After Rome I went to Pisa to check out the tower. I tried to take a picture of people taking pictures of people posing agains the tower, but turns out that the grass is closed off.. That is not just sad for me, but for the entire city. There is nothing to do there, and now you want to strip the tourist of the one fun thing to do. A word comes to mind, and that is inhumane. Probably not so bad, but still. After doing the tower (thats what she said), I headed to Riomaggiore to get ready for my Cinque Terre travel. After arriving in the hostel, I met Mathilda, an australian backpacker that was currently living in Copenhagen and was returning home in two months. She had been away from home since January. Sometimes I wish I could live somewhere else for six months, specially after the events that occurred later that evening. We ate dinner and talked for an hour or two about the most random things. Such a nice a person but we were complete opposites: She could not understand how I was doing my traveling so spontaneously and how she had everything booked months in advance because she couldnt wait to travel. From a certain perspective, I agree with her and I remember before actually leaving how excited I was, but I kept postponing the planning and always thought 'Yea, its gonna be fine'. To be honest, it has been fine and I have nothing I can complain about. I went to bed at midnight when the plan was to go to bed at ten. I woke up at six thirty in the morning ready to do the hike. My eyes and mind however were not really with me in the beginning, but I kept pushing through. I took the bus twelve minutes past seven and was ready to be in Monterosso by eight thirty. I got lost on bus to La Spezia because I did not really know where I was going. When I managed to get to the train station, it was eight thirty and a train to Monterosso had just left, which meant that I would have to wait until ten in the morning for the next one. Long story short, I did the hike during rush hour, when the sun was at its worst. Basically the worst time imaginable, but I pushed through here as well and figured that I could not really wait to do it again in the morning so it was now or never. I felt such pressure internally because my recommended this place to me specifically and really wanted me to take a lot of pictures so he could live vicariously through me. That is one of the things I find very strange about this trip; pictures. I dont mind taking them, but I keep thinking.. 'Who am I doing this for?' I am not personally in any of the pictures because I hate selfies and the large nose that appears everytime I take a picture. Also, I have loads of pictures of buildings and scenery, but I keep thinking; If I wanted to know what it looked like, I could just check google maps. Lastly, I am personally witnessing all these beautiful views so I dont need the photos, but I promised my family I would. Photographs would be much more fun if I was traveling with someone, because then you are not just capturing the scenery, but you are trying to capture the memories as well. A thought that I kept wrestling throughout the hike and all day was 'Whats next?' I was technically done in Italy and I did not really realize that apparently France is in between Italy and Spain. That is a whole country to cross on one night. I started looking for overnight trains simply because I was not finding any cheap accommodations or hostels to spend the night. There was an option for me to leave from Milan and wake up in Paris, but then I thought of how much of a detour it could actually be. My destination has always been Barcelona, and I dont feel like changing it. After a long dinner with wifi and looking at the map trying to figure it all out (life included), I managed to come to a result. From La Spezia, I was going to a city right next to the french and italian border called Ventimiglia. I would arrive there around midnight and the first train that left the city was at a quarter to six. Spending the night in a train station was not alien to me, and I really did not see any other option (Paying 60 Euro for a night in a hotel was not an option). From La Spezia I had to wait in a city called Genoa for the train to Ventimiglia for a couple of hours. I did not mind and started scouting the train station for young people who might be traveling as well. The contenders were few and after all these english speaking encounters I was having, I decided to switch it up and sit with Marion and Robin. They were from a city called Apu (Yes, I confirmed with them if it was actually spelled like this) That is on the border from Spain to France on the west side apparently very close to San Sebastian. We talked for a bit and then I noticed Robin was smoking something. Yes reader; it is exactly what you think and No reader, that is not why I started talking to them. I noticed it after I sat down with them. They were waiting for a train to Rome, Marion was a waitress and Robin was a bartender at a restaurant where they lived. They had saved a little bit of money and were going camping in Rome for a couple of days. We spent the time teaching each other our languages because their english was not so good, and my french was not so good. However, I feel ready to enter France and test my awesome abilities that I learned in those two hours. Before I left them to take my train I asked Robin if it would be possible for me to buy a little bit of hash from him so that I could have to sleep in the train station. He takes out his little klump, splits it in half and gives it to me. He says thank you for the company in french and that i dont have to pay for it. It was not really that much, but the gesture was priceless and I was eternally grateful to him because even though he didnt have that much, he wanted to share and to me that is the best kind of person. I left them to catch my train only to find out that it had been delayed for an hour. I used that hour to explore the city of Genoa that does not really have that much going for it. But, hey! I have now been in the city of Genoa, Italy and not just in the train station. On the train, I managed to get my own little cubicle where I rolled up and got everything ready in case there wasnt a private place to do so in Ventimiglia. I arrived in Ventimiglia at around 12:45 in the morning. Still had a couple of hours left. The train station was way more populated than I would have ever imagined. A surprising amount of people were scattered around the station both inside and outside sleeping in corners with their bags wrapped around them. Before I looked for my spot, I knew had some more urgent business to attend to; Looking for a safe spot to smoke in peace, because by past experience, the fact that I can smoke without any worries of people walking by or other nuisances is quite important for me. I walked around the station and did not really find much; I could have gone in between the trains and smoked there, but that just seemed dodgy all around. There was the idea of going away from the station, but that seemed even dodgier because I have no idea where I am or what I could encounter. I thought that the reality of the situation is that not a lot of people are awake at this point and honestly no one is really going to care. I was on the outer edge of platform one. I light up and take small concentrated puffs in order to maximize effect. Suddenly, I see a police guard walking towards me. Not only that but he is accompanied by a dog. My immediate reaction is to stump the spliff saving as much as I can and put it in between some clothes I have and hope for the best. They get closer and closer to the point where we greet each other. I feel my italian hello is really bad, but I am also very tired so I dont care. Turns out that I was smoking right next to the police department of the train station. I look behind me and I see two police cars. My intuitive skills are apparently not on point. At this point I dont really care and I see that the man along with his dog walk into a building. I take the spliff once again and light up. This time I sit down because either way, in worst case I could just throw it away; its not like I had any more on me. When I take my last puff the police officer with his dog walk out so I stump the joint and throw it in a nearby trash can. The officer passes me and the dog starts going towards the thrash can. All my fears start gathering and I think that this is the end. A bit of paranoia on my part, but still. The dog goes close to the trash can, smells it for a bit and raises its left leg to urinate on it. Relief! The effects of the hash kick in and I got very drowsy. Not before long I am asleep in a corner with my bag attached to my left arm, my jacket working as a pillow and my towel as some kind of sheet to no avail.
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