine; An Australian with jet black hair and a friendly smile named Troy and a fowl-mouthed but hilarious New Zealander named Amy. The rest of the ten beds were left cold and empty. Eight rectangular sanctuaries for weary travelers and wild-eyed wanderers to rest their heads. I dropped my bags on mine, slipped into my bathing suit and head to shore with Troy to engorge in the majestic charm of one of Italy's best kept secrets. There are no sandy beaches in the Cinque Terre, only slippery wet rocks to jump off of, which really makes the villages look remarkably exotic. The highest cliff at Riomaggiore was maybe 100ft high, but being afraid of heights, I picked the easier point of entry-the bottom. I never felt more like a terrible swimmer than I did that first day, watching everyone around me dive perfectly off the cliffs while I ungracefully leaped off the cliff just 5ft above the water, plugging my nose.

Once I was in, however, I immediately forgot how mad I looked jumping in, and swam belly up through the clear blue water to the other side of the cliff, where the highest point was. I climbed up to the top to watch others jump off. More often then not people would fake themselves out at least three times before taking the plunge, which is certainly understandable. I mean that shit was high, and you have to jump pretty far out to avoid being crushed by the rocks below. But still, almost everyone would do it, and I got a couple good videos out of it!

I spent all day in a lazy cycle of sun bathing and swimming, until my empty stomach forced me in to town to get some pizza and ice cream. The Pizza was so good, but just after a few licks of my ice cream, it fell off the cone, just like in the movies. I mean come on, how does one let that happen? I shouldn't have let my guard down...It nearly ruined my day, despite the beauty that surrounded me.

When I returned to the room to shower and get ready to go out, the room was full of people. Six Brits, Two Kiwis, one Aussie, and a guy from Jersey. We had an unlimited supply of wine (since it's so damn cheap there), and spent a good part of the night laughing and entertaining one another over dinner with stories from our travels and yelling over each other about how much fun we've had thus far. An hour or so later, we all grabbed our bottles and head to the harbor to drink in the fresh air overlooking the mountains while the big bright stars wrapped over us like a blanket. There aren't many tourists in Cinque Terre, so there isn't much of a night life. But who needs one with such beautiful scenery. All I needed to enjoy myself was the company I had and the view of the village.

The next morning I woke up early to see as much of Monterosso as I could before getting on my train to Spain. So I said my goodbyes to my hostel mates and spent my last few hours in Cinque Terre reading my book in the sun on the rocky beaches of Monterosso until my train finally creeped into the station. This is a place I most certainly have to return to, perhaps next time with some friends and a solid travel plan. :)