Cinque Terre and Turin Like a Present: Full of Surprises

So this past weekend was my final weekend trip with GEFT and I have to say it was probably one of my favorite trips by far with them. I was told that Cinque Terre was one of the most beautiful places you could ever go and now it was my turn to see for myself.
The trip begins friday morning at 4:50am when I awoke to take yet another dreadful walk to the Piazza Independenzia to meet our group at 6am. We had to take a five hour bus ride to get to our hotel in Turin. Luckily, we had two buses which meant that the majority of the students got two seats (including me :D) which means I finally slept well on this bus. Around 12 noon, we arrive at our hotel in Turin. Okay this hotel: Weirdest. Hotel. Ever. First off, it was on top of a hill, so if we wanted to go out at night? Walk 40 minutes down this massive hill. (So I guess you can imagine what the majority of us did for the two nights we were there...yeah, we didn't leave that hotel) But this hotel, looked like an institute. Beige walls on the outside with no name and just windows and that's it. Clearly the person who designed this didn't study architecture in college. Inside was, get this, an art gallery! In the most unattractive hotel I've ever seen externally, the inside was full of art. The whole concept of this hotel was just very strange.
Around 1pm we head back on the bus to take us to the city center where we meet a tour guide that takes us around Turin. Although I enjoyed the tour of the famous piazza's, gelato shops, and monuments, I felt as if we walked in one giant circle. (But I really do think that's what happened) However, that circle was quite amazing because we saw incredible sites that Turin had to offer:

After finishing the tour, our leader told us that we will have some free time to walk around before we meet at the bus. So me and some friends just wandered around and looked in all of the stores. Compared to Florence, this city was a lot more spread out whereas Florence is more condensed and in walking distance. That made me appreciate Firenze just a little bit more than I already do. By the time we got back to the bus, they told us that before we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, we would be stopping at Valentino Park or "The Park of Love" (I thought the name was pretty appropriate) This park was definitely a sight to see. Although the park was very small, the amount of beauty that it accumulated was above and beyond. I felt as if I was in a fairytale. The branches that formed an archway as you entered the park. The small waterfall in the middle of the stream that ran throughout the entire park, the tulips blooming with their exuberant colors. If you can't tell already, I loved it there. My friend gave me her camera and let me take photos because she has one of those Canon cameras where every photo you take looks professional. So taking these photos made me feel as if I was doing this for a living and honestly, it made me feel on top of the world. I think you'll see what I mean:

After we left Valentino Garden, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. On our way down to the hotel we assumed dinner would be pretty good because it was included and it was served at the hotel. Boy were we misled. The food was not great at all. Actually, I felt pretty sick after it. But I was starving so of course knowing me being a garbage disposal, I finished everything on my plate. Following dinner all of us were going to go out and have a good time but of course the fact that our hotel was on top of a hill ruined the possibility of that happening so we all decided to just go to bed which was probably one of the best decisions we made because we were so exhausted.

The next morning we all had to be up and ready to go by 8am. Our first stop, The Egyptian Museum in Turin. It's said to be the biggest selection of Egyptian relics next to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Although our guide was completely monotone, I was actually really fascinated by the history behind everything he showed us and what the hierglyphics meant. I thought that was a really interesting aspect of this trip. After the tour we all had about an hour to wander around Turin and then meet up at the bus later on. So I decided to go into this cafe and grab hot chocolate. Let me tell you! When you order hot chocolate in Italy, sometimes you get that normal hot chocolate that everyone recieves in the states. If you get the right kind of hot chocolate, you recieve what is literally a chocolate bar melted into a glass. So while I was drinking heaven they put out a bowl of legit chocolate on the table for free as "bar food." Best cafe ever?? I think so!!!!
After I finished, we all gathered to the bus and got on for an hour bus ride to a vineyard to do a wine tasting. This was by far one of my best experiences I've yet in Italy. We got to try four different wines and then they would give us some food with it to pair with. The first wine was a white wine that I thought was pretty good and they served it with bread and different types of spreads. The second tasting was a red wine that was okay and was served with Proscuitto and Salami (my favorite foods here!!). The wine I know was good but I really hate red wine and I really couldn't tell you why. Just the flavor doesn't get my taste buds very happy. So I gave the rest of that one away to a friend. The third was another red wine and it was by far my least favorite. it was so disgusting I took a sip and gave it straight away. However, I did manage to eat a lot of the cheese that was offered as a pairing for this wine. (Me and my eating habits, geesh. Atakins diet, here I come). The final wine was a dessert wine and was actually a red sparkling wine. It was delicious!!!!! It was very fruity and everyone was smiling so much while drinking it so you could tell that was the favorite of the group. The pairing was also delicious as it was a piece of cake and then some cookie that was the most amazing piece of sweetness I've had in a while. After the tasting on the beautiful 70 degree weather day, we all bought some wine. I bought the dessert wine and am going to bring it home for my family to try and can't wait to hear what they think of it. Ever since that tasting, I've had a much larger appreciation for wine and I definitely appreciate that to the highest extent.

