Friday, September 16, 2011

Italy - Cinque Terre

4 nights in Cinque Terre was the perfect amount of time to make new friends, relax, and explore the five coastal cities that make up the Cinque Terre.  The Italian Riviera is beautiful and the Cinque Terre portion of the Riviera has gained quite a bit of popularity over the past decade and after visiting the area, I can easily understand why.

I've categoried the photos of Cinque Terre by the 5 villages (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare).  Here they are:

Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore is the first of the five coastal villages and the one that I stayed in.  I had awesome roommates for the 4 nights that I was there.  We all got to know each other pretty well as we were all hanging around the hostel during the evenings. Most people would be back at the hostel by 9pm for two reasons: 1) There isn't much of a night life in Cinque Terre unless you're a kid.  Kids play on the streets until after midnight - reminds me of my childhood where we used to play hide & seek on our cult-de-sac until 11pm. The good ol' days where we didn't have to worry about safety. #2) If you are planning on doing the hike between the 5 coastal cities, it's best to start early as the beating sun combined with conquering the hills of the villages can be quite tiring...so the coolness of the morning combined with finishing the hike before the peak heat of the day is the way to do it.







Manorola
The second village is Manorola.  I think this village was my favourite because it was so small and offered the best views. Here are some photos:










Corneglia
The third village is Corneglia. Here are some pics:

Ascending up 365 steps to reach the village.

 I thought this store front was cute.




Vernazza
The fourth village is Vernazza. Here are some pics:

 Busy streets




Monterosso al Mare
The final village in the Cinque Terre is Monterosso al Mare and it's the only village with an actual beach.  It's also the only village with an Internet shop where I was able to send off all of my African Safari paperwork - which means everything is confirmed for the trip! Yipee!

Here are some pics from Monterosso:


 Buying fresh fruits & vegetables from the back of the truck - love it!

 The colour of the water is goregous :)

Overall, I had a great time in Cinque Terre.  It was beautiful! I experienced amazing weather, made some new friends from Australia, Brazil and the US and enjoyed the hike between the cities.  It's a great place to visit and if you plan on going to Italy, I'd add Cinque Terre to your itinerary.

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