Just Call Me Sporty Spice

So I arrived Saturday to Cinque Terre amongst some rain and hail. Though it derailed my plans for the next day or so, it made from some great pictures (to come) and cozy meals with glasses of wine. Yesterday, I had a funny experience just walking around when this guy hollered at me in Italian from his 2nd story apartment to toss up his speedo. It had fallen off the clothes line and was starting to rain again. He caught it on the 3rd try, if you were wondering :) It felt very crazy/ Italian, but speedos are clearly a cherished item here!

Today the sun was out and I was finally able to tackle the famous Cinque Terre trail- a 9 mile hike to all 5 towns from Riomaggiore to Monterosso in some pretty precarious circumstances. Lets just say its lucky I came away with just a scratch on my hand. Good news, after the 4 plus hour hike, I rewarded myself with some beach and sun time. The waves had a different plan for the afternoon and tried to wipe out my backpack and sneakers (and did wipe out the inner workings of my iphone it seems). Regardless, it was a really lovely day.

Off to eat some farinata (another regional specialty) and gelato and watch the sunset. 5Terre is also the birthplace of pesto, focaccia and a regional white wine, and I am loving taking advantage!

Its hard to believe I head back to Rome tomorrow, then just a few more days before home. I am partly sad, partly excited to be in my own bed and to see everyone again. Its hard not having easy access to all my peeps!

PS- this is where I am staying here in 5Terre (town number 4 of 5, Vernazza) and if you click on the photos, you can see my room and view (number 1): http://www.ivocamere.com/

xxoo