Cinque Terre has been high on my travel bucket list for quite some time now. I've been wanting to go since 2008, and the desire has only grown stronger as several friends have visited and showed off their photos. When my friend and classmate, Scott, first approached me about a trip to Italy for our travel break, I said I was interested but I wanted three things: to go to Cinque Terre, to see Melania (a coworker I know from Madrid, but is from Naples) and to go to Pompeii/Naples. He agreed it sounded wonderful, and this trip was born.
The Cinque Terre did not disappoint.
Meaning "5 lands," Cinque Terre is actually 5 little hill towns that sit along the ocean's coast nestled in between ocean rocks, vineyards and steep cliffs. I knew that Scott wanted to do the hike between the towns, but it wasn't until about ten minutes into the first hike that I realized what a great error I had made in agreeing to do such a ridiculous thing. We got to our little house that we rented right on the sea in Manarola (town #2 from the South) and took the boat to the most Northern town- Monterosso. The view from the boat shows just how far apart the towns are, and just how incredible it is that houses sit on the rocky unstable land overlooking the sea. This was my first indication that hiking between the towns would almost kill me.
But I was so enchanted with this place and knew I had to see it in the most intimate way possible - step by step. Admittedly, I wouldn't have done it any other way. The hikes were tough- straight up the mountain, hundreds and hundreds of steps straight up then straight down, a footpath just inches wide, and lots of rocks/sticks/mud etc to contribute to the complications of the hike.
Vineyards galore.
Vernazza
Vernazza
Vernazza
Sunsetting on our second hike
Corniglia with the ocean meeting the horizon just before sunset
Corniglia floating on vineyards
Gelato for the second time in one day, yes please.
Just a few inches of pathway. What a beautiful chunk of the world.
Manarola, the town where we stayed on game day.
the most southern town, Riomaggiore.
Alas, the calorie-burning was well worth it. I have beautiful photos of this place.
And now, I will know when I get on the stair stepper at the gym and give up at 30 staircases, that I am actually capable of much, much more like 356 sets of stairs.
I think this could be a brilliant marketing strategy for Treadmill and exercise equipment everywhere - TOURIST setting. Where you walk all over beautiful cities without even realizing that your feet are screaming until you get home and collapse into your hard twin-sized, overly starched sheet.
Way to rep the Amari shirt! :) Roll Tide!
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