(?)We made our way from Barcelona to La Spezia via a series of blabla cars, with a pit stop in Montpellier. I'm not sure if Paris had just left such a horrible taste in our mouths that we couldn't enjoy it, or if we truly just don't like France. Either way, it was not our favorite. Another learning experience! So sappy, I know. The day in Montpellier started off pretty rough. We arrived before our airbnb host was home, so we waited at a nearby park where we were immediately approached by two men, one with his pants unzipped, who harassed us about how much America sucks (we know, we know man!) and also showed us his favorite statue, who's head, when he touched it, tumbled to the ground. WHAT?! We left the park with all our gear, pretty sure we were being followed, and walked aimlessly around in the rain until our host got home. He informed us that we could hang out in the living room for a while because our room wouldn't be ready for about 4 hours, which we thought was super obnoxious until we actually saw our room which was a literal hole in the wall, and then booked it back up to the living room. Rachel was pretty sick and opted to stay in the hole for the rest of the night. Despite her cautions, I ventured out into the city, mace in hand, and found myself a little grocery store. Lots of deep breaths (but really, probably the mace) made me feel calm and, if i'm being totally honest, a bit badass for braving the streets alone. I returned to the airbnb, which was essentially more of a hostel (I don't know what we expected for 20 bucks a night) and ended up having a pretty fun evening, chatting with the other guests. After the experience in Montpellier, we decided to splurge on our airbnb in La Spezia, Italy. And it was one of the best decisions of our trip. We had the entire place to ourselves and were able to totally relax. The photo above was the view from our skylight. The 10 flights of stairs to the top of the building were totally worth it to have our own private porthole through which we watched the sunsets and thunderstorms. And, to make it fun (?), I tried to kick my butt as I ran up each stair. Hard, I tell you!!! ^^ We had planned to hike between all the cities in Cinque Terre, but hadn't done our research and unfortunately, 4 of the 5 trails were closed. But we were able to hike the one that was open. It was supposed to be about a 2 hour downhill hike, but like the idiots we are, we went the wrong direction, so it was all uphill. A MILLION stairs. But it was good exercise, and I made a super cool trail running video ;) Also, Rachel made me carry our greasy trash the whole way. That brown bag tied to my backpack just bounced the whole time, slowly unravelling. The views were incredible, and I cannot tell you how amazing the sun felt. (The day I wore shorts in El Vendrell, Pau looked at my legs, eyes wide, and said matter-of-factly with slight concern "Elle. You need to go to the beach and get some sun.") More of the hike below. ^^ If only my hair always dried this naturally good and wavy! Ah, humidity, how I love and miss you. ^^ After the hike, we jumped into the ocean to cool off. Cinque Terre, thank you for being a moment of reprieve!
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ELLEfeminist. linguist. traveller. foodie. crafter. ARCHIVES
January 2018
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All photos are the property of Elizabeth Cheney and may not be used without permission.
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