There were seven of us traveling to Italy, but heading towards two different towns. We had some issues trying to get to each of our cities because they were smaller locations. So we ended up heading to Milan, Italy on Thursday night and staying there. We got in after 1:00 AM and had to leave by 8:30 in the morning to get to our destinations. Bill and I had some time to kill before our train left so our original plan was to walk around the city. However, it turns out there isn’t a whole lot to do in Milan other than shopping. So we hung out at the train station, which was very impressive, for a while. Our train to Riomaggiore was beautiful- The area around the train stop in Genova was beautiful and would like to return there sometime in the future! After leaving Genova the train drove along the coast which is absolutely breathtaking J When we arrived to Riomaggiore we headed to our hostel and checked in. After dropping off our stuff we headed out to explore the city some- the last time I visited I stayed in one of the other cities. About 10 minutes into our walk it started to rain some, but luckily it cleared out relatively quickly. The cities were as amazing as I remembered and it was great to see places that I’d seen 4 years ago still around. After walking around it was time for dinner- gnocchi and a glass of wine was perfect. Dessert was gelato- yumm J We headed back to the hostel and met our roommates for the next few days. They were two girls from Australia who are traveling around Europe for the next 4 months- later we also had a guy from France join us (he had missed the last train back to Genova- where he was staying). It was a relatively early night for me since it had been a long day traveling and tomorrow was time for the hike!
Saturday morning we headed out bright and early. First we took a train up to Monterosso (the first of the five cities). There we walked around and grabbed a bite to eat at a café that had freshly baked croissants and bread. Then we bought our tickets for the hike and headed off. For everyone who doesn’t know Cinque Terre is a nature preserve located along the northwest coast of Italy. It is best known for it’s costal hike that you take between the 5 cities- it is about 11 km, takes around 5 hours, and costs 5 euros and is 100% worth everything! If you start in Monterosso and head to Riomaggiore the hike starts off hard and then gets easier as you progress through the different cities- so that’s what we did. When we bought our tickets we found out that overnight there were two landslides that occurred and closed down the parts between Vernazza and Corniglia (the 2nd and 3rd cities) and Corniglia to Manarola (the 3rd and 4th cities). I was glad that the first section was not affected. Though the hike is the hardest, the views I feel are the best! The hike starts off with a TON of stairs heading up the side of the cliff then you outskirt the cliffs for a while until you reach the next city. My favorite part is when you round the last part of the cliff and there before you is Vernazza- it’s absolutely beautiful after an hour plus of hiking. After reaching Vernazza we walked around the city some and explored before deciding to head back to Monterosso and go to the beach since the other paths were closed. In Monterosso I bought a beach towel and clamed a place on the beach. The weather was perfect, the water was clear and cool, and it was perfect to just unwind! Following the beach I headed back to Riomaggiore to do some laundry, shopping, and just relax. The day was absolutely perfect and a great way to re-energize for the upcoming week. That evening we gained two new roommates (in addition to the Australian girls)- they were two guys from Ohio. There were also people staying in a room just below us from Washington DC, Canada, and Dallas! It was fun to all hangout and talk about everyone’s travels.
Sunday was the start of a long 48 hours of traveling. When I woke up that morning my throat was very sore and it hurt to talk L I hoped it wouldn’t be too bad of a day! We left Cinque Terre around 9:00 am to catch a few trains over to Venice. In Venice we would meet up with the other group that had been in Sacile, Italy for the weekend. After close to 5 hours of trains we made it to Venice, dropped off our bags, and walked around Venice. I’d been to Venice the last time I was in Italy as well, so again, it was a lot of fun to see the city and the places I’d been to in the past. I went to my favorite glass shop and bought a gift there J After shopping we meet up with everyone else before dinner and of course gelato! We then picked up our bags and took a train to the other station in Venice where our night train would leave to take us to Munich. When we were waiting in the train station it began to pour rain!! There was thunder and lightening going on all around us and the wind began to blow so hard that the rain was reaching us in the center of the platform. We all decided we’d had enough and went to take cover in the underground where you switch trains. Not long after getting down there and finding a place out of the way to place our bags a huge “waterfall” came pouring down the stairs next to where we were sitting. Luckily, the underground was slightly tilted the other direction and the water flowed away from our bags! By the time our train was to depart the rain had stopped, but little did we know that the rain was just the start of the adventures we were about to face! Our train arrived a few minutes late and when it arrived it was PACKED. We were all confused because we believed that the train started at our stop, so we didn’t know why there were so many people on the train. When we tried to get on the train- which we had reservations for- no one would move to let us on. The train conductor was trying to get people to move, the other people on the platform were pushing to get on, and the whole thing was a mess. Finally, after a lot of pushing, shoving, and force we all made it on to the train. We made it to our “room” and found the car packed full. We explained to the people in the room that we had reservations for the seats, they also explained to us that there was a strike going on and that there were 3 trains crammed on to one little car of the train. The other cars of the train were 1st class sleeper cars and the doors to the cars were locked. So we made the best of the situation and tried to get to know everyone. In the room I was in there was a couple that was very unhappy and didn’t talk to anyone (they got off at the first stop), there was a family visiting their daughter (originally from NYC but now lives in Verona, Italy), and a family (mom, dad, and 4 children) that had been on vacation but took the train instead of driving to avoid traffic! Everyone was very nice, the people outside the room started singing at one point, and the best was made of a bad situation. Everyone, except those with reservations to Munich, got off in Verona to head home. At that point we were able to sit down and attempt to get some sleep. We also realized in Verona that half of our train disappeared! The train connected with a train from Rome to make one train to head to Germany. The train departed from Verona around 1:30 am or so. Sleep was off and on at best through the night. Around 4:00 am we were woken up by boarder patrol to check our passports, an hour later we were woken up to have our tickets checked. When we had our tickets checked the checker informed us that we needed a ticket for Austria- we were very confused because we had checked when booking the ticket that the train did not go through Austria since our Eurail’s did not include Austria. After a little bit of a scare we were able to buy the ticket for Austria on the train and luckily it only ended up costing 23.60 Euros. Somehow, after all the issues the night before, our train arrived in Munich on time at 6:30am. We quickly transferred trains to head to Dusseldorf. Again, sleep on that train was off and on. At this point, the sore throat I had was just getting worse and I really needed sleep! In Dusseldorf we grabbed a bite to eat, I grabbed some throat lozenges, and we headed off to Arnhem! When we arrived in Arnhem we took a bus out to near our hotel. When we got off at the bus stop there wasn’t a whole lot around- we found a sign for the hotel and it said 400 meters away. Not bad we all thought, until we realized it was a mostly uphill walk! When we arrived we checked in, I took a shower and then crashed for a much needed nap. Dinner that night was in the hotel since we were located outside the city almost in the middle of nowhere. I had some soup, took some medication, and got a goodnight sleep in hopes of feeling better the next morning.
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