Cinque Terre

Five Villages on the Italian Riviera that are set atop cliffs and can only be reached by train or foot. Sound Surreal? Well it was. It was AMAZING!!! Cinque Terre was so beautiful and peaceful and everything that is good in the world that it was really hard to leave.
Our first day in Cinque Terre was overcast and anywhere else in the world it may have been a "dreary" day, but not here. It was still serene and beautiful. We settled in our apartment in Riomaggiore and then took the ten minute train ride to the town furthest away: Monterrossa. After wandering around Monterrossa for a bit we headed back to have our first dinner of basil pasta (made in the villages) and pesto (from the place where pesto originated). After dinner we watched the sunset from a cliff and also watched a lightening storm rolling in. It was fantastic.

Our second day we made the five hour hike in between all of the villages. I honestly cannot tell you how beautiful and amazing the hike was. Even though I was sweaty and dirty and achy by the end of the hike, it was so worth it. Everywhere I looked there was beauty. This is a place you HAVE to go to at some point in your life. By the end of the hike we were super hot and tired so we floated in the sea for a while and enjoyed the beaches for a bit before heading back.

We were supposed to leave our third day, but we just couldn't right away. We dropped off our bags at a safe place and played around until late in the afternoon. It was sad to go, but we had to catch our sleeper train to PARIS!!