Cinque Terre and Formal Dinner #1

This weekend brought another opportunity to travel with a lot of students from my school. Cinque Terre is 5 towns that run along the western coast of Italy. I thought I would never see a place more beautiful than Switzerland, but Cinque Terre definitely came close. We got there around 8 am, Saturday morning. As we couldn’t check into our hostel until 10 a few of us hiked around and even went swimming (which was my first time ever swimming in salt water). I was very surprised at how salty the water tasted and how quickly it burned my eyes haha. The rest of the day was devoted to hiking from one town to the next and stopping in each town as we went. The sun was out and the weather was perfect. In the second town there was a swimming spot and we got to jump off these high(ish) cliffs which was both terrifying and exhilarating. Each town was a bit different from the next and all of them were so beautiful. After a long day of hiking we went back to our hostel which was set up more like an apartment with our own bathroom, TVs in each room and even a kitchen. After showering, 8 of us went to a family run Italian restaurant (called a Trattoria) with the hopes of getting some seafood we had all been craving. The food there was AMAZING. I had mussels and calamari which were so delicious. The next day was devoted to going to the 5th town where we spent the day at the beach. We also got the opportunity to rent kayaks for 5 euro’s an hour. We kayaked around and found cliffs that a few brave souls decided to jump off of, me not being one of them. Shortly after kayaking we had to get back to the bus and head to Paderno.

This week quickly became busydue to the fact that it’s right before our first travel week. On top of studying for tests we had meetings every night and our first formal dinner on Wednesday. All the girls got dressed up, curled their hair, and we met outside for the busses to take us to the restaurant. The restaurant was gorgeous. We started with the antipasti (appetizers) under a white tent and there was so much to try. There was everything from cheeses to prosciutto to calamari to pumpkin type vegetables. After the antipasti we went into the restaurant where tables were set up in a room with beautiful chandeliers and everyone sat down at a table. It was a 5 course meal that included rice, pasta, meat and dessert courses. It was hands down, the most food I have ever eaten in one sitting but it was impossible to stop because everything was so good. The night was amazing and I am definitely looking forward to the next formal dinner.

I was able to finish the week without having too much anxiety about my tests and I am now getting ready to leave for Oktoberfest in Munich to begin the first travel week. In Munich I plan on meeting up with my parents and grandparents who came here to travel around with me for my first travel week and I am so excited to see them. After Munich we are going to Florence, then Rome then Venice. I apologize for my lack of pictures on my page but I will be adding some as soon as I can figure out how!