Later that night, we had a wonderful (sarcasm) dinner once again and then definitely hit the sac around 10pm because the next morning everyone had to be on the bus by 5:30am!! Seriously, how more worse can that get? Oh, I know, by saying that we had to get up that early to go hiking up a mountain. No big deal. So after a bus ride and then a train ride, we arrive in our first of four towns that we were going through in Cinque Terre.

So, I love hiking, but the fact that it was drizzling when we got off the train put us all in a not-so-happy mood. They gave us some free time to wander around the first town before we headed out on our two hour hike to the next town. I just bought my souveniers and looked around for a little while. Then before we left we all watched these two boys plays soccer against each other. Although everyone on this trip was between the ages of 19 and 23, we were all screaming our heads off when one of the 10 year old boys scored a goal. I think they thoroughly enjoyed it if you ask me. Finally we headed off onto this hike. Thankfully it stopped drizzling before we ventured out into the wilderness, or mountain. I'm going to say wilderness to make is sound more dangerous. Which I could actually say it was since there was one girl that actually fell off the mountain. Luckily, what she landed in was 10 feet down in bushes and thorns. Twenty feet back however, she would've fallen to her death, so it was definitely a very scary moment since I was right in back of her. There were other hikers coming our way and he was able to pull this girl up out of the thorns with his walking stick. She was okay and was a champion and continued on her way. The walk to this town was pretty difficult with a lot of steps but the views that we were able to see were unbelievable and made me just appreciate Cinque Terre and Italy more:

Then after the 2 hour hike, we ended up in our second destination and we were there for about two hours, so that's where we were supposed to pick up lunch and just wander for a while. This town was very small but so friendly. Cinque Terre is known for their pesto which made me so excited because I am in love with Pesto. So, for lunch we decided to get pizza with pesto on it. The slice was HUGE and was worth every penny. the taste of the pesto was so fresh and I could've gotten about 5 slices if I wanted. But instead I decided to grab ice cream after which was also delicious so of course I didn't want to leave Cinque Terre ever. For the remaining time, me and some friends wandered up around the town into all of the stores and then just sat by the ocean for the remainder of our time and it was just beautiful and so relaxing. I never wanted to leave.

When we left, we took a train to our next location that was unbelievable! It just looked out into the ocean which was crystal blue and had this huge rock in the middle of the ocean that we all climbed and sat down for a while. The weather was amazing as was the views that Cinque Terre once again, had to offer. We weren't there for very long so after about 4 minutes we headed to our last location which we did by a quick and easy hike. When we arrived, they let us wander for a while and then meet up to get the train to go back to Florence. The fourth town really didn't have a lot to do there, but it was still beautiful. We all just sat on a hill and basked in the sun, so clearly I was not complaining whatsoever. Once we left the final town, we got onto a train to get us back to he starting point where our bus was waiting.We boarded the bus and were on our way bakc to Florence. I slept very well because that hiking wiped me out but also reminded me how much I love hiking and how much I love being outdoors and that's all I'll want to do once I get home.

This trip was worth every minute. What everyone said was true. Cinque Terre is simply amazing.