Polar Bear Swim

Last weekend we went to Cinque Terre—a region of Italian coastline. I highly recommend it as your next vacation spot. We stayed in a quaint little town called Vernazza. Friday and Saturday night was spent lazing about on the rocks, listening to the breaking waves. Several of us spent Saturday hiking through to the towns that are connected by coastal trails. While we were hiking, some of us decided that it would be great if we could say we swam in the Mediterranean sea. Of course it's a little chilly this time of the year, probably around 40 degrees, but we are adventurous souls. So at 7am on Sunday morning, 3 brave souls, Sarah, Andra, and myself took a plunge into the very cold water as Sean and Lisa stood by for moral support (and to capture the moment).

At once we realized the water was freezing and tried to lift ourselves out. Upon realizing that we had overestimated our upper body strength we began swimming to the shore. Being that we were in jeans and sweat pants, this was not easy. At last we reached the shore, shivering but proud! After a few victory photoshots we quickly headed for the hot showers.