CINQUE TERRE= MOLTO STUPENDO

I love this place!!
I just arrived in Cinque Terre ieri, and it has been nothing short of wonderful. I randomly ran into 2 girls from my program in Roma, when I turned the corner of one of the tiny towns. Craziness!!

AT the moment, I am taking a break from the hike through all the 5 towns. I've made it to 4, in a total of about 3 hours, not including stopping for lunch and pics and such. I had some Genovean pesto (what this area is famous for) and some delicious bread with raisins. Lovely.

I am currently uploading all my photos onto my travel drive, cause I'm paranoid about my camera breaking/getting stolen...and I have like 500 photos on here...or more. I haven't gotten to count.

There are so many English-speaking people here, it's strange. It's giving me a chance to imagine what America will feel like...

I'm really excited to come home, but so nervous too...

What will it be like?? Everyone's warning me about culture shock...so we'll see. I cannot WAIT to see all my friends and lovely family and such...that'll be great. Before long, I'll be selling clothes at the Gap and dreaming of the vistas overlooking the sparkling (Literally SPARKLING) ocean, as the waves lap against the cliffs, with the rainbow colored towns nestled above. AH. Such grandeur and beauty. This is definitely one of my favorite places in the world. :)

Can't wait to get prints of all this stuff and make albums and scrapbooks...and actually DO that, and not just say that I'm going to.

Oh, and Paris and Tours and Nantes were all wonderful...when was the last time I updated this thing? It was cool to speak French again, explore the chateaux, take a bike tour through the trees and green countryside of the Loires, wander around Paris and take a free tour with a cute tour guide, meet people from all over the world, and taste some delicious crepes in all three places. Switzerland, with its challenging trails, beautiful alps, and the wonderful Bea Chang, made for a grand adventure as well..even though it was a bit short.

So now it's one more day here...
Then back to Roma.
Then, leaving for the states in FIVE days. CRAAAAZINESS.

I'll update more completely soon. Gotta get back to hiking and finish this trail. I can't wait. Once I finish, I told myself, I will really feel like I can do anything!!
YES.

CIAO CIAO
Anna