Day 4: Cinque Terre

Well, we both started this day off early. We woke up around 4 or 5 am (can't remember exactly as jet lag has killed brain cells) and decided to get an early headstart to the Cinque Terre. Turns out we were glad we did because our GPS didn't work that we'd rented and we were dependant on Angela's mad navigational map skills and my newly learned mad woman driving skills at that point. Wow. It took us a very long time to get to our destination. Looking at the map, we took what looked to be the shortest route and what actually ended up being the longest...only because there were 10 million little towns in between. I did see more road cyclists through those little towns than I have ever seen in my life! The scenery was gorgeous but the roads were time consuming. So, after about 5+ hours of driving and an extra hour of driving in La Spezia looking for the train station to take us to Cinque Terre, we finally made it. MAN, it was worth it. All the stress and confusion of the day dissipated at that point.Take a mountain range, split it in a half, add the SEA to one side and you have the Cinque Terre. A little rain first (our luck) and then we set off on the most epic hike I may have ever experienced. A hike between 5 cities, all uphill and along the coastline. At times it felt like we were in the midst of a rain forest. By the time we finished, our legs were shaking. Literally. It was incredible. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL.
Then, off to Pisa for a good night of sleep. Once we had dinner, figured out how to make the lights stay on, caught up on email and showered, we were down for the count. Long DAY.