Gollum Siting in Cinque Terre

.....or just a very thirsty Aivisaur.

Okay, to explain this entire Gollum-esque pose en route to Vernazza (the fourth town of Cinque Terre) I must first give some background. This past Sunday a few LdM students and I decided to go to Cinque Terre, five towns strung together by precarious hiking paths, as a relaxing Sunday escapade. We had heard that the beaches in the last two towns, Vernazza and Monterosso, were incredible and had read rave reviews online. What everyone failed to mention is the fact that to get to these towns it's an 11 mile hike. Sure, one could theoretically take the train there but we wanted to do the entire hike, blissfully ignorant that the last two (from Corniglia to Vernazza, and Vernazza to Monterosso) would be at least 3 hours worth of sweaty trekking.

I'm not one to shy away from a hike, so I was, as my girl Dena would say, DTDG --Down To Get Down. We started off in Riomaggiore, the first town, where the entire hike commenced at 10:30 am with a leisurely stroll aptly nicknamed "Via dell'Amore," or the Road of Love. I so happened to be wearing my heart shirt that I purchased at a Hillsong United concert so I took a decidedly embarrassing tourist picture:

Look at that blissful ignorance! The naivety! The youth!

Anyway, from Riomaggiore to Manarola it was a petty walk, tantamount to running Kelly Drive in its entirety on a cool, breezy day. No big. We didn't stay very long in Manarola, save to take a few tourist photos, since we were making great time towards Corniglia, the third town. Once Corniglia hit, however, it was about noon-time aka lunch time. And if there's one thing Aivisaurs don't miss it's feeding. So there I sat with my delicious plate of smoked tuna and tomatoes ready to take on the world. We had whizzed through the hike and were all hopeful that we would be able to hit the beaches by 3pm, latest.

Wrong.

The trek from Corniglia to Vernazza was a dizzying array of up-and-down, twists and turns. What didn't help was that we had started off during the hottest part of the day, when Italian stores recede into darkness for siesta and the sun blazes and beats down mercilessly. Thus, though I began the entire hike with all my clothes on, I at some point ended up hiking in a bathing suit and shorts. (Don't worry, Mom and Dad, Italian men averted their eyes chastely and quickly.) But salvation came, or so it seems, when we found a small bar that served ice-cold gatorade, a great way to replenish all my lost electrolytes. Being a savvy shoppper, I opted over the powerade--since it might be more expensive-- for the inexpensive Italian gatorade (read: FAKE GATORADE), latin name: Satan's nectar.

I still had water left so I decided to save the electrolyte-replenishing for the last, and most difficult, hike. As we descended to Monterosso, the last town, I began chugging Satan's nectar. Slowly but surely, I suddenly felt my throat close off and mucus accumulate. Gross, I know. I looked down at the label and, to my surprise, the drink was pure water and sugar with lemon juice. Nothing else. Nada. Niente. Nothing. Sugar water, I had been drinking sugar water. By then, it was around 4pm, and I was beyond parched. So, the first creek I saw I just went for it. I threw off my gym bag, threw off my shirt, threw off my pride, really, and just Asian squatted all up in that. Hence, the shameless Gollum pose.

But, enough words! Onto Cinque Terre Eye Candy!

Riomaggiore

Manarola

Corniglia

Vernazza

Monterosso

Peace, or as they say in Italy, Pace