Cinque Terre

Every visitor to Florence simply has to take a day to get out of the city and spend some time hiking and swimming in the beautiful national park of Cinque Terre. Built along the coast of Italy, Cinque Terre is five towns right next to each other, all connected by hiking and water trails. Last Sunday, after our tour of Rome, Nicole and I decided to take our day in Cinque Terre, and spend a little time with nature.

Bright and early, we caught a 7:45 train to Cinque Terre, which took about three hours (which we didn't really mind as we were still extremely tired from Rome). The train stopped at the first town- Riomaggiore. Riomaggiore has a long history of being a fishing town, so there were boats and kayaks and conoes everywhere- it made me want to jump in the water immediately! However, there was no time for that as we started our hike to the second town pretty quickly after grabbing coffees and snacks.

The hike into the second town was pretty easy- nothing uphill or too difficult. Mostly, it was a path along the coastline, so we admired the beautiful, clear blue water and even saw a sort of naturally made pool created by rocks- again I had to fight the urge to skip out on the hike and jump in the water! Once we arrived at the second town- Manarola, we had to make the choice of taking a train directly to the beach or continuing to hike through the third and fouth towns. We opted for the hike, and questioned the decision a little bit when the first part of our hike included walking up 363 stairs!! It wasn't that bad however, once we reached the top, we arrived into the beautiful third fown of Corniglia and had an awesome lunch of pesto and spagetti!

The hike into the fourth town- Vernazza was a little rough. Thankfully our stomachs were full from such a great lunch! The hike took about an hour and a half and included steep downhills followed by steep uphills! We were all out of breath and sweating, but the view was absolutely incredible and it was totally worth it! I took lots of pictures, but they really do not do it justice. The fourth town had a lot of little shops, gelaterias and a beach so we spent a little time here cooling off and getting our feet wet!

It was getting late, so the group took a ferry to the final town of Monterosso. Monterosso was a huge beach, plus resturants and shops. Nicole and I got smoothies and admired the view of the coastline and the beautiful town. All too soon, we had to get back on the train for the three hour ride back to Florence! We left Cinque Terre feeling tired, but accomplished and in awe the beauty of this little place. Definitely a good day!