Stromboli 3

Prior to our climb, we spent the entire afternoon going around and lounging at the beach. The town itself was amazing, but I wasn't too fond of the beach. Maybe it's my colonial mentality talking but I wasn't turned on by the black sand and black stones. Here are some pictures:

Me having lunch

Me and Annie outside our hotel room

Me and Annie (again) walking along their narrow streets (all their streets are this narrow)

Me and Micki on the peak of the town

The beach

The "sand" that's found on the beach

If there's one thing I regret not doing, it was to not rest before the "climb". I had not slept well the night before, (actually, I was not sleeping well when I was in Italy) plus I was walking around the entire afternoon. I should've stored my carbs and I should've rested at least for 4 hours. (I had the time anyway.) BUUUT, since I was trying to make the most out of this helluvanexpensive weekend, I pretended I was fit enough to do whatever the hell I wanted to. I was so psyched to climb the volcano. I'm sure I would do my mountaineer boyfriend proud.

The climb was roughly 900 meters. The first 600 were trails and the rest were all ash. We left around 6 pm to get there around 9 to see the eruptions (with lava and smoke and the entire shebang) then get back by 10pm or so. It was a piece of cake, to be honest. But (deng deng deng), since my blood was low that time, I couldn't handle the altitude and the steep climbing. After 300 meters I backed out. Yes, the wuss in me sought it best to just go down, since I was slowing up the group. What a disgrace! To think I was the most excited to go up! Oh well, if I can't do it, I can't do it, right? Sayang lang, I could've made Raf proud.

to be continued ulit...