Adventures in Italy 7: Cinque Terre

Along the northwestern coast of Italy is a series of five towns, nestled in the steep hills along the rocky shore:

1. Monterosso al Mare (where we stayed), 
2. Vernazza, 
3. Corniglia, 
4. Manarola and 
5. Riomaggiore.

Together they are called "Cinque Terre" (CHEEN-kweh TEH-reh), meaning "Five Lands". On Saturday, June 18, 2016, we hiked from the first one to the next two, and then took a train to the last two (because those two hiking trails were closed).

1. Monterosso

We awoke to this view from our balcony.

View from our hotel balcony. Monterosso.

If we leaned over we could see the ocean from the balcony.

And, as a completely random tidbit, here's our electrical doo-dad arrangement to deal with their 220V two-round-prong sockets.

Across the water you can see the sun reflecting off of some of the many terraces dug into the hills.

View from Monterosso

Erika surveys the hike ahead.

I loved these purple flowers everywhere!

Here we are just beginning to hike away from Monterosso.

Looking back on Monterosso

Here's Sharon at the start of the hike.

I don't know the name of this boat--which makes it an Unidentified Floating Object!

Just past this hotel on the cliff is where you have to show that you bought tickets to allow you to hike between the towns.

Hotel Porto Roca, Monterosso.

Randy near Monterosso

Some things are diagonal along the cliffs.

You can almost see Erika and Linette on the bridge.

Overlooking Monterosso

On the hills were many vineyards and other produce.

Not a bad view from this pool.

The variety of the vegetation was cool. Here we are passing through a grove of bamboo.

I don't know what these flowers are, but I'll be my mom does. (Update: She says Hydrangeas)

Same with these purple thistles. (Mom says Artichokes)



The hike went up, up, up.

Looking over a vineyard back to Monterosso, where we started.

Vineyard overlooking Monterosso

And there were cute bridges along the way (sometimes with cute people on them).

Monterosso in the distance

This sign gave us hope.

2. Vernazza

Finally we got to the top of the first leg of the journey, and we caught our first glance at the town of Vernazza.

First view of Vernazza

An Italian lady called Erika crazy for going out on this cliff. (That's not why Erika's crazy...)

We were surprised to come across cactus in this lush environment.

There's Monterosso, where we started hiking, way over there!

Monterosso in the distance

And here's Vernazzo, just down the hill.

The whole group, overlooking Vernazza

These little towns are so cute! Are you kidding me?

Wilsons over Vernazza

Speaking of which, there kept being these pretty purple flowers with beautiful people by them.

(Mom says they're Bougainvillea)

Finally we entered Vernazzo's narrow streets.

Entering Vernazza

The narrow streets of Vernazza

I thought this T-shirt was clever.

Beach at Vernazza

Panorama of Vernazza shore

We thought this pick-pocket warning sign was funny. (Fortunately, we didn't have anything stolen the whole time!)

And then, it was off to the next town.

Up, up, up.

These nets are used for harvesting the fruit. They spread them out, shake the tree, and gather what falls.

3. Corniglia

Our next destination was Corniglia (pronounced "Cornelia", with a silent "g") at the top of that next outcropping, where you might be able to just make out a cluster of buildings.

First view of Corniglia

Corneglia

Corneglia

Laundry day!

Steps in Corneglia

From Corneglia we could see Monterosso way over there in the distance. We hiked from there to here.

Monterosso in the distance.

And we could see the next town that we would be taking a train to (Manarola).

Manarola (from Corniglia)

But first, it was time for lunch. (We weren't very good about doing lunch very early.) We picked a restaurant in the middle of the little town.

Corneglia

While we waited for our food, I checked out the church that was right by us.

Church of San Pietro.

The little red-headed angels near the molding reminded me of someone...

Ah, yes. The Heatmeiser (from "Year Without a Santa Claus").

Heatmeiser

Mikayla opted for the Piadini (kind of like a quesadilla).

Erika did, too, and transformed hers into a beautiful butterfly.

Shaylee went spaghetti.

It had been a long day already, and a long week.

After lunch, I went inside to ask how to get down to the train, and when I came out, everyone else was gone, and texting wasn't working right at first. Then the shuttle to the train was too full and I had to wait for the next one. When I got down there, the train was already there, and I couldn't see how to get to the other side of the tracks where I needed to board. Finally I saw a tunnel, ran for my life, saw Linette at the top of the stairs waiting for me, and we joined the rest of the group. Phew! That was a close one!

4. Manarola

The crowded train took us a short ride to the next town, which was Manarola.

There was an elevated platform overlooking the main street down to the ocean.

People were cliff diving and swimming around the rocky beach.

5. Riomaggiore

Finally, we took the train to Riomaggiore.

Like all but the middle of the 5 towns, this one went right down to the shore.

I love the bright colored buildings in these towns.

Looks like the "parking lot" is pretty full!

Then we boarded a boat so that we could enjoy the view of Cinque Terre from the ocean.

It was fun to see all the towns on the way back.

Riomaggiore.

Riomaggiore

You can see where a couple of roads have been built high up in the hills.

Riomaggiore

Here is the fourth town of Manarola, where we watched the cliff divers.

Manarola

Manarola

Manarola

Train station at Manarola

Corneglia is the middle town, and the only one that does not go down to the ocean. You can see all 4 of the other towns from its overlooks.

Corneglia 

Corneglia

And here is Vernazza again.

Vernazza

The panorama I got was really wavy because the boat was rocking the whole time I was shooting it.

Finally, we approached Monterosso, where we started.

Well, now there are three things of beauty, in my humble opinion.

Purple flowers, Shaylee, and gelato

We finally got to spend an hour or two at the beach.

After all that hiking and walking, it was nice to sit and read for a minute.

Erika had fun frolicking by the water.

That night we got pizza for the kids and the couples went out for, well, Italian food. Erika did a sleepover with the Kartchner girls.

The hike was fun, the scenery along the way was awesome, and the towns were adorable. Linette says that this was her favorite part of the trip.

In our next episode, we're off to Venice!