Craziness in Cinque Terre

Ciao bella my friends! Last weekend, I headed off to Cinque Terre, which is on the Ligurian coast in Italy. It’s a picturesque set of 5 villages looking out over the sea, full of colorful buildings, delicious food, and amazing scenery.

On Friday night, I set out with two friends towards Milan. We got to Milan around midnight and then got about couple hours of sleep before we had to catch our train to Le Spezia, a small city close to Cinque Terre. We were all so excited that the lack of sleep barely bothered us at all on Saturday. Our first stop in Cinque Terre was Riomaggiore. After browsing around for a while at the cute village, we headed to the last village, Monterosso, to begin a hike between the villages. The trail between the villages takes you along the coastline and into the surrounding forest. It was a gorgeous, difficult hike, full of wonderful views and steep stairs.

After a couple of hours, we made it to the next village, Vernazza. We spent the rest of the day there swimming in the amazingly clear sea and eating fantastic Italian food. Around ten, we headed back to Le Spezia and checked into our hostel. At this point, we were exhausted and got some much needed sleep before our second day in Cinque Terre.

On Sunday, we headed to Manarola. This and Vernazza were my two favorite villages. It had gorgeous swimming areas and huge rocks you could jump off of. After lounging, swimming, and, of course, eating some more, we had to head back to Le Spezia to catch a train back home. This is where the adventure really begins.

 Literally every train we took back to Zurich was late. We began to realize that we were not in Switzerland anymore, and Italy runs on a completely different time system. As we arrived in Le Spezia, late of course, we began sprinting towards the train that would head to Milan, only to find out that train is running 30 minutes late anyways. Finally the train arrives, and we start the journey to Milan. Then we obviously arrive late to Milan and again we rush towards our next train to Chiasso, the border town of Italy and Switzerland, and arrive in the nick of time. Upon arriving in Chiasso, we realize the train we were supposed to take to Zurich has been cancelled; this leads to us taking various trains to various cities before we finally end up on one going to Zurich. We all heaved a sigh of relief when we started towards Zurich. However, if our original trains had worked out, we were supposed to arrive in Zurich around 11:30. Due to all the changes, we got there around 12:45. The last tram back to my village leaves at 12:30, and there is not another one until 5:50 am. Thus, Ali and I wandered around Zurich until the wee hours of the morning. Luckily, Zurich is one of the safest cities in the world, so if you had to be stuck in one city, Zurich is the place to be.

Needless to say, when I finally got back to Zumikon, I had never been happier to see a bed in my life. Despite all the craziness, it was a dream going to Italy, and Cinque Terre was a place I’d absolutely recommend to everyone. Definitely a weekend I’ll never forget.