Cinque Terre

Early Sunday morning, we head on the tube, then the train...all the way to Stansted airport. It was a long ride but we made it. Then, we flew over the Alps all the way to Genoa, Italy. There, we caught yet another train and were on our way down the Italian Riviera to Riomaggiore. The scenery along the way was great and at least we arrived around 3 in the afternoon.







Riomaggiore is one of five small villages that make up the Cinque Terre. We visited this area back in 2000 when we were backpacking - so long ago!! It is possible to hike the full distance between the villages, perched on the hills over the Meditteranean. Angela and I did it all in one day back in 2000. This time, we were less ambitious and had a later start. So, we did the first two short hikes on Sunday evening and then headed back to Riomaggiore for dinner. The food was fantastic!! You do not get better pesto anywhere in the world.





We stayed in a small apartment up the stairs in Riomaggiore (everything seems to be upstairs in these villages). It had a great view.





On Monday morning, we got an early start so we could do some hiking without our bags before checkout time. We were alone most of the time on the way from Vernazza to Monterosso - about a 2 hour hike. It was beautiful - the pictures speak for themselves.








After spending some more time in the villages and having lunch, we were on our way to Tuscany.