Monday, June 16, 2008

off the beaten sentiero

Just got back from an incredible weekend at the Cinque Terre. The weekend was filled with soccer-watching, mountain-scaling, and much consumption of delicious gelato. On our first day, we had the most amazing (unexpected) hike all the way up to two tiny villages called Groppo and Volastra which each had only one restaurant. But after scaling the mountain, any meal someone set in front of me would have been absolutely scrumptious. Another highlight was the Hogwarts Express-esque train we took back to Rome yesterday. It wasn't magenta, but we did have one of those compartments all to ourselves, complete with luggage racks up above and seats facing one another. I was very excited, to say the least.

Also, I can't forget about the other magical train ride we took on our last night at the Cinque Terre heading back to our hotel in La Spezia. All of us had had a little to drink, and the train was delayed by at least 15 minutes. While waiting on the platform, 2 cargo trains sped by, recalling the journey to Narnia in Prince Caspian. I don't need to tell you how awesome that was. Then, when we finally got on the train, the smell of marijuana and the sound of bongo drums wafted toward us, and lots of drunken people singing 'Volare' guided us back to the albergo.

I can't believe there are only 2 weeks left of the L'Aquila program -- time seriously does fly.

Thinking about taking a short trip to Rome this weekend with a couple other kids from the program. Don't forget to check out the new photos!

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