Italy - Cinque Terre

In the third segment of my trip while we were staying in Florence we took an overnight excursion to Cinque Terre. This was of our own making, my Dad planned it out. He excels at trip itineraries. We take a train from Florence to La Speza stopping briefly in Pisa on the way and then onto Cinque Terre. The name translates as 'Five Lands'. Starting from the northern town they are, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.

These towns are literally perched on the edge of the hills near the water and one, Corniglia, is a thousand feet up on a cliff above the Mediterranean. At one time there was no way to navigate the hills, unless you are a goat, from one town to the other. There wasn't even a road to get there until the 1960's. Nowadays there are four ways to visit, by train, by car, by trail and by ferry - weather permitting. The trails are well maintained and a hikers paradise. You pay a small fee to access the trails as this area has been designated a national park.

We disembark in Monterosso and find it is sectioned off into a new and old town, divided by a tunnel in the hillside. We find lodging in the old town side and after a quick bite of foccacia, a local bread and man is it yummy, we begin to explore. We start to hike our way from Monterosso to Vernazza and 20 minutes into it my Mom calls it quits and rests on a bench formed in the rock on the side of the trail, we are about 60 feet above the sea here. Dad and I continue on while Mom waits for us. We are under the impression that the next town is just around the corner. After huffing and puffing our way up a steep set of stairs carved into the hill we walk a switchback in the trail to see another set of steep narrower steps and then another set and another one beyond that. My Dad turns to me and says...."time for a 'birra'". I smile my response and we return to where my Mom is sitting. Later we overhear a group of hikers discuss how the 90 min hike from Monterosso to Vernazza was a helacious trail, quite strenuous to hike. Dad and I are relieved with our decision and we toast ourselves!

The towns of Cinque Terre are very colorful with brightly painted old structures stacked up the hills with narrow avenues that slope down to the beautiful green-blue waters of the Mediterranean. This is a popular destination for travelers and even in the off-season lodging was a bit hard to find. Reservations a must for the best restaurants. We ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant on a bluff overlooking the water. We feasted on homemade pasta with fresh caught prawns. I tried the local flavor that the region is known for, pesto. It was my favorite meal the whole trip. We sampled the local white wine and it was nice and light. The temps were in the 80's that day so it was a perfect evening to stroll around town.

The next day we hopped a ferry boat and cruised to Vernazza, a much easier way to travel then the trail! After many photos later, we grabbed another ferry ride to Riomaggiore and walked the popular 'Via dell' Amore' trail. This is the shortest of all the trails, connecting Riomaggiore with Manarola. The trail is aptly named for couples have strolled this to admire the view and probably because it is the only trail with level enough terrain for one to actually enjoy a conversation along the way! The temps were in the low 90s this day and when we completed the trail we headed for some gelato to reward ourselves and to cool off! I was envious of those swimming along the shores, but alas no suit with me. My Dad made the mistake of wearing long pants, but he used that as an excuse to have more gelato.....why didn't I think of that???

Final photos to come of Roma!