After a solid night of sleep, we both awoke in the morning feeling the effects of the hike all over our bodies. We were really sore. The two big regrets in my mind were, number one, that we didn't take the time to stretch after the hike yesterday, and two, that we have allowed ourselves to get this out of shape that a hike which is somewhat strenuous, but by no means highly taxing, could do this to us. I've used the excuse of traveling so much for my job and getting settled in long enough. It's time to lace up the Asics and get back to running.
After breakfast at the hotel, we all decided we'd head over to Monterosso and hang out on the beach for the day. We were not 5 minutes from the hotel, when we all realized that was a terrible idea. The Cinque Terre is nice and all, but once one does the hike which goes through all five towns, there really isn't anything else to do there. The beaches aren't nearly nice enough to warrant spending extra time there. As a group, we came up with a new plan and headed back to the hotel to get our bags.
Since we were all heading North anyway for our flights out (Micah and Hilary to Torino and us to Bergamo), we took the train in that direction and stopped off in Santa Margherita. Fortunately, they had a bag check, a bartender at the bar connected to the station, for us to leave our luggage. This was sketchy, but the only alternative was lugging around our bags all day, so we went with it. We hopped on the bus to Portofino and were on our way.
Portofino was really pretty. It's right on the water and is filled with yachts and other extremely expensive boats. It looks much like any other small Italian town on the water, but instead of little crappy shops selling souvenirs and other random things, the streets are lined with very high end stores like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc.
We walked through the town, which took about 5 minutes, had lunch at a pizza place, got some gelato, and then were on our way. We took the ferry back instead of the bus. Even though it cost a little more than the bus, it was quicker and the views were much nicer. We again lucked out with gorgeous weather for the day.
The ferry arrived in Santa Margherita and we still had plenty of time until our trains were set to depart. We walked along the water and then through the streets.
Throughout the trip, since we met up with the Harts, we had been trying to find an internet cafe. Micah is the commisioner of the fantasy football league we've had with our group of friends for years. Right after he left the country for this trip, we all realized something was wrong on the league website that needed to be fixed before the games started on Sunday, or there would be an uproar. It's fantasy football, which we all take too seriously, so most issues tend to cause an uproar even when they aren't a big deal, but this kind of was...sort of. In the nick of time, as we were walking back to the train station, we found a place. It's interesting how few internet places there are in Europe now. There are a lot of bars and restaurants that offer free wifi, however, because it is assumed that everyone has their own device whether it be smartphone or laptop to access the web. Anyway, we found this place, paid for a computer for each person, except for Micah who didn't want to check his email or anything on the internet so to avoid finding out the score of the Saints game, which had been played on Thursday night and he had recorded with plans to watch when he got back home. He helped me login to the site with his password and we got the site fixed and ready before kickoff and avoided armegeddon.
Because the Hart's train was canceled, we all got on the same train heading North. The train was completely full. All seats were occupied, so we join the other groups of people lining the aisles next to the couchettes. It was not overly comfortable or pleasant, but we made due. Hilary and Micah got off in Genoa and we continued on to Bergamo. Jenn and I sat in chairs that folded out from the wall in the aisle for the remainder of the trip. This wasn't too bad except someone either in the couchette next to us or down the aisle somewhere had awful flatulence and had no qualms about sharing it with the rest of the train car. We passed the time (not gas like the mystery person in the train with us) reading. Jenn is reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and I am halfway through The Cuckoo's Egg.
It was great seeing Micah and Hilary. It was a little surreal meeting up with in the middle of Italy, but it really worked out great. Though I gave Micah a very hard time about choosing Cinque Terre as the place for us to visit, it did end up being fun. It doesn't change the fact that it's a horrendous pain to get there, and I'm not sure the fun outweighs the effort it takes to get there, but Micah got what he wanted and after being friends with him for years, all seems right with the world when that happens.
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