Cinque Terre

I just want to say with my poor writing skills and my lack of ability to concentrate on this blog....I can not even begin to do justice to Cinque Terre. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited! We arrived and I was already in love, I mean how could you not be look at how cute it is?!

The only part I can complain about is the whole walking uphill for 10zillion miles to our hostel. I had a little more luggage than the other boys so it was a little rough. Although I must add (bc if I didn't Andrew would throw a fit) Andrew was super nice to carry my heavy bag up all the hills and stairs!! By this time I was sweating profusely and in dyer need of my puffer (inhaler). It was all worth it though once I saw where we were staying. It was more like an apartment with a patio to eat at that overlooked everything! Besides the inside being all pink, I was in love. 

I'm thinking of redecorating my room like this

I can't remember if it was later that day or the next day but we decided to do the trails to the other villages. There are five small villages that make up Cinque Terre and they have hiking paths you can walk to each of them. Of couse as soon as Kyle and Andrew found out there was one that was the hardest out of all of them....that's the one we had to do first. I could pretend right now that i'm super naturey but this climb although amazing was a struggle and probably still the biggest work out I've had all summer by a long shot (not that I have a lot of working out to compare it to...). I found myself many times "enjoying the scenery" aka trying to just breath. I'm more than happy that we did it however. It was fun seeing what goes on in those mountains and looking over whatever large body of water we were looking over! 

here's my and my "neature walk" 

I would have climbed this as well but I didn't want to 

show them up....plus someone had to take the picture

After our hike we of course got gelato for what was probably the 3rd time that day, we never got sick of it! We then just explored the village which of course was beautiful (I don't remember which one it was). As we were exploring I saw this cliff and water and well naturally suggested we swim and climb it ( I guess I have my moments of liking nature). We went down and there was a family and two girls who had already jumped in. I was all for it and ready to go, but of course I was with two babies who didn't like cold water. I suppose it also didn't help that near the edge there was a real life in the wild octopus, discovery channel style. Finally after being encouraged by a seven year old jumping in we did it too and climbed the rock! It was a spontaneous adventure and totally worth it! 

the rock we climbed!!!

Our night ended with food and drinks! We ate a pizza between the three of us that supposedly could feed 5 on our patio looking over the water and houses. We ended up venturing down into town for drinks which was quite the decision sent that meant walking all the way back up the hill! Although we only stayed a day it was a great 24hours!! I can't wait to go back there again <3

Venice

Venice first, it was everything I had imagined it would be. Gondolas everywhere, all the buildings are old, little cute alleys, and of course A LOT of gelato! Unfortunately, as cool as this was it was sort of all Venice had to offer. I'm glad I got to see it it all it's glory, but it is definitely a one and done kind of thing if ya know what I mean. Not to say I didn't adore every second I was there! It was also the beginning of a very special relationship I have developed with gelato, which has continued here in Spain and will be one of the many contributors to my "summer abroad 20lb." It was also the beginning of our intense pizza diet which I miss A LOT here in Sevilla! We stayed in a quaint little hostel near a plaza and of course when in Italy...you must drink wine!! Being the savvy college kids we are we decided to try 1.60euro wine....well lets just say it made hawkeye seem almost gourmet. lesson learned. We explored the city some more looking at shops and the many "cool bridges" as we like to call them. By night time however we were ready for our next stop....CINQUE TERRE

The delicious pizza....nomnomnomnomnom

Packing and Departure

Packing might have been the most stressful part of my trip. I literally thought and pondered everyday for two weeks what I wanted to bring. I didn't want to be that ONE GIRL, you know the one with two check in bags both 20lbs overweight and carry on. On the other hand I also didn't want to be the girl who wore the same outfit everyday for 8weeks. So as you can see it was extremely stressful. I ended up packing all my clothes in my carry on and felt pretty good about myself. I then had a check-in bag almost completely empty for all the wonderful things I would purchase abroad. The unfortunate part about this is that I am now the one girl who wears the same outfit every week....oh well you win some you lose some more ( quote from Kelly Madzia). 

The day of departure I was super excited. I was actually on my way to ahat I knew was going to be the best summer ever! I had a little anxiety flying solo with two stops and no way to contact those who were picking me up in Venice. But hey as me and my friends would say YODO (and no I didn't not spell YOLO wrong). In a nutshell my flight to Venice consisted of a lot of sitting, running, and sweating. Yes I was one of those travelers you feel bad for running around in the terminals, but hey I didn't miss any of my flights! Although in Madrid I did get a lot of funny looks as I stood in line flop sweating (from running) in tank top and leggings while they were wearing pants and jackets. Which is one thing I learned about Spaniards, they can withstand a lot of heat, it completely baffles me. When I arrived in Venice I am pleased to say all my luggage arrived with me thank goodness. Walking out I was relieved to see the faces of Andrew and Kyle and thus began my adventure abroad. Look for a blog about Italy soon!!!

Hasta Luego, Adios, Ciao

Below is what would be a pic of my airplane food but here in Sevilla the internet is pretty much a photo per every 3hrs. Overall it looked amazing but oddly all food tasted rather similar, hence I ate very little of it.