Cinque Terre

This weekend I ventured to Cinque Terre on the northwestern coast of Italy. Cinque Terre, meaning "five lands" is made up of carefully built and colorful houses on the cliffs overlooking the Italian Riviera. 

Due to the precarious nature of the constructions of the towns, it is very difficult to travel between the towns. I was lucky enough to go to 2/5 of the towns called "Monteroso" and "Manarola" and the larger town of La Spezia, just outside the Cinque Terre region. 

I wasn't expecting to see a lot of cats. But boy, did I see some cats. 

The first cat I saw while we were hiking between the towns definitely ran shit around Cinque Terre. It was not overly pleased to be handled by me, but still went with it. Great cat. 3/5 purrs. 

The journey didn't stop there. I saw 4 more cats! My roommate was nice enough to snap some pics. 

4/5 purrs. Great cat, definitely down to be pet. 

3/5 purrs for this cat. Wasn't too pleased to be hanging out with me, but still humored me.

1/5 purrs for this cat. 110% absolutely had fleas. Don't want to discriminate against the less fortunate stray cats though. 

As you can imagine, this was a very exciting day for me. I was overcome with emotions and one point or another. 

The journey didn't stop there however. That night, we spent the night in Lucca, a town which is famous for laying within it's in-tact renaissance city walls. 

My fellow peers and I were a tad lost within the city, and while we were trying to find our way, 3 cats appeared as if from a dream. 

The only one I managed to grab a pic with was a little put off by my man-handling, but nonetheless, was down to be pet. 3/5 purrs.

What an adventure on the west coast. If you're looking for some quality cat-seshes, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, as many of the cats were very skittish and put off by the presence of humans. Nonetheless, it was an unforgettable feline journey. 

The First Sighting

Before I embarked on my travels abroad, many of my peers had informed me of the surplus of stray cats in Italy. I would by lying if I said this wasn't part of my decision in deciding where to study abroad for a semester. 

Here I was, stepping off the plane, just a girl wanting to see the world and all the cats it had to offer. 

Imagine my dismay when I was not greeted by some sort of parade of felines, or AT LEAST, what I like to call, a TFI (total feline immersion) when I arrived in Florence. It took almost 2 whole weeks before I saw my first cat here. 

The day was Friday, September 6th. It was your average morning: I woke up, made some toast with skippy all-natural super-chunk peanut butter and embarked on a jog around the city. I was about a mile from my apartment when my cat senses started tingling. 

And there she was, my first Italian cat. More beautiful than I could have ever imagined. 

It shook my entire world. I've walked by this place many times. I finally tore myself away from the graces of this cat and continued jogging...for about 2 seconds. There were THREE MORE CATS. Can you imagine??? Cutting your losses, thinking you'll never see a cat until you get back to the United States, then seeing 4 cats in once place. Unbeknownst to me, I had stumbled upon some sort of cat sanctuary.

The place was littered with empty fancy feast cans and full with promise. 

Unfortunately, the cats were a little put-off by my presence which led to a limited interaction with the cats. But not to worry, I will be back.