So the next stop on our trip was the Cinque Terre, or "The Five Lands." This is a spot that I had wanted to see for a long time so it was part of my "must see" for this trip. For those of you who don't know much about this area, it was, and still is, a fishing and boating area. There are vineyards as well that are carved into the hillside, along with homes. It is now also a very popular tourist destination because it was virtually unheard of for many centuries. They are also a National Park and on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
These lovely and dramatic villages are definitely worth a visit but beware-they are tough to get around if you're not in shape!! There are only two ways to go, up and down! Another big attraction to this area is the hiking trails, which is what we were interested in. We wanted to take the easy coastal trail to all the villages, which would have taken all day but would have been doable for the two of us since we weren't in the best shape. Unfortunately there were some terrible floods in 2012 and part of the trail was inaccessible which gave us three options. 1. Take the train to each town to look around that way. 2. Take a boat. 3. Hike the "panoramic" vista trail. We (in a moment of insanity) chose option 3. So instead a few mile trek along the coast we headed straight up the side of the hill to a 4-5 mile HIKE. To give you an idea of what we did here is a map: we wanted to take the blue trail. We did from Manarola section 6, 6d to Corniglia. Now I know that doesn't look to tough. The first 1/2-3/4 was all up hill. We are fatties. It was tough!
BUT, we survived!! And it was TOTALLY worth it! We got some of the most amazing photos on this hike- some of the best from the whole trip. And it was great proof that no matter where you are in the world, hikers ban together and are always friendly and will give you a wave or "hello." The great thing about a killer hike is the descent down to a yummy meal, complete with beer (for Matt) and a Limoncello for me! I even got to try a local variety which was SO GOOD that I was on a quest the rest of the trip to find a bottle, which I did our last night in Florence!
Our first night walking around Riomaggiore (where our B&B was)
The beginning of stunning coastal views
There were these beautiful flowers growing on an old stone wall-so Italian!
You can see the village built up into the hillside and the vineyards beyond that! Along with some wispy rain clouds.
Great scenery. Even more handsome subject!
Starting off in Manarola to hike the coast.
Manarola village, no beaches here!
Uh oh! Trail is closed! No going on the coastal road!
That's OK! We'll just trek up the side of a freakin' mountain! No biggie right? Yes, we were all the way down at the bottom before.
Endless stairs and uphill. It was almost more difficult because it was all stairs!
We can glimpse the next village through the hillside and vineyard.
On the way down and am SO happy!
A well deserved limoncello and pizza lunch for our efforts. The scenery was amazing as well.
You can barely see the furthest village on that point all the way to the left. We took the train from here.
Matt likes to make me look directly into the sun while taking pictures. It's painful. And we had just witnessed a couple making out very inappropriately below us so my eyes were already hurting.
We also played with the miniature affect with the camera. Oh boy was that fun! And this was the perfect setting for it.
All in all it was a wonderful 2 nights. I wish we had been able to take the coastal trail or go on a boat ride to see them all from the sea but we can always revisit one day. Again I would highly recommend coming here for a few days away. It was actually quite quiet since it's hard to get a car around these villages, and they are closed to cars in the evening too! Just make sure to bring your walking shoes ;)
