Cinque Terre's Funny Encounters

Two weekends ago I went to Cinque Terre, which means five islands, and yes, it is five islands or towns connected. They are so beautiful. Literally words cannot describe and pictures cannot show the beauty that these places encompass. I was blown away. In my opinion, the best comparison, which still does not even compare what so ever: Cinque Terre is like Santa Barbara, which is down right gorgeous, but anyway… Cinque Terre is like Santa Barbara on crack or steroids. So basically take the beauty of Santa Barbara and times it by about 500. That is the beauty of Cinque Terre. Now add in some hectic trains that are confusing and quite frustrating. A five-hour hike along the coastline, which sadly I did not do. I know, I know. I am extremely disappointed. I did make it to the amazing beaches, even the pebble beach that frustrated me to no end was gorgeous.

We had quite the hike to our hostel in Corniglia though. Note to anyone visiting to Cinque Terre: be ready for stairs. At our hostel we meet the greatest Canadian girl, Alanna. She is traveling by herself all over Europe. I feel a though she is in search of something wonderful and if she hasn’t found it yet, she will soon. I was really impressed by her attitude towards everything and everyone. She was super friendly and open to anything. She accompanied us back to Monterosso that night. We ran into this big soccer celebration. To anyone who has never been told this: Soccer is a BIG Deal in Europe. Enough Said. There was music, dancing, chanting and even fireworks! I love fireworks, especially when they are over the sea. They were beautiful and loud. Man, I loved it. The region where Cinque Terre is located is known for its pesto, so I bought two different jars of pesto. Yum. I tasted about 12 different kinds of spreads at this little shop in Monterosso. Pretty sure I was not supposed to do that, but I really glad I did.

Kate August and I rented a canoe/kayak for an hour. Best hour of my weekend, hands down. We kayaked into the Mediterranean Sea. We went past the booie, yup, we are rebels. Kate and I saw two Jellyfish (one alive, one dead), and yes, we played with the dead one with our ore. We had a near-death experience with the rocks. We crashed into them but because of my wonderful kayaking skills and Kate’s motivation we made it through.

Note to self: wear sunscreen. I have a killer sunburn, which will turn into the nicest tan in a few days, but for now it hurts. (Turns out it turned into a nice set of pealing shoulders. Not a good tan.)

Funny encounters:

At McDonalds in La Spezia, which is where the main train station is. I was in line for some French fries, not one of my proudest moments. Actually that was one of my weaker moments. Anyway, out of no where, I see this good looking young man in a bottom shirt and a St. Louis Cardinals hat coming towards me with a welcoming smile. Who do I embrace? Luke Mueller! What a great encounter! He was just about to hop on a train back to Rome, where he is studying abroad. How insane! It was great to see a familiar face in such a crazy place.

On the beach a pack of cute boys, speaking great English, swam by as we girls lay on the beach of Monterosso. When they returned, Kate was edging Elizabeth to go up to them say something along the lines of, “My friends think you are cute…” Blah Blah Blah. So, out of no where this burst of courage came upon me.

   I thought to myself, “Oh I will never see these boys again.”
   So, I approached them saying, something along the lines of, “My friends think you are cute…” Blah Blah Blah.
   We continue to have small talk, such as: “What are you doing tonight?...”
   Then they ask me, “Where are you from?”
   I answer with a smile and say, “Oh, Kansas City.”
   “Really? What school?” They ask inquisitively.
   “Actually, the University of Kansas.”
   “Oh, that’s funny, us, too,” They reply!
    Are you kidding me? So much for never seeing these boys again. They go to KU! Their study abroad program in Paderno had just ended and they happened to be vacationing in Cinque Terre for the weekend. Just happened to be at Monterosso. Just happened to swim by. And I just happened to have one moment of courage. A no-fear-I’ll-never-see-these-people-again-moment. Not so much. The boys were really sweet and the encounter was funny.

Also, Kayla Murdock’s friend from KU, who is studying abroad in Sienna (my future city of residence by the way), was at Cinque Terre with his group of eight friends. So we encountered them on the beach in Monterosso as well.

Four different University of Kansas sponsored study abroad programs all over Italy had groups of students at Cinque Terre on the same weekend in June completely by chance. So, for being as big as the world is, it is so small. So small.