Sciopero!

We planned a lovely weekend in Cinque Terra- all the arrangements had been set and Friday afternoon on September 12th saw many fidgety SAIS'ers who were anxious to get to what is perported to be one of the most beautiful coasts in the world.

Having hopped on our train about 30 seconds before it took off, six of us settled in for our 3.5 hour train ride to the small town where we would connect to the small train which would take us to our rooms for the evening. We excitedly discussed our plans and speculated about the serenity that was going to embrace us upon our arrival.

The train arrived on time in La Spezia and two of us scurried to get some sandwiches while the rest rushed to the platform where the train was just pulling up... yet it was dark and deserted. We scratched our heads and eventually found a conductor who told us that no more trains would run tonight... "Sciopero!" This was a word we had ironically just leanred in class the day before. Yes, Italians enjoy their strikes and we found ourselves stranded, about 20 miles from our accomodations.

But we're not ones to let this get us down! Some called and cancelled reservations while others scoured the area for affordable hotels. We found a great, if tiny and spartan, hotel where the portly old front desk man was all too happy to help us with our Italian and with plan B's. He even told us he'd keep the doors open late so we could check out this fair city.

We celebrated our new situation with spumante and then headed out into the town around 11:00. It turns out we were stuck in a great little city that had its yearly festival that weekend! We were greeted by street performers, live music, lively crowds and an overall exeuberence that was nothing if not contageous.

We got up early and headed to the only means of transport to Cinque Terra- a boat ride on the open seas... which were a bit choppy due to the overcast, somewhat rainy weather. Upon our arrival to the ticket booth, we found ourselves stuck again as the boat would only take us to Portovenere, a town south of the five cities whose existance we were questioning at that point. We cut our losses and took the boat, finding that the clouds coming down over the mountain provided a view we would never have gotten on a clear day.

Portovenere greeted us with the best pesto we've ever tasted, and even gave us an opportunity to satisfy a craving after the shops closed. (Yes, that's a vending machine)

The castle on the hill overlooking the city was in ruins and was ours exclusively to explore as the weather had driven off any other tourists. We ate fresh figs off of the trees and discovered hidden rooms, vineyards, and even a kitty cat.

A church stood on a precipice overlooking the sea. We arrived there just as a wedding was being completed. The bride exited the church, bells rand, and twelve white doves preceeded her outside. We all knew that we would have never discovered this place had everything gone to plan. Lauren and I spend the early evening exploring La Spezia's hills and seaside views via a huge run and all of us had one of the best and most affordable meals since arriving in Italy.

Sunday provided us with weather worthy of Cinque Terre and the trains were kind enough to operate. We finally got to these lovely little cities and had breakfast overlooking the sea. We took the "lover's path" to the next city and after exploring each place for a few moments, we hiked to the next. The paths connecting these cities are maintained by the National Park and offer differing types of hikes. Some paths are paved and right on the sea, some climb into the mountains and offer a rigerous hike, but all remove you from yourself and your cares while you breathe fresh sea air and hear the pebbles rolling over each other on the beach.

An attempt to put our feet into the water ended with all of us soaked from the waist down and I was eternally grateful for my lightweight pants that dried in the time it owuld take jeans to stop dripping. We got to the 4th village, Riomaggiore, just as the rain began and it just so happened to be (well past) lunch time. We wasted away the next few hours with wine and lunch on the shore under a big umbrella and sunned ourselves on giant rocks after the rain subsided.

The rest of the evening went without incident and we even got our homework done on the train ride home. No fewer than thirty of our classmates spent the following weekend doing just as we had done... except they all had backup plans. Sometimes the best things happen when everything goes wrong.