Cinque Terre.

Take that, Mom and Dad. Now I've been to the Mediterranean too!

(I was sooo jealous not to be included in that trip...)

After pouring over my parents pictures from Greece, I finally found myself on the coast of the Mediterranean this weekend, hiking Cinque Terre, the stretch of 5 cities, connected by 4 trails, in the north east of Italy. It was definitely physically trying- It's moments like that when I wonder how I made it through 3 hour swim practices for so many years. The trails were beautiful but extremely difficult. Thankfully we conquered the 2 most challenging (think thin trails with no guards from the cliff side, "stairs" that are really just uneven levels of loose rocks and dirt, and an excessive amount of boulders chillin like villains in the middle of the paths...) paths first. The remaining 2 were much more flat, and at the end of it all, there was truffle pasta with fresh shrimp and a bottle of crisp white wine waiting for me. GREAT SUCCESS. (so outdoorsy...)

*I'm telling you, if you're going to do something really physically challenging, I highly recommend having a delicious meal to look forward to. Of course, the stops in each city along the way didn't hurt. My favorite was the 2nd city, where we sunbathed, ate lunch on the rocks, and even took a (very quick and VERY COLD) dip in the Mediterranean.

With views like these, it almost made me forget how exhausted I was. Of course that was until my body reminded me early Saturday morning. ouch.