Several weekends ago (yes, I'm a little behind on my blogging!) I went to Cinque Terre with some of my friends on the program, and we had a blast! So far, the Cinque Terre region is still my favorite part of Italy we have explored! Known for a serene countryside, great hiking, and beautiful seaside towns, if you ever get the chance to go to the Cinque Terre I highly recommend going! We stayed in a town outside of the five cities, a quaint city called Moneglia. Our hotel was precious, the beach there was beautiful and less crowded than those of the 5 cities, and there was the most amazing restaurant there called Tender. So delicious!
The day after we arrived, we made our way to Monterosso, where we hopped on the trail to make our way to Vernazza. (The entire Cinque Terre region has a regional train that has very inexpensive tickets, and is perfect for tourists. Each ticket lasts basically all day, and you get to hop on and off the train at anytime, which makes it very easy to see all 5 cities.) Anyway, the hike was just under 3 hours, and we couldn't have asked for better weather for a hike! There were many cute vendors that lived in the area that set up camp on the thicker parts of the trail, and our crew ended up purchasing anything from homemade limoncello to handmade jewelry! By lunch time it was definitely getting hot, and we were very happy to reach Vernazza and sit in the cool AC for lunch. We spent so much money on water at that meal!
After we had regained some energy, we hopped back on the train and visited the rest of the cities! Riomaggiore was next, and was probably my least favorite, just because there weren't that many shops to wander into or things to see and do. It was still pretty, of course, but just wasn't my favorite!
Manarola was our next stop. Another short visit here, as Monterosso and Vernazza are the bigger, more touristy cities. But again, still fun and gorgeous!
Finally, and as if we hadn't hiked enough that day, we walked up the 382 steps to Corniglia, walked around a bit, got a fruity little drink in celebration of making it to all five cities, then made our way back down the hill of steps just in time to hop on the train back to our hotel!
Overall it was a wonderful weekend, and it was so fun exploring the Cinque Terre region. I definitely see a return trip there in my future, and would love to hike more of the trail next time I go!
Ciao and Happy Tuesday!
--Caroline
