An Eventful and Warm Thanksgiving! ★Cinque Terre★

Upon arriving in La Spezia, Italy, we had to wait a little while before our courchsurfing host, Marco, came and picked us up from the station. I had exchanged 1 email and just a few txts with him to coordinate a meeting spot, and only 1 review had been left on his profile, so we had essentially no idea what to expect. Finally, this man came briskly walking up to us and greeted us. He's a 28 year old naval engineer who lives by himself in a flat in La Spezia, and decided to start hosting travelers for some company.
We went to his appartment and got settled in, and then his friend came. They made dinner for all of us (we didn't know that was part of the deal) which was pasta and sauce (ham and a loooottt of butter) - a typical bachelor's dinner on a bachelor pad. We hung out, drank a bit, talked about our lives, and then watched a movie. Marco is hyperactive,  and also a little creepy, but we figured we were okay since there were 2 of us and we were both in tune to all that was going on.
The next morning we took day packs and walked to thevtrain station. We took a train to Monterosso, the first of the Cinque Terre (Five Lands). After some difficulty with our eurail passes, we hopped off the train in Monterosso, at about 10am. At the station, and at the beginning of this 20km path, we met another traveling Ausie, Tim. He's also approaching the end of his 3 months of travel before his return to University in Australia.
The 3 of us set of on the path (Tim, carrying his 22kg pack). We only made it about 100 steps before I decided to jump the railing, and drop down 3 meters onto to beach and go climb a huuuge rock that jutted out of the ocean...Tim joined me as well.
Once back on track, we strutted along the much used path that is such a huge tourist attraction, especially in the summer. We were surrounded by intended on walking to the next town, Vernazza, but were forced to make a detour due to the trail being washed out. We had to go up the mountain to a road, catch a bus back into Monterosso,  and then take a train into Vernazza (10min ride) where we could resume our walk. There was a group of Argeninians who had been hiking behind us, so, my spanish came in very handy during that whole ordeal.
Once in Vernazza, we explored the beautiful, old, colorful town for a bit, bought some fresh fruits and veggies at the outdoor market, and then hit the trail again. We soon came to a beauuuutiful lookout among cacti and rocks where we sat to eat our hard earned food, and enjoy the abnormally clear and sunny day! Kelsey went litchi fruit harvesting :) ...which turned out to be more prickly than expected.
Many jaw-dropping views later, we came to Corniglia, the midfle of the Cinque Terre. It was 3:30, so we planned to continue hiking to the next town. But, we soon found out that we had just hiked the only complete section of trail between any 2 towns :( So, we bought a bottle of wine and walked doen toward the beach. We hung out, talked, drank our wine, and ate chocolate on a beautiful plateau overlooking the sea and the cliffs. By 4:45 it was 8ºC out. We watched the sun set across the water, and then said goodbye to our new friend (who decided to sleep right there because he didn't have anywhere to stay).
We took the train back to La Spezia, grabbed a beer in town with Marco, and then went back to his place (mainly because I hadn't planned to go out afterward, and was inappropriately dressed for the cold. Marco cooked dinner again, and then we hit the couch at 9ish, exhausted from out eventful and active day. ...Also, I couldn't take any more of Marco's flirtation...
In the morning, we packed up, bought our next plane tickets :O bought some food for the day, and then took the 12h26 train southeast, out of La Spezia.
More adventures to come...
♡Iolani
P.s. To our families: We hope you had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving, full of laughter and happy times with many loved ones! And rest assured that we were thinking of you, and how we would have loved some cranberry sauce and stuffing after our long hike!

Ciao, Italia!

Where Are We...?

After one week in Monaco, we're headed into Italia - "the home land", as Kelsey says. It was nice having a place to ourselves, and no real responsibilities for a whole week! It gave us some good time to reflect upon all that we've already been through, and ponder what's really important to us for the rest of our trip. We ended up changing all our plans for the next month before Kels goes home...
We did sleep in almost every day 'til about 11, and some days we really lazed around, taking advantage of the freedom we had! It was well deserved and much needed!
We also got out and explored! Monaco is a very condensed and rich city. It takes only about 30mins to walk all the way through Monaco and Monte Carlo. It's main sights are: the Palace of Monaco up on a hill which houses the royal family of Monaco, the Port where all the mega yachts are parked, some beautiful "exotic gardens", and of course the Casino of Monte Carlo. Sitting on a bench anywhere, the people (car) watching will blow you away! Ferraris, Porchs, Lambos, Maseratis, Autis, Mercedes,  etc. constantly wizzingggg by. Any "normal" car stuck out like a sore thumb. We felt completely out of place, but didn't care one bit...we have no wish to have those amounts of $$ or to live that kind of life. Also, everywhere we went, there were cameras and policemen. It was like Big Bother was actually watching us! We attempted to get a feel for the Monagast night life by going out to the Brasserie (supposedly a big hot spot in the evenings), but walked right back to the appartment before even going in. It was very quiet and calm, and gave off the impression that it was very exclusive.
It is all thanks to Laetitia, a former student of our Spanish teacher from high school, Mr. Bouvier. Bouvier established the communication between us, and Laetitia, being the generous and loving woman she is, agreed to having us, at my first mention of it! She convinced her father to let us stay in his guest room (he, coincidentally, was in Spain for most of our time there). Not only did Laetitia provide us with a free place to stay, she also opened her doors and heart to us. She lives right in Monaco in a small (yet veryyyy expensive) house, with her husband and 2 beautiful baby girls. We went to their house almost every day, sometimes just for dinner (which entailed us making the majority of it, and watching the kids). It was great getting to know and spending time with them.  They're very international (they've both lived in many different countries), and had a lot of advice for us. It was fun!!
One day, we went over before 10am to help around the house, as it is difficult for Laetitia to get anything done between breastfeeding and diaper changes. As soon as we arrived we were given our tasks. I was to watch Athina, her 7 week old daughter, all day, and then she gave me a whole list of things tondo whenever I got a chance to split my attention. I must say, I felt pretty pro by the end of the day...but couldn't imagine having to do that every day of my life! Meanwhile, Kelsey helped Laetitia with house chores and just general cleaning... It was a busy day, but we each came out with €50 more to travel with!! After work, Laetitia gave us special passes to a huge wine (and european tasting AND coupons for a couple bottles of high quality wine! It was a great experience - probably a one time thing - going around to litterally over 100 stands and trying the delicious wines, chocolates, cheeses, olive oils, nuts...local products, mostly from France and Italy. We left, as most people did, full of amazing foods, and a bit tipsy.
Again, Kels and I spent almost the entire time together, so, as expected, there was a bit of a clash. When we finally were able to speak about it like civilized people, we agreed that we had been doing much better at the various things that we said we'd work on, and that it was simply yhat we were spending too much time together. The next day, we figured out a way that we could each do our own thing - exploring the city or whatever we felt like doing. At the end of the day we both felt strongly that that had been hugely necessary and that it should be something we do before things go overboard.
Well rested and ready for adventure, we're on a train to La Spezia where we will be couchsurfing :O The plan is thag we hike the Cinque Terre tomorrow, staying 2 nights at this guy Marco's house. We're not sure how or if it's going to work out, but we'll make the best of whatever's handed to us.
♡♥♡♥ Iolani
P.s. Thank you Mr. Bouvier! :) she's waiting for those sessions...

☆Monaco☆ - Monte Carlo

The cars, the people, the buildings...so much $$$, it's unnerving.