200 days: Italia: Cinque Terre

We love everywhere.

Our first glimpse of Cinque Terre, well Riomaggiore, was through a little arch cut in the tunnel of train tracks that goes straight through many mountains. For a split second we saw crystal blue water and a bright sun in the sky, we knew we'd made a good decision.

We stayed in Riomaggiore which is the first of the five (cinque) towns (terre). Our sweet little room overlooked the little dock, so little in fact, that only motor boats and kayaks actually dock there, we fell asleep with the sounds of waves lapping at the (pebbly) shore every night. Bliss!

Cinque Terre is set right on the coast. The towns are all built up the cliffs and four out of the five have small docks, which used to be the only access between the towns, other than walking trails, before the train tracks were built about 100 years ago. After we tackled one of the trails, believe me, you'd want a boat.

After a steep walk to the top of our village and delicious seafood dinner by the sea on our first night, we gathered up our energy to take a hike the next day.
There are several hiking trails within the area, some of which go up into the hills and further south, and the most popular ones which go along the coast between each of the towns.
Initially we wanted to walk between all five, however when we arrived we discovered that due to recent landslides the trails between town one (Riomaggiore) and three (Corniglia) were closed.
So before the sun was too high in the sky we took the train - with ever other person in Italy it felt like - to Corniglia and from there we began our walk.
The trails are not long, approximately 3 or 4km between each town, and do not take forever - maybe a bit over an hour - however the terrain is really something else.
When we say 'cliffside' we mean it! There were thousands and thousands of stairs and pathways that were less than a foot wide, with hard rock on one side and a sheer drop on the other, however it was beautiful. Josh noted that every time you got to the top of a set of wobbly rock stairs, the view would be perfect. We arrived in Vernazza just in time for lunch and a gelato, before heading onto Monterosso, the last of the five.
For me the walk was one of my favourite parts of the trip, hard enough to be proud of myself but not difficult that I didn't enjoy it.
From Monterosso we caught the ferry back to Riomaggiore, admiring our handiwork and looking forward to a nice glass of prosecco and putting our feet up.

During our stay Josh got the fantastic news that the thesis he's been working so hard on for the past two years, and finished just before he left, was finally sitting on the desk of his supervisor, printed, bound and ready to go. I am so proud of him for accomplishing this great feat. Josh is always so inspiring to me in the way he commits himself to things and this has been no exception. Although it's been difficult at times he always pushed on, creating outstanding results and inspiring and enabling others at the same time. Well done Josh!
Tim told him he had to have a caramel milkshake to celebrate, so the next morning we did just that. I on the other hand thought something a little stronger was in need so we sat right on the edge of the cliff and had a glass of prosecco while we watched the sun set and closed another chapter.

There may not be thousands of old churches and statues in Cinque Terre, however if you are looking for a sunny, relaxing holiday and enjoy a bit of exercise and a lot of book reading then I'd say this is the place to go.