Monday, October 17, 2011

Laying like a Starfish

Ah, I'm already regretting what I said in my last post about enjoying the fall-like weather. Caroline and I need a space heater in our room. We're barely making it to 70 degrees these days in Florence and I've broken out and broken in my favorite Saturday morning at Davidson outfit: the Connor zip-up, yoga pants, and UGGs.  In the weekend before midterms, I have not cracked open one book, but instead spent a few days in the Florence and a few days on the coast with James in Cinque Terre.  We both ended up with beautiful schedules that leave us free by mid-afternoon on Wednesdays until Monday mornings, so James arrived to a meal of penne with meat sauce and a table full of Davidson friends on Wednesday evening.  Another typical Davidson Wednesday found us ending our night at the Lion's Fountain, chowing down on burritos, and mozing across Florence to JD and Dugan's apartment.  Thursday morning, James and I hopped on a train (No, James, not in a fast car) and headed off to Cinque Terre, a series of 5 towns along the Italian Rivera with trails connecting each unique seaside town through the National Park.  We stayed in Riomaggiore, the first of the 5 towns, on the hillside.  After attending a "Drink Like An American Party" in Valencia on Tuesday night, James forgot to print out a map of the town, so lacking direction, Wifi, and mastery of the Italian language, we hopped off the train and luckily found the hotel after climbing a only a few hundred sets of stairs.  A water-facing terrace proved to be the perfect location for sunset-gazing both nights before heading down into the town for dinner. Porches of the American South have always been a weakness, and even if I had to be curled up in a huge blanket to star-gaze later in the evenings, terraces on the Mediteranean coast of Italy will definitely suffice for the semester. Known for its seafood, Riomaggiore has a small marina and rocky beach area that only adds to the atmosphere for eating.  Luckily, James is an adventurous eater as I am, and we indulged in stuffed anchovis, seafood salads, mussels in marinara, seafood spaghetti, and pizza al mare for the entirety of our stay.

Friday, we hiked the Via Dell'Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola and the trail between Corniliga and Vernazza.  In my group trip to Cinque Terre with 90 degree temperatures and massive crowds, the chill of the October air under a cloudless sky made the day memorable.  We picked up some faccacia (with pesto, my favorite) in Corniliga and ate some lunch by the water.  By the time we made it to Manarola, I was in need of gelato after a 3 day hiatus.  Without my usual peanut butter and chocolate go-to, I selected what I thought to be the next-best flavors: Nutella, Chocolate, and Mint Chocolate Chip.  The nutella scoop was a warm scoop of nutella rather than a nutella flavored gelato. Not my best selections.  We spent some time on the beach in Monterosso al Mare and grabbed a beer and prosecco by the water before escaping from the flies and heading back to our Riomaggiore.  In need of a late-afternoon snack, James picked up a piece of olive and anchovi pizza while I grabbed a bottle of prosecco and two riceballs, a famous Ritter favorite and the topic of my admission essay to Davidson.  We followed the pre-meal snacks with another beautiful sunset and another amazing meal.  Afterwards, I PASSED out, arms and legs outstretched and told James not to touch me while I was "laying like a starfish, only, I must've had my 5th apendage cut-off, since my head was shorter than my limps".  You can take the girl out of the science classrooms, but you can't take the science nerd out of the girl.

Cinque Terre provided the perfect setting for several of the best days of the semester, hands down.  The towns combine outdoorsy with beauty, seaside with mountains, making our experience romantic, intimate, and breath-taking. Its easy to see why the region is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saturday morning, we thought about doing some more exploring North of Cinque Terre, but after an hour of rocky relaxation literally sitting in the sea, we decided that we'd head on back to Florence so we could indulge in another Florentine dinner with our friends.  That's the thing about Italian culture -- it all revolves around meals, something I've quickly adopted into my life.  I love nothing more than a several course meal, a glass of wine, and some engaging conversations.  I said it in one of my first posts, but it does force you to take a step back, relax, and genuinely get to know people.  After a 100+ decibal country concert in my apartment, we ended up back at Lion's Fountain, per usual, and finding people from all over the country that knew people from Davidson, per usual.  Meredith and James marked the walls with some Kappa Connor graffiti before we headed to the Hamburgler's and back the boys' apartment.

After a few verses of John Denver's "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane", James headed back to Valencia on the 1:30 flight yesterday, and I ended up sleeping until 12:30.  Not that a shorter day made the day go by any faster.  Something about Sundays really make me miss home.  Keeping with the musical theme, I should start singing "That's what I love about Sundays" right now.  It must be how I usually spend my Sundays: with my family watching football.  Mom always makes something yummy and I always end up napping through at least 1 half of one of the games.  Needless to say, after this week of "midterms", I'll be more than ready for Mom, Dad, and Ross to arrive Friday morning and spend 10 days with them exploring Florence, Siena, Tuscany, Rome, the Amalfi coast, Mount Vesuvius, Sorrento, and Pompeii!

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