the most lovely place on earth.

cinque terre; where to start? no matter how much i rave about this place, no words will EVER do it justice. for months before my trip i looked up pictures of cinque terre online. my hope was that it would be half as beautiful as it was in the photo-shopped google images, needless to say, my expectations of these five villages was sky high. in no way did it disappoint, in fact it far exceeded my expectations. it's one thing to longingly gaze at pictures, but it's a million times better to be there and feel the unique culture in person. i still have troubles wrapping my head around the fact that this place exists, and that I was lucky enough to experience it. it is, hands down, the most amazing place i have ever been and i will certainly be back.

for those of you that don't know, cinque terre national park consists of 5 famous fishermen villages that line the northern coast of italy. they are about a 3-5 minute train ride apart.  there is also a hiking/walking trail along the coast that runs from town to town which i only had time to do about half of. here are a few pictures and a personal take on each town.

riomaggiore is the first town of the five villages in the national park of cinque terre. it feels like an authentic, non-touristy town. you tend to see a lot more, sweet little italian ladies in the streets of riomaggiore then you do rich american tourists. it seems to be a bit more run down then the rest of the towns, but again, that's just part of its lovely character. riomaggiore is where all the fishermen anchor their boats, mmmm, fresh seafood!

 

riomaggiore

manarola, town number two, seems to be one of the biggest villages. it's squished in between these two mountains so it's pretty long an narrow. it opens up to the sea where there's lots of big rocks to climb and sunbathe on. because if the big rocks just off the shore, the snorkeling is great. if you're looking to skip the beach and want a fun place to swim and climb, manarola is the place for you!

manarola peaking over the top of the mountain.  this picture was taken

on the hiking path between riomaggiore and manarola.

the walking /hiking path.  at times it is a leisurely stroll, and at times

you are praying that you wont fall off the cliff.

manarola.

daily laundry.

corniglia, town three, feels a little bit like going to grandmas house for tea, warm and quaint. it's the only town that takes a bit of a hike up a mountain to get to, but it's certainly worth it. it's completely surrounded by wineries and lush vegetation which makes it even more beautiful.  it appears to be far less touristy then the rest of the towns, probably because all the young, hungover folk don't want to climb.
i spent a couple hours adventuring off the main tourist streets taking a million pictures.  i stumbled upon a cute little pink house that i wanted to snap a photo of but i could see the owners inside so i had to devise a sneaky plan to get my photo. i was trying to hide around the corner, when sure enough an older gentlemen came barreling out onto the balcony yelling in italian. side-note: italians, especially the older generation, all speak with a lot of passion which in a story like this can easily be mistaken for anger. back to the story...  i quickly gathered my things as i was about to make a mad dash out of there when he yelled to me in english 'if you want a picture you must have coffee with me and my maria'. carlos and his wife, maria, have been married for 70 years and have 8 children.  we spend a lovely 3 hours sharing stories of italy and canada. i saw every picture ever taken of all 8 of their children and their 46 grandchildren. i also shared pictures of my family, friends, and life from home. carlos and maria; what a lovely couple who i will never forget. i hope that, i too, will someday be able to celebrate 70 years with the love of my life, what an accomplishment!

the stunning corniglia.

the little trolley system they have to get fruits and veggies up the mountain.

carlos and maria's house!

it overlooks a bunch of wineries and the ocean, absolutely stunning!

so much color, i love it!

the view while hiking up the mountain to corniglia. if you look
closely, you can see manarola off in the distance on the right.

vernazza, town four, is the most famous of all the towns. if you have ever googled 'cinque terre', the imagines that will most likely come up will be those of vernazza. it is the most wonderful place. it has a funky feeling to it. it's place you would go to have a nice late night meal or drinks with friends. vernazza is probably my favorite town out of the five, with corniglia following closely behind it.

at night the town looks just as lovely as it is all done up with twinkle lights!

the walking path. there is a fence here, but at time there isn't one. 

for those of us that are afraid of heights, this was a real test!

monterosso has a more laid back feel to it. personally, it's my least favorite out of towns, though it is still lovely. it has the longest beach and board walk out of all the towns. i would guess that if you are looking to laze by the water all day and not do much site seeing in town, this would be the place to do it.