Cinque Terre

Our hike into the Cinque Terre park started off with some clouds, but by noon, it had turned into the most beautiful day I had seen in a long time. The Cinque Terre is located in a National Parak and we began the 7-mile hike in Monterosso and worked our way down to Riomaggiore. The hike was amazing. Absolutely gorgeous. You never knew what suprises you were going to find around the next corner.

The first portion of the hike was the most difficult - up and down small little pathways. We met another hiker, Natalie, along the way. She was from Canada and was travelling for a few weeks before her 4-week Italian course in Florence. Natalie became our travelling partner for the day and actually put up with all of Jane and Betsy's sea gazing.

The villages were beautful, each having their own charactersitics. As I stated, we started in Monterosso which was the most "resorty" of the 5 towns.














Next, along the hike was Vernazza, a village with a castle looking down on the harbor.














Cornigla was the 3rd village on our hike, and it was nestled on the top of the cliff, complete with a nude beach that we did not get the opportunity to visit.














Manarola - my favorite of all of the towns - exposed the beauty of rock beach. This photo is during the day.














As we were came closer to Manarola, Jane, Natalie and I decided to go down near the water and sit and relax on the rocky beach. It was amazing. I sat there soaking in the sun (which I don't see a lot of in Germany), watching the water and still trying to comprehend that I am on the coast of Italy.













Riomaggorie, last but not least, showed some of the same characteristics of the other villages, but its streets were long and narrow and very STEEP.


















After some shopping and dinner on the water (I had pasta with crab), we made our way back by train to Monterosso where we ended our last night in the villages by the sea.

The next monring, I woke up a little early and went for a little run along the shore before we had to check out of our apartment. It was such a beautiful morning with the sun shining that it was hard not to want to stay in the little towns a few days longer. When I travel, I really enjoy exploring towns in the mornings before everyone has awaken. This particular morning, children were making their way to school and local men were sitting on a door stop laughing and having a good ol' time. I picked up some breakfast for Jane and I, headed back, packed and we took our stuff to the train station for the day. Jane and I then went back to Manarola where we relaxed on a boat dock before heading out.

Honestly, if I lived anywhere near these towns in Europe, I might never want to leave!