Okay, I may have lied about the title a little bit... we're starting with Cinque Terre! I went the weekend after Barcelona, March 4-6, and I'm so glad I did. I flew into Milan late Thursday night, and after a mishap getting into my hotel room, I was finally able to get a good 4 hours of sleep before my train ride the next morning. Admittedly a bit of a rocky start. I couldn't sleep and was very early to the station, so I took my sweet time getting to the platform. That is until I showed up and the conductor told me I couldn't board without a kn95. Of course, I left all mine in Spain untouched, as we do not have the same mask regulations. With 5 minutes to board, I frantically ran to different stores begging to buy one. I finally got one, ran onto my train, and fell asleep for the three-hour ride. I woke up in time to see the coastline from Genoa to La Spezia, making the last hour the hardest to sit still for. Once I arrived, it was a 5-minute walk to meet Nomi at the Airbnb.
Our bed was big, cozy, and tempur-pedic; a nice change from my tiny twin. I met Cat and Maya, Nomi's friends, and we headed out to meet the third member of the group (Zoe), who had gotten an earlier start in Riomaggiore. Zoe had chosen a cute spot for lunch, and I got a delicious pumpkin soup and mussels to share with Nomi. Afterward, we hiked over to Manarola, but since the coastal trails are closed during the off-season it was a bit more strenuous than I expected. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at a bar with a great view and ran into two guys one of the girls knew from school. They joined us for dinner back in La Spezia, and after stuffing myself with pesto gnocchi, I felt that even if I had to leave the next morning the trip would have been a success. Luckily I had another full day!
Saturday may have been a walk in a national park, but it was certainly no walk in the park. Living in Sevilla, it's not crazy to walk 11 miles in a day. The key difference here was elevation. We hit Volastra and Corniglia before noon (with a few wrong turns down countless unmarked trails that lead to nowhere) where Nomi and I tried the famous Ligurian farinata, a yummy chickpea flatbread with more of a crepe-like consistency. Topped with pesto, of course. It was delicious. Though I didn't remember much of my trip to Cinque Terre from when I was little, I did faintly remember liking Vernazza a lot. Keeping this in mind I researched a little restaurant called La Torre, where we stopped to eat around 2. If I thought I was having a great day before, La Torre was the icing on the cake. It was the most delicious pesto and seafood pasta I have ever had, with a gorgeous view on a sunny day. I knew I liked Vernazza for a reason!
Reminiscing on our senior year Greece trip, Nomi and I knew we wanted to swim in the Mediterranean, no
matter the weather. Her friend Maya joined in too, and that is how we ended up in our bathing suits in 60 degrees weather, subject to the judgment of onlookers. Nothing out of the ordinary to those of us from Norcal, though I got the feeling it wasn't quite the Italian way...Nonetheless, it was extremely refreshing, and another highlight.
The rest of the trip was a dream, topped off with plenty of wine and pizza. Right up until my 12 hour travel day on Sunday hit me like a bus. When I finally got home, I was so happy I went. Much like hiking through Cinque Terre and jumping in the water, I was exhausted but refreshed.
On to another week of classes!
First off, as happy as I was to have made the trip to Italy, I was less happy to come back tired the week before midterms. However, I still found ways to make the best of the week, between study sessions of course.
Maggie and I signed up for a cooking class, where we got another lesson in paella (we're basically experts now)! In addition, we learned how to make some great salmorejo (basically gazpacho). The food was delicious! This week's food was definitely a highlight. As much as I love Spanish food, I enjoyed branching out this week too. Surprisingly, Sevilla has some great international options. I had Lebanese and Indian, as well as some yummy toast with beat hummus that seemed as close to Californian cuisine as you can get (if only it had avocado too). And have I mentioned the Sushirito place or the Venezuelan arepas near my house ?!
Last weekend, Claire, Maggie, and I decided to have a proper Spanish night out at our new favorite club, Monasterio. It was a great time. The weekend was pretty chill, so we went to a Betis soccer game on Sunday. We also tried a new restaurant recommended to me called Casa Ruperto, which apparently uses an illegal method of killing their poultry. Unethical, maybe, but for the experience, we had to get quails and snails. Today I had my last midterm, and it feels good to be done. I finally got to enjoy a cooking day with my gastronomy class, which I was starting to think would never happen, and am looking forward to starting a film project for one of my classes in the near future. The weather has been a bit stormy which means Maria/Dolores/Lola (I asked my host mom what her real name is because it's always different based on who she's talking to, but she maintains that it's all of them) has been cooking up some incredible stews and soups. Today we had a bit of a sandstorm incoming from the Sahara, so I'm really hoping for sunny weather soon. I have another weekend in Sevilla coming up, and then off to Dublin the weekend after St. Patty's for some budget traveling! Thanks for following along!
