Here comes the sun

And I say, it's alright...

After rain for a long time, the sun came out for me on what would end up being the best day of my travels so far. Cinque Terre, and specifically Riomaggore (one of the 5 towns connected by the trail), is perhaps the greatest place in the world.

You wake up feeling great, make a quick breakfast and some sandwiches for the trail and set out on what would end up being a 4 hour hike. The sky is blue, and the wind is drawing wisps along the Mediterranean sea as you hike up and down the 9km of coastline that connects the 5 towns (and for fans of Entourage, yes, all along the way I kept saying to myself, "not in any of my five towns").

You get to the end and swim in the sea with a few friends for a while, then head back to make dinner with everyone in the apartment (that's where you stay when you come here, just an apartment).

But wait, it's Halloween, so you decide to celebrate, and Jullian, a guy from Tasmania, has never celebrated before so you go all out. All 6 of you dress up in whatever you can find (towels and bedsheets-I was Ceasar, complete with laurels in my hair) and go to the one bar in town (that's where everyone goes because in that little village with no TV and no trains after 9pm there are two choices, go hang out in the bar/cafe, or don't go hang out in the bar/cafe) and all the other Americans are there, dressed up for the occasion in similar costumes. There was a mummy, me, a Sheik, a ghost, and a girl in a towel (I tried to tell her to say that she was "getting ready," but refused) at first, but a few minutes later, more of the same showed up. So did a few pirate girls and a ghost bride.