Alastair decided to rent a camper van and for us to go on a road trip. I have always wanted to go to Cinque Terre, so it was dream come true to go there for my birthday! It's about 9 hours away, so it was quite the drive. On Friday, we left after Alastair had finals and had to run some errands. Alastair had to see the dermatologist to get some moles checked. It was a bit nerve-wracking watching him check each mole (Alastair has a lot!) and to finally know that everything is fine! After the checkup, Alastair took Emre to pick up the van while I finished packing. About an hour later, we were ready to go! They got me these massive golden balloons, it was so sweet! Alastair closed the door of the van to reveal a massive, provocative mermaid decal on the sides of the van. She had x's on her boobs... and we were offending every person we passed. I called her "The Lady." She was a bit too aggressive for our family adventure. I've found that there's always "something" with our lives. It's never exactly perfect, just a bit quirky. Engagement: steamy goose poop on the ice. Wedding: colorful party cupcakes instead of normal white frosting. Birthday Van: The Lady.
We set off and danced the night away with some good music. For a good road trip, you need: junk food, drinks, and good music! We love music, so we were all dancing, even Emre. It was fun! We stopped at a rest stop for the night. I wish it was a good night's rest, but it wasn't for me. I woke up at some point to a weird feeling at the back of my neck. Like, my spidey senses were tingling. Something didn't feel right. Alastair and Emre were sleeping on the top bunk and I was at the bottom. I wake up and then I heard the locks on the door open. I was confused, thinking maybe Alastair had the keys and accidentally unlocked it or something. Then I hear a bit of tapping on our car and a bit of movement, like the wind or something. Then I'm alert and a bit frozen. I was scared. Then I see a light, like a light on a cell phone, peeking into the blinds. Then I called for Alastair and wake him up to let him know that someone is trying to get in. Alastair checks out and there was no one. Alastair locks the doors again; the keys weren't even near Alastair. That morning, we found the passenger door was open. The buttons on the key fob were made it hard to lock the doors, so our doors were probably not even locked and someone did, in fact, try to get in. It was seriously creepy and I'm so thankful nothing happened to us! We learned our lesson and made sure we locked the doors properly after that!
We drove quite a while to get to Cinque Terre. Two hours were added on because there was a lot of traffic. It was such a bummer cause it was only three hours away, then turned into five! We finally got through traffic and made our way down the windy roads. It was kind of scary, especially in a big camper van. Since parking is minimal and expensive closer to the town (also, small roads for our beast of a van), we parked about 30 minutes (walking) away. It was up on a big cliff. It was free and we could stay there for the night. It was a big win, but walking to it was quite a trek! We fixed ourselves up and made our way down to Monterosso. We walked around, played at the park, and played at the stony beach. We made it, just in time for the sunset. It was such a magical moment, just to sit at the beach and admire the pinks and blues in the sky. It was such a perfect moment, I even teared up! After spending some time on the beach and loving life, we found a pizzeria to eat at. The pizza was so good, we all enjoyed it! After filling our bellies, we made our way up the cliff. It was quite a hike, not a good one after filling our bellies! We eventually made it and enjoyed a coke while keeping the camper van door open to enjoy the full moon. It was the absolute best birthday I have ever had! To spend it at a place I've always wanted to go, to be with my two favorite guys, and to eat some delicious pizza. Ended my 20's in the best way possible!
We spent the next day enjoying our time in Riomaggiore and Monterosso. Cinque Terre is made up of 5 fishing towns, and we only had time to go to 2 out of the 5. Although, Alastair went on a morning run and made his way to Vernazza. He took a few pics, which I'm glad he did!
We ate breakfast at the van, baked beans. Ha! Alastair showered up at the back of the van and we headed out to enjoy the beach. We walked down the footpath, which was a mistake! There were so many people walking on it, it was a nightmare maneuvering on such a small path. We played on the beach, lounged, and swam in the water. It was a beautiful day! The water was cold, at first. After the initial shock, it was pretty nice! I found myself swimming, floating around, just enjoying it all! I am usually kind of scared of open water, but I was out there, on my own, and it felt great! I even got Emre to go out, not too deep, but to kick his feet and splash around. He's afraid of the waves but, I got him comfortable enough to walk past it and to reach for me. I'm excited for when the water gets warm in Barcelona!
Emre fell asleep on the train ride, so Alastair carried him around for a bit. This rarely happens, it was adorable! We found a pizzeria and ordered pizza and focaccia. It was pretty good! We walked around and snapped lots of pics of the beautiful town! We wanted to take a hike between Manarola and Riomaggiore but the path was closed. Kind of a bummer that we couldn't go on a little hike, so we just took the train back. We hungout at the beach again to watch the sunset and then we went for gelato and pasta. I ordered gnocchi and pesto and it was delicious! After dinner, we went back to the camper van to sleep.
