Sweat drips down my face. My legs are burning. I'm making great time. This time it's for time, not pictures. 

It's hard to look up because the rocks are unpredictable. I'm halfway down a set of steps rounding a bend.

Bam, a chubby tourist cuts you off. Walking so leisurely, adjusting her little digital camera lense to get a terrible picture. "Excuse me, excuse me." No movement....I wait impatiently, I'm no billy goat, but let's show a little trail etiquette. Bread is at the bottom lady! 

Finally she moves, and I am off. I feel so free.  The sweat begins again and the sun is reaching the golden hour. Kristin and I woke to watch it rise and tonight we will have dinner as it sets. I am hiking the Cinque Terre, my body feels even stronger knowing I am on my hike back from two towns over, who cares about train timetables...I'll worry about that in a couple of days. 

Cinque Terre is a group of five towns along the coast of Italy and you can hike between all five. People generally hike and then take a train or ferry back to the town that they are staying in, but the ATM in our town is out of money, so we have no choice (I always wanted to hike back.) The hikes are hard. Steps on steps on cliffside paths. We even helped a lady who slipped and was luckily caught by brush on our way back.

We stayed in the middle of the five towns, finding what could be the last room available on this holiday weekend. Corniglia is the perfect place to stay. Less tourism then the others, but restaurants cure the no kitchen problem, and Visa is accepted! Let the exercising portion of our trip begin!

The first day we hiked to Vernazza and Monterosso, laying on the beach and eating focaccia bread smothered in the local pesto. The next day we hiked up so so so so so high into the mountain to walk by perfectly carved out grape vines and through the tiniest of towns, to walk down a million steps. A landslide has shut down the two main paths between Manarola and the other town Riomaggiore so alternate routes are taken. Today, blisters are setting in for Kristin and we plan to just take the ferry back to Corniglia. We begin the last hike in excitement, which is quickly replaced with exhaustion. We stop at the top to talk to some fellow "United Stater's" (not trying to offend those from South America) reassuring them the trail only gets harder.

We finally make it to Riomaggiere only to find the ferry doesn't take you to our town, but Vernazza, the town after...I know what I am going to do. Kristin reluctantly goes along with my plan and I get the ferry tickets. One last hike! 

The ferry ride is so beautiful. The sun is once again getting tired and the water is such a beautiful turquoise green color. I think briefly about getting organized for tomorrow, but I let it wash away, I love this place. 

The ferry lets us off and I remind Kristin we are eating pizza for dinner, and that I'll see her in Corniglia. The trails are less crowded today thankfully and I make great time. I felt such a rush making my way back into town. The weather couldn't have been better, and tomorrow we are going back to Switzerland (don't mind the zig zag in our plans.)

Some beers in the sunshine with a group of funny people follows as Kristin makes her way back to town! Pizza taste better when you deserve it. 

Unfortunately, in the morning, delayed trains steal a day from our journey. We make it to Bern at like 9:30 p.m and have to check into our hostel by 10:00! We use some Swiss phone and the guy from the hostel tells us,"To take our time." We play some cards and finish our bourbon reminiscing about the train ride there. We sat in a cluster of people laughing so hard with this brother and sister, it was so fun. Kristin cooked a beautiful breakfast in the morning and Interlaken is our destination. A few years ago my friend, his brother, and myself were mesmerized by the mountains there. I can't wait to be back! 

We finally get to Interlaken and I point to this restaurant/overlook on the top of a mountain and tell Kristin, that's the hike. We settle down at the hostel, dropping our bags, smushing all the rules. Our hiking boots get released from the many knots connecting them to our backpacks, it's time for some soil from the Alps to nestle into the fabric. 

This hike is tremendously hard. So steep. Our backpack is a little heavier today and we are just tired. Water breaks are needed. On one of them we get passed by an older couple, embracing breath and the burning sensation in their calves. If only we had walking poles... We commit to taking our time. Around every corner we insist we have to be there...were not...but we are at a hut that I've been to before. Rejuvenation finds me when I see the autographing David did still overlooks the valley. We wre totally pro "leaving no trace" but one time wouldn't hurt. Gosh, I just smile. 

