Hike, baby, hike!

Cinque Terre

On our 3rd day in Italy, Cheryl and I took a 3-hour train ride from Florence to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a hidden treasure of 5 small villages in Italian Riviera, just west of La Spezia.

We first reached Monterosso, the largest village of the 5. The other 4 villages are Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.

At Monterosso, we found a hiking path that supposedly leads us to Vernazza in 2 hours. Cheryl was initially a little reluctant to hike, ’cos we didn’t really prepare ourselves for the challenge. I, on the other hand, was extremely excited about the prospect (although later on struggled quite a bit), since I used to do quite a bit of hiking with my family as a kid.

To cut the story short, we pushed on and met 2 girls from Pennsylvania along the way. They are exchange students doing Art in Florence, and the 4 of us continued hiking all the way to Vernazza.

Newfound friends

The lovely view!

The famous Ligurian coastline

Although the view that we had was more rewarding with each step, the hike from Monterosso to Vernazza is actually the most difficult one, “with steep climbs winding past terraced vineyards and hillside cottages” (Source: Let’s Go Europe 2007). 

I was losing one layer after another (see pictures above and below) since it did get pretty hot. It was the first time I perspired in Europe! Hahah…

After 2 hours, we finally saw the light of our destination!

The colourful houses of Vernazza!

As soon as we reached Vernazza, Cheryl and I scoured the village for a place to have lunch at, but most of the trattorias were closed for siesta then (nearly everything in Italy closes between 1-4pm, if not longer!). So we had to settle for biscuits :S

Oh by the way, Cinque Terre is full of cats, seriously.

Look at the poser cat! So fat!

Vernazza is basically a minute town, where everyone seemed to know each other. Cheryl and I went down to the sunny seaside and up to a church on top of a hill, before deciding we’ve had enough of climbing. We then took the train to the next village, Corniglia, which turned out to be located on top of a cliff. So much for no more hiking.

Another cat on top of Corniglia

The train station at Corniglia, just before we headed back to Florence

We had a great day at Cinque Terre, although we didn’t manage to visit Manarola and Riomaggiore due to time constraints. The place is in fact an outdoorsman’s paradise, where you have the options to do stuff like hiking, kayaking, cliff jumping and horseback riding, especially during peak seasons. A highly recommended place if you love the great outdoors!

View more photos of Cinque Terre here.

A second visit to the university – a day at WU Wien

For the uninitiated, the university that I’m spending this summer semester in is called Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU Wien), also known as Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.

This morning, Cheryl, Min Dan and I went to attend the Welcome Breakfast organised for the incoming exchange students. It was pretty nice, I think, since we got to see some other 300 exchange students from all around the world. Hope to get to know more of them.

Bumped into Yishan from SMU and Junxian a.k.a Fish from NUS, who have just arrived in Vienna yesterday. While Min Dan went for her Business German class afterwards, the rest of us went for the Information Session, which was essentially an orientation briefing about academic matters and the activities organised by ÖH WU (the Students’ Union).

Also walked around the school a bit, the layout of which still confuses me. All the buildings still look similar to me now, but I should get oriented pretty soon, especially since my classes will kick off next month.

The “chocolate factory” building near the university -not sure what it is actually

It’s still the holidays, so there aren’t many people in the campus

UZA I, the main building in WU

Cheryl and me

Cheryl and Yishan in front of the library

Yishan and me in front of UNI-Wien, where the non-business faculties are located

Lunch was with Yishan’s Austrian buddy, Gustav, at Mensa Markt -some sort of cafeteria in the university. Food’s not too bad :)

Click here for more photos of my host university!

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