Chin Chin

It's weird, after traveling with Alanna for 18 straight days and constantly being around people, you would think that I needed some alone time.

So I thought it would be perfect to go to Cinque Terre, a cluster of five little fishing villages on the western coast of Italy, and chill out for a few days before heading back to the craziness that is London.
Five days of no internet, no texting, no phone calls, no television later, I was pretty ready to get back to civilization. As much as I enjoyed a different pace of life, hanging out at the beach and making friends with some more strangers, it became crystal clear to me that I'm not cut out for small town life.

Cats!
They were everywhere! A note about Italian cats: they are the friendliest, most emotionally expressive cats I've ever encountered! The ones that we met along the way were meowing like crazy, as if they were trying to say something really pressing or important.

In Monterosso, one stray cat followed me for about half an hour, meowing continuously, along the beach...
In Riomaggiore, the town I was staying in, one cat kept making a really aggressive meowing noise, almost a bark, at all the strangers walking down the street. Then he chilled with me and the other guys staying at my hostel for a while...
And finally, the sweetest cat followed us during a midnight stroll along Via dell'Amore, leading the way since it was so dark and dimly lit...
All three of these cats were huge attention whores and meowed more than any American cat I've ever met. I am definitely a dog person and don't usually like cats, but these guys were so sweet, friendly, and talkative that they somehow won me over.

Monterosso
This small beachfront town was probably my favorite of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre. The sand has little gold flecks that sparkle in the sunlight. The rocks were made up of so many different colors...red, orange, green, purple... The water was so many different shades of beautiful blue.

What was the most charming about Monterosso, especially visiting it during the off-season, was the sense of authenticity the small town had. There were children getting out of school, old men strolling along the beach, men in cafes bickering boisterously about the latest soccer match... It was the first time I didn't really feel like a tourist, more like a guest.

A "small world" moment happened in Monterosso when I stopped in at a cafe where I chatted a bit with the owner, who ended up being from Chicago! We bonded over having family in Southern California, Chicago in the Fall, and learning different languages.

All the Love
I can see why so many people fall in love in Cinque Terre. Just along the Via dell'Amore, there are locks attached to all the fences, netting, EVERYWHERE. I only found out on the last night that these locks represent wedlock. How could you not fall in love here? These five towns are so beautiful, protected as a national park and uncorrupted by the hordes of enterprising salesmen who would like to capitalize on the tourist value of this national treasure. Everything about it is romantic, dreamy, and makes all the stresses and troubles of everyday life seem so far away.

But beyond romantic love, the locals that I met during my stay were all so friendly both to me and to each other. There was a real sense of community. Everyone knew everyone. It was certainly different from anything I'd ever experienced.

I had a lot of time to think and reflect during my 5 days in Cinque Terre. I realize how lucky I am to have friends and family who love me as much as you guys do, and how you all make my life so much richer. Traveling, seeing and experiencing new places and people are definitely rewarding and worthwhile experiences, but I feel as though the farther and longer you're away from a sense of home, the more you realize how important and valuable it is.

The fellow travelers I roomed with at the hostel were all in a transition period in their lives. One had quit his job in London 3 days before. One was preparing to leave his office job for life as a chef in San Francisco. And the other was moving to the Netherlands to begin an artistic career. I was the baby of the group, and one thing they talked about really resonated with me. Traveling and escaping from your everyday life is great and oftentimes necessary. But, it better serves you when done with a purpose, an intention of bringing back the ideas and realizations you have during your journey and turning them into something concrete and productive in your real life.

So by the end of my time in Italy, I was ready to return and buckle down, not just on work but taking advantage of my time here in London and making the most out of everything.

That's the end of my Italian adventure! Cheers (or Chin Chin)!