Cinque Terre. Five Towns, Four Girls.

Cinque Terre, "the five lands", is located along the rugged coastline of the Italian Riviera... It is one of the Mediterranean's best preserved natural areas and is full of rich cultural heritage. The land is full of beauty and charm and is quite famous for its lack of modernization. This past Sunday we were able to explore this magnificent Italian coastline, going from village to village by foot. You see, because of their lack of modernization, individuals are only able to travel via paths, boats, or trains. And since neither of us are owners of a yacht, we chose the path route, allowing us to take in our beautiful surroundings and breathtaking views.

The trip began EARLY Sunday morning, meeting our Florence for Fun group (the organization we booked the trip through) at 7:15 a.m. in front of the Farmacia in the train station. After a few minutes we realized our group consisted of about, hmmmm around 150ish American students.. yowzaa! That's quite a few Americans to be so far from home. We boarded the train, and by we I mean Jaclyn, Jennifer, Colleen, and Hannah and luckily found a seat. Sunday morning must be a popular Sunday destination because the train was booked, with many people standing the duration of the ride. Two and a half hours later we arrived, eager to begin the trail connecting these five lands.

We'd like to tell you a little more about these five small villages as we walk you through our journey. Cinque Terre consists of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. Riomaggiore, our first stop, is the most southern of the five villages. It dates back to the early 13th century and revolves around 2 main roads.. how is that for traffic! We continued our hike along "Via dell' Amore" or as we would call it, Lovers' Walk. The trail, which connects Riomaggiore to Manarola, is full of locks that couples have placed along the coastline, promising them a lifetime of togetherness... You would be AMAZED with how many people actually do this, well we were at least. Our next stop, Manarola, was a rather small village famous for its local wine, Sciacchtera. The next stop was Corniglia, climbing 365 stairs to reach the town's charming center. With time running short, and an afternoon of sun rays to catch, we chose to skip out on the stair climb (we do that quite a bit with Jennifer's apartment) and took a train to Vernazza. Vernazza is often considered the pearl of the five towns and we would have to agree. The intricate layout of this village with its narrow lanes, steep stairways and bright colored houses made us fall in love immediately. As history would tell it, the homes were painted these bright colors so that fisherman at sea could look back at the coast and identify their home. Note the pic.... they create quite the view. We chose to spend the afternoon on the beach/on the rocks (European beaches are veeery different) and explore the Mediterranean Sea. Pictures below show a little bit of what we got into to... rock climbing, well sort of, and swimming in the Mediterranean. Does life get any better? Our last stop was in Monterossa al Mare. The town is divided into two parts, old town and new town and is by far the biggest of the villages. The beach stretches the entire length of the town, and with perfect weather, everyone was out. The day ended with a train ride back to Firenze, not bad for just another Sunday.


We hope these pictures can help you visualize the majestic landscape and panoramic views. Notice the stunning cobalt blue of the Mediterranean ocean, the steep cliffs, the rocky coastline and take it all in... yes, these places in the world really do exist. Tonight we shall experience our first "Italian" cooking class- we are veeery excited! And off to Rome at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning!! Busy weekend ahead! Continue leaving comments on our blog, we love to hear from everyone and until then...

Molto Amare,

Jack and Jenn

CIAO!!!!