Dear heavenly beings above, thank you for having a day of rest on Sunday. Thank you for teaching me that it is important to rest from labors and relax. Thank you and bless you.
So if you read my previous post, you would know how busy a summer study abroad program can be. Something great happened this past weekend though. We had a break! We had Friday through Sunday to do whatever we wanted and go wherever we wanted to go. What a blessing!!! Part of my group went to Vernazza, one of the popular cities that make up the costal region of Cinque Terre. Man oh man was it a blast. Besides our plans to go to the beach one day and get gelato multiple times every day, we had no plans! May I just say... having no plans is the bomb. I have never enjoyed being "bored" as much as I did there. There was no sense of urgency to do something because we had this chunk of precious free time. We wanted to be spontaneous and I personally wanted to eat some sort of sea food every meal. Everything was so grand.
For those who have not traveled to Europe, train strikes are kind of a thing though. But it's not how you would think a normal strike is in the US. Just listen to how kooky this is. So our train was supposed to leave in the afternoon but obviously, we couldn't go at that time because the strike was from 9pm Thursday to 9pm Friday. You could imagine my confusion when my professor just said to leave really early Friday morning and be just fine. She explained that would work because A) The strikers announce the strike to the public like.. 72 hours in advance so people can arrange their travel plans and B) They don't strike early in the morning as to accommodate people who need to get to work. Does any one else think that's hilarious?!?! Because I do!!! They're all trying to be accommodating while also being a pain in the butt! I found the whole situation very humorous haha!
After successfully navigating the train system to our destination, we checked into our hotel rooms and then changed into our swim suits as fast as possible. Once the sunscreen was safely lathered on (y'all need to be wearing sunscreen. Don't be dumb) I was ready for ultimate relaxation and I wasn't disappointed. Some of us really wanted to hike to another city close by since it would only take a couple hours but we had an epiphany moment. We were walking all day everyday and for a vacation, all we really wanted to do was sit. So we did! I got to read a book by the rocky shore, go kayaking at dusk, and leisurely walking into all the shops on the small main stretch. I truly fell in love with the city. And I got to try kayaking for the first time in Italy! Like... can I get a what what??!! That was probably the favorite thing I did on the break. So to all those studying abroad, make sure you find a trip that gives you as much free time as possible or at least a big break. Sometimes you just need to take 5 and go a beach to build rock towers on your legs for an hour.
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