All These Things That I've Done: The Killers and Cinque Terre

So with midterms over, everybody was looking for a way to let loose on a school night – it happened a lot less often than you’d expect, believe you me. But anyways, I’d heard that the Killers were coming before I left for the trip, and by the time we were here for a few days everyone was pretty pumped for it. Even some of the people who didn’t initially buy tickets bought them once they were outside of the arena. One of these people (cough Kaitlin cough) somehow managed to get a VIP pass to the Killers’ tour bus, and got to meet the lead singer Brandon Flowers. WHAT?! None of us are sure how it happened, but we were all jealous. Anyways, the concert was incredible… we were surrounded by people who didn’t actually speak English, so it was fun being the only ones who could sing along AND who knew what the words meant. The coolest part, though, was just watching a concert in an arena that is thousands of years old. No big deal.


Chelsie, Erin and I enjoying the Killers.


The packed arena. Ridiculous.

So anyways, the rest of the week was fairly uneventful…. Classes were fine, no big tests… I wish I had more ‘everyday life’ stuff to tell you guys, but a) it’s not nearly as much fun to talk about, and b) it involves mostly reading for class, sleeping, eating, and hanging out with friends – all of which are good, but inside jokes and study habits does not a good blog make.


This is a part of my everyday life. And an example of why I don't need to recap it.

Thus, to Thursday. There was a smaller group of us going on our trip to Cinque Terre, but there were a lot of other people from the program that were going to be there at the same time. The original plans included camping at this place that was about 25 minutes from the southernmost town of Cinque Terre, which… could have been fun. But we talked to our friends Ashley and Erin that were on the train with us, and decided to try giving their hostel a call, and luckily there was availability! What are the chances? So instead of being 25 minutes away, we were in the middle of the northernmost – and in my opinion, the nicest – town of Monterosso. There ended up being about 12 people from our program at this hostel (Hotel Souvenir), but mainly 4 of us in a 4-person room (Jackie, Jeremy, Kaitlin, and me). There was a nice view off of the balcony, and the other people from our program that we knew were on the hall with us. Fun.


The view from the balcony. Also, your jealousy is unbecoming.


A path by the hostel... secret garden-esque, no?

The only word to describe the entire weekend is breathtaking. Every turn you make, there’s another incredible view of cliffs, beaches, and crystal blue water. Our first day we hiked from our town to the next one (Vernazza), which is apparently the hardest hike of all 4 hikes. A lot of it is straight uphill, and there are bunches of steps… we were sweating after a few minutes. But once we got to the town, we made sure to get some gelato (my mouth is watering just thinking about it) and swim in the ocean for a while.


Stunning.


Apparently places like this exist.



Then we took a train back to our town (if you thought we were hiking back, you crazy), and got ready for dinner. We ended up going to this seafood place in our town where apparently everyone else from our program decided to go… it’s weird how that works out. Because Cinque Terre is known for seafood, I of course had to get the largest amount possible and gorge myself on it. My friend Erin and I ended up splitting the giant seafood urn thing… honestly, they bring out a giant urn, a giant bowl, and empty the contents of the giant urn into the giant bowl, and then you feast. There’s a whole octopus, a lobster, mussels, clams, everything. It’s a silly amount of food, and I felt like it was my task on the Amazing Race to finish everything in an allotted amount of time. I’m not a competitive person, I swear. Here are some pictures of food porn to get your mouth watering:


Erin and I with our bowl of fish products.


Nom nom nom.

The next day we did more hiking from the bottom up… the walks were much, much easier, and we felt pretty hardcore for already having tackled the hardest on the first day. We had heard rumors of a nude beach in the middle town, which would have by far been the most exciting thing about that miserable place, but alas, no luck. We did end up finding a pretty cool rocky beach that we hung out at for a long time, and where Jeremy and I donned our European swimsuits. Needless to say, we were asked no less than 12 times how long we’d been modeling… someone even referred to Jeremy as Hansel. If you don’t get the reference, don’t worry about it. Just look at the pictures and you’ll understand.


Suck it, 384 steps to Corniglia.


That Hansel is so hot right now.

That night was pretty cool too, for a couple of reasons. Reason #1 – Pesto Pizza. Duh. Reason #2 – There was a giant celebration in the town in which we were staying, and it was pretty cool to have all of the banners and decorations up. Apparently the old soccer coach for the town was leaving, and a new one was coming in – a big deal, apparently. But the coolest part about it was the fireworks show that they put on once it got dark. I mean, it’s no illuminations, but let’s be honest – how cool. It really did feel unreal, sitting on the edge of the Mediterranean watching the fireworks – I’m still not convinced it actually happened. What a great way to end the weekend.


Oh hey Pesto. I see you on that pizza.


Why yes, that is a pizza covered in french fries. I would like to take this time to remind everyone to watch "Biggest Loser: Post Europe Vacation" on NBC, Wednesdays at 8:30. Jeremy and I are the Blue Team.

So everyone got back safely again (which I always consider a tiny miracle, to be honest), and the last free weekend of Verona was over. Up next: Finals, and then Florence and Rome!