Erin and Kahla's Trip to Pisa and Cinque Terre

I am happy to report that we've now had our first visitor in Italy!  My friend Kahla (who went to law school with me in Berkeley and subsequently made the very good decision to move to Minneapolis) was lucky enough to get a standby ticket to Rome and made it out of JFK just hours before everything was shut down due to the hurricane.

Kahla and I (in Cinque Terre)

Tom and I spent a couple of days showing Kahla around Rome and the Academy, and then Kahla and I decided to head north for a few days (unfortunately, poor Tom had to stay behind and work).  Kahla and I knew that we'd make good travel buddies since we previously traveled around South America together for about a month in 2007 after taking the Bar Exam.  This trip was obviously much shorter, but we had a ton of fun and saw some really amazing sights.  

Our main plan was to spend time in Cinque Terre (an area along the coast about 250 miles north of Rome), but we ended up detouring to Pisa (which is about 50 miles southeast of Cinque Terre) for a night due to our difficulty in finding a direct train at a reasonable price.  Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend a trip just to see Pisa, I'm actually really glad we made the stop.  It was a cute little river town that was really easy to get around (since you can walk across the whole thing in just about 20 minutes).  

Hostel or Prison?

I will admit, though, that our trip got off to a pretty rough start.  It was pouring rain the night that we got into town, and our hostel actually felt a bit like a prison cell. Our bunk beds were covered with orange blankets and, although they claimed that the heat was on, we certainly couldn't tell. To stay warm that night I literally wore the following to bed: two pairs of pants (spandex and yoga pants), two pairs of socks (including one knee-high pair), a tank top, a t-shirt, a sweater, a hooded sweatshirt, a hat, and gloves.  

When it was dinner time, we wandered aimlessly for what seemed like hours just to find any sit-down restaurant.  It was the strangest thing- there were a million stores selling things like high end watches and clothing, but not any food to be found.  Still, these are the types of adventures that make for good memories, and we did finally manage to find an adorable little trattoria that served some of the best soup (chick pea and truffles) we've ever had.  

The Obligatory "Holding up the Tower" Shot

Fortunately, it had stopped raining by the next morning, and we were able to explore town a bit before heading off to Cinque Terre.  We spent some time walking along the river (which was lined with cute red and yellow buildings), and, of course, made it out to see the Leaning Tower.  

The Tower, which has been leaning due to unstable soil ever since it's construction in the 12th Century, was, as expected, incredibly touristy.  Still, it was actually pretty fun to see such an iconic image in person.  I have to say that it's one landmark I never expected to see in my life, and now I have!  It was funny, too, to watch everyone try to get the camera angle right for the every popular "holding up the tower" shot.  At any given moment, you could literally see dozens of people working on their shots up and down the street.  But, we certainly can't judge, because we took a few of those shots too!  I guess "when in Pisa..." Right?  

I had way too many pictures to share from this trip than would fit in with the text, so I decided to just post a few of them below.  Be sure to keep scrolling down to read about (and see some amazing pictures from) our Cinque Terre part of the trip, too!   

Walking Along the River in Pisa

View From a Bridge

Leaning Tower!

Another Tower Shot (it looks less leany from this angle)

After our morning exploring Pisa, Kahla and I hopped a train to the Cinque Terre region.  The trains were actually very nice and fast, but not nearly as affordable as I was expecting.  I imagine that they are cheaper when you have your trip planned out far in advance, but when you just purchase tickets on the day of, it's really quite pricey.  I actually spent over twice as much on the trains on this trip than I did to fly on RyanAir round trip all the way to Sweden!  Crazy, right?  

