Cinque Terre

MONTEROSSO

The cloudy morning didn't looked promising as we arrived to Monterosso. It was cloudy, assuring more rain was coming our way.

Yet the clouds lay beautifully above the mountains of Cinque Terre

and the morning beach of Monterosso felt calm and serene.

So our plan for the day was to hike from each of Cinque Terre's five towns: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manorola, and Riomaggiore. I took this picture at the beginning our first and longest hike.

Leaving Monterosso behind.

We had to climb thousands of steps, cross several streams, walk on narrow paths at edge of cliffs, and watch our step through the muddy and slippery rocks. Two hours of this! But I loved every minute of it!!

One of the pretty streams along our hiking path.

I had to take off a layer of clothes and hold up my hair. All that walking was making me hot!

Another stream...

A capture of the ocean's view and Monterosso as we were leaving it behind. Can you believe I hiked around that mountain?!

Yay! We could finally see Vernazza. Our destination for our first hike. But we were only half-way there...

Yet another stream...

Getting closer to Vernazza...

Our muddy path...

Almost there!

VERNAZZA

Yay! We finally made it!

The sky cleared up and the sun shone bright. We stayed by Vernazza's beach for a while.

We wanted to hike from Vernazza to Corniglia, but the path was closed to due a landslide. So we took the train.

CORNIGLIA

A restaurant by the sea.

We visited the church of Corniglia.

The only palm tree in this town.

Umm..Don't know where i was looking!?

A cactus growing out of a house roof!!

Leaving Corniglia behind...

Yea..we are going to walk across the edge of these hillsides to get to Manorola. The hike was shorter and easier.

MANOROLA

The beginning of our walk to Riomaggiore through Via dell' Amore.

Colorful walls filled with messages of love.

RIOMAGGIORE

We arrived to Riomaggiore, late in the afternoon. We didn't have much time to stroll around the town, so we headed back to Monterosso by train before our bus left us!