The Cinque Terre

Five little villages along the coast of the Italian Riviera. This was the setting of our next adventure in the lovely region of Italy, called the Cinque Terre.

We spent two days in this beautiful area. We drove up from our home base in Lucca and explored each town via the hiking trails, trains, and boats that connect each town with the others. We relaxed on the beaches, ate some delicious seafood and gelato and just soaked up the ambience of the Italian Riviera. Each town has its own feel and different characteristics that make them unique. I think my favorite towns were Riomaggiore and Manarola, the two most southern towns.

On our first day in the Cinque Terre we parked and began in Riomaggiore, the most southern town. We headed straight for the rocky rugged beach, changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the beautiful blue Ligurian Sea.

Riomaggiore from above.

Riomaggiore's boat dock.

The beach in Riomaggiore. The water was the perfect temperature-- not too cold but still refreshing!

Me and the Sibs in the town of Riomaggiore.

More of Riomaggiore.

After taking a little dip, we made or way up to the next town, Manarola by walking on the Via dell'Amore. This romantic walkway connects Riomaggiore and Manarola together and hugs the cliffs while displaying beautiful views of the sea and the rest of the Cinque Terre.

The Via dell'Amore. Over the years, lovers have used padlocks to demonstrate their love for each other. They lock the padlock to something on the trail and throw the key into the ocean. How romantic...

After a lovely walk along the Via dell'Amore we arrived in the town of Manarola, where we stopped for lunch at a delicious seafood restaurant.

Manarola

After lunch we went to the swimming area in Manarola where there were a bunch of rocks  to jump off of. Travis and Dallin took some jumps and I took some pictures on the high speed setting of our camera. I made this little movie below to show them. It's kinda lame because I don't really have any video-editing software right now, so I had to make it on a slideshow maker that came with picasa. But the pictures are cool. Enjoy!

While Travis and Dallin continued swimming, Susannah and I went on our own adventure and took a little hike up in the hills of Manarola.

Sooz in a bamboo garden.

Exploring the vineyards of Manarola.

When we were done in Manarola, we took the train to the next town, Corniglia. A lot of people skip over Corniglia because it is high on a cliff and not by the water, but I enjoyed this town because it was a lot less touristy than the others.

Mom and Sooz taking a break in Corniglia

Corniglia

Next, we made our way to the next town, Vernazza, by hiking the trails. It was pretty hot and the hike was a lot more strenuous than I was expecting. But we finally all made it and relaxed by the seaside in beautiful Vernazza.

Vernazza

Our first day in Cinque Terre ended with some delicious pizza for dinner in Vernazza and then hopping on the train back to Riomaggiore. We had to park pretty far away from Riomaggiore so me and Dallin climbed up the mountain to where our car was parked, while my family waited in town for us to come pick them up. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset view in between gasping for breath from hiking up hill.

After we got the car, we picked up my family and made our way back to Lucca. It was a gorgeous first day in the Cinque Terre.