European Tour: Cinque Terre, Italy

A little background on Cinque Terre, Italy. It's on the Italian Riveria, and it's name is translated "The 5 lands." Its a strand of 5 villages (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore) that go up the coast-line, each getting higher and higher up as you go. You have the option of taking a tram from each place, or walking along the hilly coastline.

Group, hanging out outside the restaurant

We only had a short weekend (travel there on 9/15-come home 9/17) so we decided to stay relatively close to Riva and go to Italy. We arrived into the train station, and then had to take a bus up to the hostel we were staying at. I get car-sick SUPER easy, and I almost lost my cookies a couple times as we circled and circled going up the mountain side. We finally arrived there, and I managed to hold everything together, to realize that the hostel we were staying at gave us a 4 bedroom hostel. Which was ideal, because then we just had to share with people we know and you don't have to sleep clutching your backpack.

Me with the puppy

Karaoke time

As we walked around where our hostel was, we found it was very different from the other places we had stayed. There was no one here, minus the local people, and they were hiding in their houses. So, we went to one of the only restaurant within walking distance of our hostel. We decided to stay there after dinner and move the party to the outside bar, where there was Karaoke. While we were out there, the dog that belonged to the restaurant owners came to join us. We all know that I'm a sucker for a "stinky" so of course, I played with him :) Not sure why I look like Shirley Temple in this picture...my hair is naturally curly, but that's pretty bad.

We, of course, dominated the Karaoke machine. I don't remember what songs we sang, but we were up there all night. Along with our helpers...some random guys we met that were from Australia, who were also visiting Cinque Terre the next day.

Monterosso al Mare

The next morning, we took the bus from the hostel down to Monterosso al Mare, which is the first village in the line of 5. It's the closest one to the sea (hence the name) and definitely different than what we had seen before. It's a fishing village, so lot's of boats, houses close together and built up and into the hills.

The picture shows better than I could describe the landscape of all the villages of Cinque Terre. There is limited space, because they all back up to the sea...so they need to build wherever they can find land. That is usually within the hills and mountains that surround them. So their very bright and colorful houses line the coast and the hills of Cinque Terre.

Walking from village to village is possible on a little foot path that runs along the ridge of the hills. And when I say along the ridge, I mean, one wrong step and you plummet to your death on the rocky coastline...not to be dramatic or anything. So, with my fear of heights and dying a tragic death...I didn't take too many pictures along our hike throughout the villages. I did manage to get this one, its a picture that is looking up to Manarola from the path.

View of Manarola

Beach on Vernazza

Vernazza is known for  it's beach, so when we got there some people got into their bathing suits and decided to test out the water. I declined to get into the cold water of the Italian Riveria (it was also a cloudy day, adding to the cold water) but the ones who did look like they enjoyed it.

Riomaggiore was our eating destination, we stopped in the town for some gelato (obviously) and walked around the shops for a little bit.

After our hiking adventures, we got back on the bus to go back to the hostel. We once again, ate at one of the only restaurants up in the little nook of a town where our hostel was. It was definitely a homey feeling space, and we met even more people from Australia, who we hung out with for the rest of the night. 

Girls sleeping

The next day, we took the bus back down to the train station...I came prepared with a puke bag this time. We were excited because the train that we were on had seats that folded down into beds (it's really the little things in life that make it wonderful). Here's an example of how collective sharing works out for everyone involved :)

To be continued...Next Up: European Tour: Budapest