We finally make it to the top. It was hard, we wave to the older couple as they sip on water, respect to them for sure!!

The view is beautiful and a peaceful day at the lake awaits. We really don't have any plans after Switzerland. Kristin has found the Black Forest in Baden-Baden, Germany, so off we go. Hansel and Gretel met the wicked witch here...scary. 

We didn't have a first stop booked, and these annoying girls in Madrid told me the one place I wanted to go in France was shady, so we decided to go to Lyon. It seemed rational, 6 hour train ride and I always wanted to get to Annecy, which is a mountainous lake town near Lyon. We found a beautiful, brand new hostel with reviews about how nice the showers were...which were needed. We needed to take a day and reset, maybe, look at a map...

Lyon is very pretty. Two rivers surround the peninsula that is the main part of the city. Lots of bridges cross the rivers at different points and the buildings are colorful and decorative. However, it's more on the expensive side.

After exploring a bit, we stopped at the store, and went back to the hostel. We have decided our newest dream is to open one, and this place was perfect for inspiration. It is so new, they don't even have a table yet, so we had to take over the smoking room...finders keepers. With the windows wide open as well as the door, we drank wine, played cards, made dinner and practiced handstands. Some kid that worked there sat with us, and just couldn't grasp that this place needed a table! The owner wants it to be a party hostel...I don't get how a table would hurt that vision, but whatever.

The next day we saw a castle at the top of mountain, so we went. We crossed one of the many bridges and found our way into a really pretty old part of town. We "fiked" our way up the sidewalks, huffing and puffing our way past ruins and through gardens to discover that our "castle"...is the most beautiful church. Mosaics glisten in the light and the walls are saturated in colors, thanks to the stained glass windows. We sat in a pew and just took a minute, I even shed a tear. What a beautiful surprise.

We made our way to the ruins, it was time for  some wine and amazing sandwiches made by my personal chef, Kristin. We sat hidden on a ruin watching annoying kids on a field trip run around. We talked about doing laundry and which train to take in the morning. Then a guard spotted us and it was time to go...(we chugged the wine, don't worry).

At the bottom of the hill waited a witch doctor (my other dream) who gave me a potion for my skin and we bought the most perfect little day backpack we had been searching for. We did our laundry and organized our bags, made dinner and got ready for our train in the morning...magic is real!

Annecy is beautiful. The clearest water reflects mountains that I think are the Alps, and the park is a perfect place to hang out. The old town guides you straight to the road where our hostel is and a game of scrabble with some new friends brings laughter. This hostel has chickens, a must at ours, and is close to the grocery store. We went hiking on this crazy, slippery, rocky trail and laughed about how dumb we are once we made it back down. This place is calm now but I can only imagine the craziness that is summer here. Cool slides float locked to docks, while paddle boats crave attention. I'll just add this to my list of places to come back too...(maybe next MLK weekend my friends and I will come here...it's only a little bit farther than Deep Creek.)

A low sense of urgency gets us to the train station later than we planned, just to find out it didn't matter, every train to Milan is booked. We have to spend the night in Geneva to take a train to Milan in the morning. We don't even want to go to Milan, but it is middle point to our next goal that is Cinque Terre. 

Geneva is really pretty too...old town, good food, and a 6 dorm hostel room all to ourselves! Milan is crazy busy and I couldn't leave our 10 bed mixed dorm fast enough in the morning (gasping for fresh air!) The train from Milan to Cinque Terre is once again booked so we have to stand/sit on these fold out chairs, but I don't mind. We've made it here and got the last room at this hostel...it's beautiful. It is a private room, with a loft and a terrace. Fresh air fills it up and it has pretty view. Hiking is on our to do list, but only after catching the sun rise over Manarola.

It's 4 am and I am watching a twinkling star dance by an almost full moon. My hair is brushed and I feel well rested. I could care less there is no wifi and I am excited for a few days in Italy. 

(Shoutout to the Webbers for telling me about Cinque Terre, this place is amazing.)

Hope all is well! My go pro is charging, ready to take some pictures!!