The Call of the Wild
Since my last entry, a couple more weeks have passed, and now I only have a couple of weeks left in Italy. Up until this weekend, there wasn’t anything particularly exciting to note… after seeing friends on Easter, I slipped into a bad mood of nostalgia and homesickness. I don’t think I’m the only one- everyone seems to be a little grumpy, half because we want to leave, and half because we don’t. We took our last school field trip last Friday to Villa Lante and Palazzo Farnese in Bagnagia and Caprarola, respectively- the sites were very cool, but also very cold, unfortunately… Last Sunday, Brian, Theresa, and I waited in line for a couple of hours in order to get into the Roman version of the Palazzo Farnese, probably the most famous palace of Renaissance Rome, and completed by Michelangelo. Today, it is home to the French Embassy and is only open for two days each year, so we seized the opportunity to visit. Later on that afternoon, Ben, Deirdre and I went on a mission to find the catacombs of San Callista, one of the last things on my list to do in Rome. Getting there was half of the adventure, and what we thought should be a couple of bus rides turned into a subway ride, and a walk across a ‘park’ that was actually quite rugged, complete with streams (crossable), thorn bushes (manageable), and a small river (not so much…). By the time we found a bridge and eventually got to the catacombs, it was 20 minutes before they closed. Thankfully, we got on the last English tour (just the three of us) and made it back to studio on the buses.
After a week where I only had classes on two of the days, a large group of us took off this weekend for our last trip out of Rome. Brian, Theresa, Melia, and I joined six people I hadn’t traveled with yet: Pat, Jess, Danny, Alejandra, Nicole, and Tim. It was a big and diverse group, but we had a great time. Friday morning nice and early we took a train to La Spezia, which is the large city that serves the Cinque Terre, or ‘Five Lands’. Cinque Terre essentially five finger-like peninsulas with spectacular cliffs above the ocean, with five small cities on the ends. (The five cities are, from south to north: 1. Riomaggiore 2. Manarola 3. Corniglia 4. Vernazza 5. Monterosso al Mare). The whole thing is a national park. The first day, it was pouring rain, on and off. Thankfully it never rained for too long, and it was warm, so we were totally fine. We walked the “Path of Love” between Riomaggiore, where our hotel was, and Manarola. We tried to walk between Manarola and Corniglia but the trail was closed because of the weather, so we took a train to Corniglia and walked the longer and more rugged trail between Corniglia and Vernazza, and played ‘forest tribe’ on the way, complete with symbols in mud on our faces. In Vernazza, we ate dinner at a restaurant with a strange waiter who kept making biblical references… We saw a beautiful sunset over the harbor, and took the train back to Riomaggiore, where we all fell asleep by about 10:00 or so.
The next morning, we woke up to have breakfast at 9:00 and then set off on our way again. Alejandra and Nicole went ahead of us in order to make it to Pisa in the afternoon, but the rest of us enjoyed between nine and twelve hours of sleep. We gathered our stuff together and set back out on the trails. We hiked the Path of Love again and then took a train to Vernazza. From there, we hiked to Monterosso al Mare, the longest of the four trails. What started as a cloudy day turned out to be really quite clear, which was beautiful, but also hot. Eventually we made it to Monterosso, explored a little bit, tasted free samples of pesto and wine, and sat by the beach, watching the water until it was time to catch the train back to Rome.
In general, Cinque Terre was absolutely beautiful. It was kind of a combination of a lot of other places I’ve been this year, so I think it was an appropriate final trip. The water and hills of Sicily, the mud of Scotland, the color of Tuscany… it was great. Also magnificent was the sheer power of the water and the drama of the waves crashing onto the huge rock cliffs. It was great to get out of studio, and the city, and to be somewhere where it was fresh, quiet, and peaceful before the final push of our projects, and the year. Cinque Terre was everything I like about Italy, and helped me to look past all of the things I won’t miss.
Tomorrow morning, it’s back to the grind. Tonight, I’m going to watch Notre Dame play in the Hockey National Championship until I start to fall asleep… Hopefully tomorrow my legs won’t be as sore as I fear they will be…
For pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2145319&l=5afda&id=5612188
After a week where I only had classes on two of the days, a large group of us took off this weekend for our last trip out of Rome. Brian, Theresa, Melia, and I joined six people I hadn’t traveled with yet: Pat, Jess, Danny, Alejandra, Nicole, and Tim. It was a big and diverse group, but we had a great time. Friday morning nice and early we took a train to La Spezia, which is the large city that serves the Cinque Terre, or ‘Five Lands’. Cinque Terre essentially five finger-like peninsulas with spectacular cliffs above the ocean, with five small cities on the ends. (The five cities are, from south to north: 1. Riomaggiore 2. Manarola 3. Corniglia 4. Vernazza 5. Monterosso al Mare). The whole thing is a national park. The first day, it was pouring rain, on and off. Thankfully it never rained for too long, and it was warm, so we were totally fine. We walked the “Path of Love” between Riomaggiore, where our hotel was, and Manarola. We tried to walk between Manarola and Corniglia but the trail was closed because of the weather, so we took a train to Corniglia and walked the longer and more rugged trail between Corniglia and Vernazza, and played ‘forest tribe’ on the way, complete with symbols in mud on our faces. In Vernazza, we ate dinner at a restaurant with a strange waiter who kept making biblical references… We saw a beautiful sunset over the harbor, and took the train back to Riomaggiore, where we all fell asleep by about 10:00 or so.
The next morning, we woke up to have breakfast at 9:00 and then set off on our way again. Alejandra and Nicole went ahead of us in order to make it to Pisa in the afternoon, but the rest of us enjoyed between nine and twelve hours of sleep. We gathered our stuff together and set back out on the trails. We hiked the Path of Love again and then took a train to Vernazza. From there, we hiked to Monterosso al Mare, the longest of the four trails. What started as a cloudy day turned out to be really quite clear, which was beautiful, but also hot. Eventually we made it to Monterosso, explored a little bit, tasted free samples of pesto and wine, and sat by the beach, watching the water until it was time to catch the train back to Rome.
In general, Cinque Terre was absolutely beautiful. It was kind of a combination of a lot of other places I’ve been this year, so I think it was an appropriate final trip. The water and hills of Sicily, the mud of Scotland, the color of Tuscany… it was great. Also magnificent was the sheer power of the water and the drama of the waves crashing onto the huge rock cliffs. It was great to get out of studio, and the city, and to be somewhere where it was fresh, quiet, and peaceful before the final push of our projects, and the year. Cinque Terre was everything I like about Italy, and helped me to look past all of the things I won’t miss.
Tomorrow morning, it’s back to the grind. Tonight, I’m going to watch Notre Dame play in the Hockey National Championship until I start to fall asleep… Hopefully tomorrow my legs won’t be as sore as I fear they will be…
For pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2145319&l=5afda&id=5612188