cinque terre

"Did you go to Cinque Terre?" is the question Pete and I are asked most when people hear we honeymooned in Italy. Everyone raves about the region (or mourns that they weren't able to visit). Cinque Terre's scenery is surreal: tiny villages dot the coast, leading uphill to cliffside homes and alleys that dead end into jaw-dropping views of the Mediterranean. The five villages of Cinque Terre are part of the Italian Riviera, in the Liguria region in the northwest. The topography and architecture reminded us of the Amalfi Coast, but we found Cinque Terre to be slower paced, less commercial, and more homey.

Day 10: arrived in Cinque Terre, settled into Manarola
Day 11: some hiking, sunned in Monterosso al Mare, dined in Vernazza
Day 12: train to Venice

A local train and a famous hiking trail connect the villages. We stayed in Manarola, the second village (counting from the east), and the oldest and smallest of the five (Pete was astounded that our inn and the town square had no wifi to be found). The five towns go back to the Roman era--remnants of Ligurian wine pottery were found in Pompeii--and like Amalfi, the towns were plundered by pirates in the Medieval Ages. Walking around Manorola after our arrival, the village felt empty (just a handful of tourists and nonnos and nonnas), as if only ours to explore. Later, after a very memorable dinner of seafood antipasti and squid-ink pasta, we watched one of the most amazing sunsets I'm sure I'll ever see.

On our second day, we hiked through Lover's Pass (a short hike to Riomaggiore where we had breakfast), lunched and sunbathed in Monterosso, and had dinner at the top of Vernazza. Both nights, we were in bed by 10:00, not long after the entire town closed shop and turned off their lights.

(Unfortunately, a recent flood, compounded by overdevelopment, caused deadly mudslides that nearly wiped out two of the towns. I hope they recover soon.)



The view from our balcony. Walking around Manarola; the town square.




Lover's Pass (locals and visitors leave locks and love notes on the wire fences), Manarola, the setting sun over the town.


Vernazza.