Amalfi & Cinque Terre

After Ischia I took a very dangerous bus ride to Atrani on the Amalfi coast where I met up with Maya and Hillary (friends from Santa Cruz)!

We spent two days in Atrani and Amalfi enjoying the beautiful sights and wonderful eats of southern Italy.

Maya and Hil at dinner on our first night.

After two nights in Amalfi we headed up to Cinque Terre in Nothern Italy. Unfortunately our train was an hour late arriving in Rome so we missed our connection to La Spezia. This meant we were stranded in Rome for the night. Luckily one of the hostels I stayed at previously was right near the train station and had beds available. Stopping in Rome turned out to be a blessing in disguise because neither Maya nor Hillary had been there before. As I had spent a week there, I was able to give them a mini night tour of the city. The next day we hopped on a very early train and made it to Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre.

Manorola- the second town.

Cinque Terre (pronounced Cheen-kwa tair-uh) literally means 'Five Lands'. In Cinque Terre National Park there are 5 towns along the coastline connected by a coast trail. You can take trains between the towns, but the more beautiful, more rewarding way to see them is to hike along the 9km trail through them. So that's what we did! We were extremely lucky to hike on an overcast day because it was hot! The hike took us 5 hours including a 1 hour break in the 4th town where we enjoyed some pesto pizza.






The hike was very hilly but worth the incredible views of the coastline. At the end of the hike we rewarded ourselves with a beer and some appetizers at our favorite restaurant (with our favorite blue-eyed waiter) in the nothern-most town of Monterosso.



After 5 amazing days together I had to say goodbye to Maya and Hillary. They made their way to Switzerland and I to England. It was an incredible week together and I am so thankful we were able to meet up. Being with the girls made my last 4 months feel like a dream. Now that they're gone, I feel like being with them was a dream! Traveling life is so different from everyday life and being with friends from home, living normal lives (aka working) reminded me just how crazy a journey I am on, and how lucky and glad I am to have the opportunity to see so many amazing sights and meet so many amazing people.
But I miss you all sooooo much! I can't wait to see you in December. Muah!

pictures! http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2885088017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/