Cinque Terre

I really want to finish all my Italy posts before Christmas and the New Year.  I think I have two more to do.....so let's hope I can get it done!  And let's totally disregard that NOTHING is wrapped for Christmas.  :)

The Cinque Terre.  It is one of those places that MUST be on everyone's Italy To Do list.  MUST.  It is an absolutely breathtaking area.  It was only about an hour and a half drive from where we were staying.  So we headed out early one morning for the experience.  Cinque Terre translates to 5 lands, and it is literally 5 little sleepy fishing villages in a remote part of the Italian Riviera.  Two of the towns recently suffered substantial damage due to some mudslides during a torrential rainstorm and they are still rebuilding.

We started our day off in Monterosso al Mare, which is the northern most town and has a parking lot.

Click the image to enlarge, but THATs the parking lot.  We may or may not have worried about our car all day long.

This will really just be a post with a lot of pictures, and some captions - and a whole album at the end to enjoy and daydream with.  There isn't any museums or hugely famous landmarks.  It's just the breathtaking views and the town themselves that make the area so spectacular and worth the visit.

From Monterosso, we took the train to Riomaggiore, which is the southern most town.

We did some serious walking to get these shots....uphill pushing two strollers full of dead weight and sleeping babies.  Ahhhhh, but it lets us eat and drink whatever we want!

Next up was Manarola.

Yep.  Parking spots for boats!

What a jumble of pastel buildings!  So beautiful!!

We ended up skipping Corniglia (the fourth town), and heading straight to Vernazza.  It was getting late.....so late that I have one picture to show for Vernazza....

Vernazza and Monterosso were the two towns hit so horribly by the mudslides.  Vernazza's rebuilding is much more noticeable.  What has been rebuilt looks so new.  But there is so much more to do.  It has been a little over a year since the mudslides.  But issues continue.  The area is also known for the hiking trails.  While we were there the trails were closed because of more mudslides. 









Here are the rest of my pictures.  Cinque Terre.

Looking through them again makes me want to go back!  It was so lovely, and we didn't have the best weather.  I can only imagine how much more wonderful it would be with a beautiful day.  You can easily spend several days in the area, and we rushed it into one day.  Next time!