Map of the Cinque Terre Region and its Placement Within Italy

But, in any case, it was totally worth it because Cinque Terre has to be one of the most amazing places I've ever been. Cinque Terre (meaning "Five Lands") is a small coastal strip (about 6 miles long) containing- you guessed it- five small villages.  There is a coastal trail that connects these villages so that visitors can actually hike from one end to the other, spending time in the various towns along the way.  Unfortunately, though, a year ago terrible landslides devastated the area, and that trail has been closed ever since (although most of the area has since greatly recovered).  We were a bit bummed that we weren't able to hike the trail, but we were still able to get to know the area well.  There was a train that ran between each of the villages (there's also a ferry in the summer months), and there are still some trails open for hiking up in the hills.  

View From our Balcony in Riomaggiore

During our two-night stay (after our bad hostel experience we splurged on a nicer place!), we made it to each of the five towns.  In some ways, each town has its own distinct characteristics:  Riomaggiore (where our room was) is perhaps slightly less touristy, has less beachfront, but has beautiful views from the hills; Manarola is small but charming with killer views of the coastline; Corniglia is a tiny town way up on the hill with adorable windy streets; Vernazza is busier and boasts a beautiful harbor and a small stone "castle" you can climb up; and Monterosso is tourist central with tons of hotels but also real swimming beaches.  

In other ways, though, after a while the towns start to feel really similar.  They all have the same style of multi-colored buildings built into the hillside, have plenty of gelaterias and foccacia shops (a specialty of the region), and, of course, all have gorgeous views.  It's my understanding that the area didn't become very touristy until the 1970s, and I often found myself wondering how the locals feel about it.  On the one hand, all of the tourists have certainly brought economic stability to the region, but, on the other hand, it must be strange- if not disheartening- to have your once quite peaceful seaside village be now completely overrun by backpackers.

Kahla Climbing Stairs on our Hike

Although exploring each of the villages was a lot of fun, the highlight of our trip was definitely the three hour hike we did one day up on the hills.  We started in Manorola, hiked way up, and made our way over and down to Corniglia.   The hike was fairly challenging, but we hardly noticed how hard we were working since we were distracted by such amazing scenery.  (Plus, we couldn't exactly complain too much since we saw several hikers in the 50s and 60s not to mention families with kids as young as 7 or 8 doing the same hike!).    

The terrain was quite varied, and we saw everything from olive groves to vineyards to pine trees, and, of course, ocean views!  We had absolutely perfect hiking weather (sunny and in the low 60s), and although I tripped a few times, both of us managed to avoid any injuries.  It was definitely a day I will never forget!  

I took over 100 photos on this trip, so you'll have to believe me that I'm exercising restraint by only posting the dozen or so below.  Get ready for photo overload!  

Riomaggiore (Town #1) from the Hills

Another View of Riomaggiorre (we had one of the balconies above the kayaks on the left)

Manarola (Town #2)

View of Tiny Corniglia (Town #3) From our Hike

Harbor in Vernazza (Town #4)

View of Vernazza from the Castle

Sunset in Vernazza

Beach and Boardwalk in Montorosso (Town #5)

Hiking (yes, I do fully realize that my socks look ridiculous)

Kahla Hiking Through Vineyards

Heaven on Earth

We would have loved to stay another day or two in the area, but the weather turned cold and rainy, so it made sense to head back to Rome after three nights on the road. We had a wonderful time, though, and my (limited) Italian abilities certainly got a good workout since most of our interactions in hotels, shops, and restaurants were in Italian (in contrast to Rome where most people switch to English as soon as it's clear that you're not a native speaker).

Just in case these photos somehow haven't convinced you, I highly recommend a trip to Cinque Terre if you ever have the opportunity (and, if you have an extra few hours, stop by Pisa and take a look at the Tower). Although I've loved living in Rome, I've never felt luckier to live in Italy than while standing on these village hillsides looking out at the ocean.  As Kahla aptly said while walking along the coast, you'll feel "infinite in the moment."  

Alla Prossima,

Erin 

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Sun. Nov. 4:  It's gloomy in Rome but not too cold- in the mid-60s.  Fortunately we had at least one warm sunny day for our hike in Cinque Terre!