Cinque Terre

On the first of April. We can call it from now on the most unluckiest day for 2016. I went to Cinque Terre. It was a day of waiting, waiting, waiting and finally arriving in the hostel i had the most unwelcome feeling there is. I can already tell you this, the only thing that was really good; was doing the laundry. It was cheap and the lovely smelling powder was included and i could hang my clothes outside.

From the hostel i hiked 3 hours to get to Portovenere. It was a beautiful hike along the sea, through forest, past small villages. When i got to Portovenere after 3 hours, i saw a castel down below me, such an awesome view!! I was tired, but still full of energy! The people who i came across with, were totally dead half way already.
I sat down at the castel for about an hour, a man was playing the harp, it was the perfect music for the scenery i was sitting in.
Peacefull!

I treated myself with a pre-birthday cocktail, before taking the boat to the small island Palmaria. I did a 1,5 hour hike up there and went back to Portovenere. From there i walked the same way back, as i got there in the morning. I wanted to experience, why the people i met were dead half way already. I must say that i had a hard time, my legs were so tired, but i had to go back before it got dark. And so i did at 19.30pm, just before darkness. I slept perfectly!

The next day i had the shuttle bus at 08.30am to Riomaggiore. The first town of the cinque terre region. Ivan a guy who was planning to do the same as i, asked me if i wanted to hang out. I said ok, but if it doesn't work out, we would go seperate ways. He agreed, and so it was that we spent the whole day together. We spent 3 hours in Riomaggiore; chatting on the rocky beach, climbing rockses, having breakfast, buying loads of fruits. At 12.00 we spontaneous rented a double kayak. We had so much fun, we were a perfect team! Our clothes got wett and we got injured. At 15.00pm we hiked from Riomaggiore to Manarola in wett pants and a path steep as hell. It was exhausting!!! Ivan was sweating like a pig. Normally it would be me, but now it wasn't me! ;-) haha. The rest of the day we hang out in Manarola and had dinner there aswell. Tagiatella with lobster and redwine. I had a hard time using the equiptment for cracking open the lobster. We ate it away in 15minutes. Such a nice dish, that we supposed to enjoy slowly, but who we ate as like we hadn't eaten in 3 days. We hurried ourselfs to the trainstation and were in time for the shuttle bus back to the hostel.

The next day Ivan and i met in the afternoon, because i was changing hostels and for him it was his last day. There it was on the beach, that we kissed. We had plenty of romantic moments the day before, but this day was the moment. A goodbye kiss ahhhhhhhh...............

Hostel cinque terre backpackers in Corvara, 20 minutes by car from Monterosso was the place to be, for the next 4 nights. Francesco, Simone and Antonio gave me such a great welcome feeling, that i was happy to be there. The backpackers sadly were not fun at all. They were talking in the I, I, I, I, version the whole time. Lai was invisible, and lai stopped trying to talk to them, they were not worth it.
The next day i walked all the way from Monterosso to Manarola. In every town i had a stop for an hour. Vernazza was a busy place, it supposed to be the most beautiful one of the five, but i didn't really liked it that much. Corniglia was small and cosy, but the town had no beach or port were you could sit along the water. I did had the best gelato though. Basil flavour, honey from Corniglia and pistaccio. Wow so good!!
The hike from Corniglia to Manarola was the best, the hardest and the most beautiful one. I walked through vineyards, people's gardens and it was all next to the sea. This part of the track, you didn't need to pay for and it was the best! I took the train back to Monterosso and slept great, under the dark sky with his bright stars.

On the 6th of April, known as my birthday, i went to Genova. It was a sunny day, but it started as being on a donor waiting list, with a bankaccount of 1,28 euro and people begging for money. "Happy Birthday Lai"

In the evening back at my home i ate Francesco's lovely dinner again. And as dessert the lights were turned off and Francesco, Antonio and Simone sang Happy Birthday for me in Italian. And i had to blow off a candle light that was placed on top of a delicious chocolate cake with strawberries and cacao hearts all around it. It was so lovely and made with love aswell. Oh not to forget, that we drank really nice prosecco with it, all on the house.
And i treated the others with liquor sweets, it was a surprise for me aswell. But this was much better, then just sweets. So after all it was a perfect birthday, thanks to Francesco, Antonio and Simone! Thank you so much guys!

My ladt day in Cinque Terre i spent on the beach and i had a refreshing swim. Raviolli with cheese and spinach was my goodbye dinner. So tasty! And last but not least: i found my mp3 player. I was in heaven, ooooh i had missed my music... So hardstyle on the maximum volume in my ear, for an hour. Jippie!

On the 8th of April i headed off to Rome!

So everyone a massive update again, but Cinque Terre was a really good place to be!

Ciao


P.s Jan Willem; hoe onveilig heeft Joke Griekenland gemaakt? En is ze weer heelhuids teruggekomen?
En trouwens ik hoor altijd dat Joke op kleine reisuitjes gaat, wil jij niet gezellig mee, of houd je niet zo van vliegen Jan Willem?
In ieder geval weer bedankt voor het lezen van mijn blog en tot ziens maar weer. Als je weer op Vlie bent, neem dan ook een kijkje in de gloednieuwe ZeeVaert!