72 hours continued

As I mentioned in my previous post, Mike and I decided to stay an extra night since we were so in love with the beauty and nature of Cinque Terre. We woke up, ate breakfast, and made our way to find outdoor adventure. We took the train to the 5^th and furthest village from ours. (We were staying in the first village) We planned to swim and then hike our way home as we had the day before this time in the opposite direction. Walking around we came across a kayaking rental station. We rented a two-person kayak and set forth toward these huge rocks out in the middle of the sea about quarter of a mile out from the beach. We were talking to some locals and found out that if we kayaked out to the rocks, there was a place we could go cliff jumping. Mike being a height junky, and me always being up for adventure were stoked to do some climbing and jumping! We took the camera and started making our way to the rocks and cliffs.

The Mediterranean is BEAUTIFUL! The sea is a deep emerald blue, and could see the sandy bottom as we paddled through the water. We finally made it out to the rocks and scoped out the scene. It was definitely deep. We couldn’t see the sea floor anymore, and we poked our kayak paddles into the water to see if they would touch the floor. We were in the clear. Mike climbed onto the rocks and I paddled the kayak out further away so that I could record the whole thing. The cliff was about 2 to 2.5 stories high. He made the jump in pencil drop form and we cheered when he reached the surface after the deep plunge.

It was now my turn and I began to scale the cliff. I have to admit this is one if the most adventurous things I have ever done. Mike got the whole thing on camera. I took my time climbing as it was really high, and I was much too nervous to climb quickly. Also, doing this bare foot in a swimsuit, I had to be extra carful not to scrap myself on the sharp rocks. When I reached the top I couldn’t believe how high it was. I almost chickened out but the climb down seemed way scarier. I choose to only look at the rocks before I jumped. With a count to three I ran and leaped off the cliff! I leapt as far off the edge as I could, and remember looking far out into the distance. With a massive distance between the water and me I finally just shut my eyes and squealed the whole way down. I remember thinking that it was a long drop and wondered how long would it take before I hit the water. My feet broke through the water and I swam up to the surface. Wohoo! I was on an adrenaline rush and Mike and I cheered again! He was so proud that I did the jump! He also got the whole thing on camera and I even gave a shout out to Mom. It was amazing. We then explored around a bit more and then made our way back to the main shore. Epic adventure of the trip so far hands down!

When we got to the shore we hid our things between a large stacks of kayaks. There was no one around to see us and our things were really hard to get to. I tied our hiking shoes to my bag and dropped them in. We went for a great swim and laid out on some rocks out in the bay. When we returned we were laughing and goofing around. We reached in for the bags and the laughter suddenly stopped. Mikes bag was gone along with all of his money, his passport and my camera. At that moment everything became very serious, and we combed the beach looking for his bag. I think he was desperately hoping that the person would be sun bathing on the beach and he would get his stuff back. Finally we had to go to the police. He had to file a claim and then go the American consulate to get a new passport. Here is where things began to get stressful though. The nearest American consulate was in a town that was 5 hours away and it closed everyday at noon. His flight back to California was in about 36 hours in the same city. We looked up train times and decided to take the 4am train into Milan, we would get in at 9am and pray to get him in on time to get a new passport before his flight. We found a café with WiFi and as he canceled his cards and sorted out directions I decided to plan where to go next. It was while watching him desperately plan what to do when I decided to make the journey with him. I looked up flights in Milan, and found a cheap flight to Barcelona. “Mike.. Im coming with you! Let’s make this adventure of getting you home!” The look of relief on his face made it all worth wild. So we raised a toast over orange juice, and decided to make our way on the 4am train to Milan the following morning.

To be continued.

xx 

Team California - 72 Hours Ago

I realize that I have not written in the blog much the past few days. Lack of internet and extreme adventure can do that to you. As I said in my last post, I was in Cinque Terra hiking, and swimming in one of the most beautiful beaches I had ever been to. I mean this place is truly unreal it’s so beautiful. I met two other Californians at the hostel. Such a rarity on this trip!  We called ourselves team California as we hiked a 12K that lead you through 5 villages. Each village has a spectacular view of ocean, village and sunshine.  On the last leg of the hike, from village 4, to the last and final 5^th village, we could see in the distance stormy clouds. Faint sounds of thunder rumbled now and then. The three of us, Ant (short for Antony) Michael and I all looked at each other. Can we manage the last leg before the storm? Just then we ran into an American couple. They were from Atlanta. We told them we were moving forward on the last leg of the hike. Ms. Atlanta looks at us and says, “Isn’t that the hardest and longest part?” We look at her and shrug, then Ant says “Is that a challenge? Well challenge accepted!” The three of us then began to run as much of the hike as possible. She was right though; it definitely was the hardest leg of the hike. Not only were we trying to beat the storm, but we were also racing the sunset, as it was almost dark.  But we were team California, there was no way we were going to stop now! The three of us were an awesome team and cheered each other on  when we got tired. This hike makes you go up into hills, mountains, then down through vineyards, and through crops lining the sides of the beautiful mountain. About the last quarter mile the trail got really steep and it was hard to see the trail. “No problem!” says Michael. He reached into his bag and pulled out a headlamp.

I told you we made the perfect team! We finished the trail just in the nick of time to watch the last drop of sunset. It was amazing. We were tired and ready to grab food in the last village. After scoping the village out to find the best priced restaurant we finally pick one. Just as we sit down it begins to rain! We all laughed, we were having an amazing time.  After dinner we took the train back to our village, which was the first one. Ant bought a train pass to Milan; he was flying home at 4pm the next evening. Ant left early the following day and it was was just Michael and I. We are both outdoor junkies and decided that we wanted to rent Kayaks, swim, and do more hiking. Neither of us realized at the moment that we would be spending the next 48 hours on the biggest mission of our lives. I will tell you about it in my next post. Lets just say right now I am on a train heading to San Sebastian and haven’t slept more than 3-4 hours in the past 72 hours.

All is well, I am safe and sound!

Lots of love xx

Cinque Terre

Hello!

Today I am in Cinque Terre where I will be doing a 12k hike along 5 villages on the Italian coast. Look up some pictures if you have a chance. This place is absolutely amazing. I don't think my camera will do it justice but I will try and post more pictures later. The internet here is hard to come by. So please don't worry if I do not post for a couple of days. It is very safe here. This town is made up of the old wealthy retired Italians. There are young kids running around and grandparents yelling out the window telling them to come in and eat - to help paint you a picture. The water here looks amazing. I was in a train and came out of the tunnel to see the coastline and it is just absolutely breathtaking. Clear deep blue water and a coast lined with coves to have your own private swim in this haven. Just lovely. Life is very slow here, I would like to stay a week but its a bit expensive to stay. So I have two days to soak up the sun and then find a new destination. I was thinking spain. There is a city on the west coast called Sans Sebastian, look that up too. I think that will be my last stop on this crazy European tour and then I will head into Scotland and then London to take it easy and sort my life before I head back into the USA. I am so enjoying this trip. It is amazing, full of adventure, and my favorite is meeting new people of different cultures. I recommend everyone try it one day.

Lots of love! xx