Today I officially got to put a check mark beside the first item ever written on my bucket list! In fact, I’ve wanted to visit the Cinque Terre in Italy since before I had even written my list.
The Cinque Terre isn’t actually 1 place, but a series of 5 villages hanging off of the seaside cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. Pictures of these towns are iconic and I’ve seen them everywhere, including in the lobby of our favorite Indian restaurant in the Hat (The Mango Tree)! The draw is the beauty of the towns, but also that you can move between them by hiking or by train, bus, and boat. If you could hike straight from end to end I think it’s only 11 kilometres, though most of those direct, seaside trails are closed due to a horrible mudslide a couple of years ago. Now the hikes are a bit more challenging as you have to go up and down the mountain-like terrain to connect the villages.
Yesterday we did 2 different legs of hiking which were both incredible. It’s been over 30 degrees, which exponentially increased the difficulty of the already steep terrain. For one of us it was the perfect kind of exercise: the kind when you are having so much fun and loving it so much you don’t even really realize you’re exercising. That is, until you look down at your arms and each pore has released an individual bead of sweat! For the other one of us it was torturous, rubber leg, exercise the whole time. Who’s who? Here’s a hint:
Here are some pics of each town from east to west:
Monterosso (best beaches):
Vernazza:
Corniglia – This middle-child town is the only one where the whole town is up on a cliff so it has no beach access. If you take the train you have to climb 365 stairs to the town. I never did this because I hiked there so I approached the town from above. RobO met me there by train though. He said he wanted to show a shirtless twenty-something year old that he’s ‘still got it’ so he did the stairs 2 at a time, leaving the kid in the dust. Let’s hope he’s ‘still got’ working legs by the end of today!!
Manarola:
Riomaggiore (where we’re staying):
We’ve spent the ‘cooler’ mornings doing the more active stuff, then spent the afternoons swimming in the sea, paddle boarding, relaxing, and even had some piña coladas and Wimbledon at a pub. We’ve also been thoroughly enjoying the local specialties of fresh lemon slushes, pesto, focaccia, and farinata, which is a gluten free chick pea flour type of pizza.
We rounded out this great stop with an afternoon boat ride to all 5 towns followed by an awesome last dinner in Italy. Wow.
Best pizza I’ve ever eaten!
Next up is a flight to Barcelona. I don’t know how this holiday could possibly get any better, but if Barcelona lives up to what everyone says it is I might just have to move the bar higher. How much luckier can these Olsons get?
TTSOL
Looks awesome! Glad you guys are having a great time!
Planned lucky! So great!