A summary

This is not my work. It is too good, however, to be left unshared. This was in my mailbox this morning.

Ciao all from an honorary pirate!

I headed up to Cinque Terre (5 Lands) last weekend. Apparently the five towns used to be hideouts for pirates before the British gained power and wiped them all out. It was sooooo gorgeous and has probably been my best trip so far. Hopefully the trend of my best trip being my most recent will continue! I decided that I should write a story of our time there, especially with all the Princess Bride, Swiss Family Robinson, Lord of the Rings, and other Pirate things...so here it is....Hope you enjoy!



As the three* set out to travel to the end of the Five Lands in hopes of meeting with the other three* they encountered little that they could not overcome. With only some aeuro in their pockets, they headed off to battle their way through the land of Termini.* With little time left they managed to find some food and at the last minute caught the trayno* to the Five Lands. As the trayno left from the land of Termini, the three realized that one of them might not have purchased the correct form of passage to the Five Lands. As time passed on the trayno, the three grew weary of what would happen with asked about their passage,. Hoewever, thanks to their impeccable decisioin making skills and a nice Checker, they were allowed passage without any trouble. While en route to their first stop on the way to the Five Lands, one* slept to store up her strength for the coming trials of the Five Lands. The other two studied for the trials* they must face when the group returned from the Five Lands to the Land of the Seven Hills*. Upon arriving in La Spezia, the three encountered a man who spoke Italian, but also spoke English with a Scottish accent---a very odd experience. The three took another trayno to the farthest of the Five Lands--Monterosso. Upon arriving in Monterosso the six were united. They trekked up meet the reclusive Manuel who had offered protection from the elements in return for some aeuros.

After a wonderful night of rest, the six went down into the village to find some food. They were greeted with the sweet smells of pastries and coffee from local bakeries. After filling up on wonderful food, they headed down to the beach to swim before conquering the Five Lands. As the six swam in the crystal clear water and climbed up the old rock to look out at the sea, sadly the ring that one* possessed desired to be joined with the sea of its same color. It slipped to the bottom of the sea, where the six tried to recover it, but could not. After the disappointment of the losing the Ring of the Confirmandi*, the six packed up their belongings and headed back to Manuel's to prepare for the long hike to the other four of the Five Lands. After filling themselves on focaccia bread, they headed out to conquer the Five Lands.

On the first trail, between Monterosso and Vernazza, the six hiked up the ancient stairs, surrounded by exotic vegetation, including a bamboo type plant, cacti, olive trees, and grape vines. They found a cave which one of them had been endowed with the knowlege that it was an old treasure cave*.The continued on their way, stopping to enjoy the incredible panoramic views, but knowing that they must continue if they hoped to make it to the last of the five villages before nightfall. Upon reaching Vernazza, the six refreshed themselves with gelato and focaccia. They also saw the descendants of the Great Tiger who formed the Five Lands* This was a foreshadowing of their successes on the journey.

The next journey from Vernazza was to lead the six to the town of the Princess Cornilia (spelled Corniglia in Italian). They would arrive there safely after another long and dangerous hiked through the mountains and olive groves of the Five Lands. In the town of Princess Corniglia, the six again found refreshment in the sea air and with a cold coffee. After another period of rest, they headed out, having save the princess from tightness after they showed her how to stretch after being on a long hike*

Setting out once again, the six enjoyed a journey to Manarola that did not tax them as much as the first to trips. They stopped and enjoyed the view of the sea once again, as well as the knowledge that they were going down the large flight of stairs instead of up them. Manarola, the fourth of the Five Lands provided them with yet another place to rest where they were unfortunately reminded of the defeat of the warriors of their home land.* With this thought in the back of their head, they pushed ever on to the final and last of the Five Lands.

The last part of their journey took them on the Path of Love, Via dell'Amore. As they wandered along this easier part of the journey they, saw the signs of those who had left their testimonies of love* Always surrounded by the sounds of the waves on the cliffs, the six enjoyed this last part of the journey, knowing that with it's end they would have conquered the Five Lands once they reached Riomaggiore. When they did reach Riomaggiore they were able to watch the beginnings of a gorgeous sunset. They found another trayno to take them back to Monterosso where they would feast and celebrate their triumph over the Five Lands.

Upon returning to Manuel's, the six cleaned up, went to the village to feast on pesto, a local product, and relax and enjoy the night. The next day, they would make a breakfast of the fruits of the land and of the pastries before they headed out to kayak and explore the coast. After seeing il Gigante* while kayaking, they six headed back to the beach to rest and enjoy the time before they headed back to the Land of the Seven Hills. They nourished themselves once more on focaccia and purchased some old pirate booty to remind them of their victory over the trials of the Five Lands.


Hope this makes sense and that it wasn't too unclear!!! Ask me if you have any questions as to what we actually did!!1

Peace and love to you all, Erin


*1st three were me, Andy, and Ann
*2nd three were Katy, Dan and Jamie
*aeuro is how you would write the pronunciation of euro in Italian
*Termini is the big train station in Rome
*trayno is treno--train--in Italian
*the one that slept was of course me
*midterms--yuck
*Rome has 7
*it was Ann's ring
*someone who is confirmed is a confirmandi and it was Ann's confirmation ring
*Dan made up this lovely story about the treasure cave.
*Jamie came up with the creative story that Cinque Terre was formed when a big tiger stepped down on the earth and left his paw print, which formed the five cove areas where the towns are now located. The tiger's descendants would be the cats that we saw playing in the street :)
*We stopped and stretched for a while when we arrived in Corniglia--felt soo great after having hiked for a little over 2 hours!--I couldn't think of anything better to say we saved a princess from :)
*A guy from Purdue stopped and asked us if Notre Dame had won against UCLA--thankfully they had, but that is the only game they have won all year--oh so sad
*Graffiti on the walls of the Via dell'Amore was actually really cool and some of it had been done by really talented people too!
*Il Gigante is a giant man carved out of the stone on the side of the mountain