Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano: He who goes safely, goes slowly and goes far (aka: slow and steady wins the race)

Today, much like yesterday, we strayed from Florence and went on a new adventure in a new setting: Cinque Terre (meaning “Five Villages”). We took a private bus there, allowing me to sleep for most of the 2 hours, and then hopped on a 20-minute train, which we just had to take a picture of because it slightly resembled the carts of the Hogwarts Express. I half-expected a trolly to come by, selling chocolate frogs.

Before I knew it, we were in the Monterosso, the western-most village of the five. We hiked up and over the mountain in that village, taking pictures along the way, in order to reach the next village, Vernazza. However, the hike was almost brutal at the pace we were going. I think that, because we wanted to finish it so badly and go to lunch, we started going extremely fast. Ellie thought so, too, apparently because by the time we reached the point where a smart entrepreneur was selling lemonade, she had become exhausted by the heat. The rest of the group continued, but I followed behind with Massimo’s camera bag as he carried her down the steep, narrow steps [we had just climbed up] on his back. As we hit level ground and headed towards the train to travel to Vernazza, he put her down, and I realized how similar in stature they were. He was maybe an inch taller than her and extremely close in weight as well. I was extremely impressed that he was able to carry her for so long on such a steep incline, so, naturally, when they weren’t looking, I snapped a pic.

When we arrived in Vernazza, we quickly rejoined the others and met up for lunch. Ellie and I ended eating at a table by ourselves, which proved to have better results when we got our food before the others. I had penne with salmon, and it was delicious! Here is a pic of our waiter in a French-esque tee.

Sticking with my daily routine, Ellie, Dena and I shopped, bought some bracelets, ate some gelato, and sat on the pier for some people-watching. Perfect day.

When we returned to Florence, we cleaned up and dressed for dinner. We ate at a small neighborhood restaurant, where I ordered gnocchi rosé. Though it was the dish that required the most time to make, it was very delicious and gave me the opportunity to chat with David and Carolyn about what they were like in high school and college. Those crazy kids! I also learned that the “hook ‘em” hand sign (which I’ve been sporting in many a photo) is, in actuality, a bad signal that (in Massimo’s words) means, “I hate you. Go to Hell,”… or something along those lines.

After dinner, of course, we headed towards el duomo for gelato and just so happened to run into Maddie’s cousin again, learning that it was Fashion Week in Florence. Fashion Week. Our last day in Florence. Gelato in hand. It would have been perfect. Too bad now we’re back in the hotel… packing and blogging… at 11 pm. Haha but oh, well! The prospect of it was fun, at least. Since we have to wake up at 4 am, ciao for now!