Cinque Terre (Honeymoon Day 13)

Today, we took a Day Trip to Cinque Terre, on the northwest coast of Italy's "Italian Riviera" Cinque Terre, which literally means five towns, has become a national park, which surrounds the villages of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The villages are either cliffside or inlets from the Gulf of La Spezia.  The region is known for their white white

The day started by meeting our tour guides, Fabian and Molly, at the central train station, not far from where we were staying. From the train station we boarded a bus to the Cinque Terre region, which was about 1 hour, fourty minutes,  we made a rest stop and then caught a train in La Spezia.

We started the trip at Manarola, where we could view the little community and out into the Gulf of La Spezia.

Then we walked about 380 steps up a zigzag pathway similar to San Francisco's Lombard Street. At the top we walked to Corniglia, the smallest of the five villages. They have two churches. After a brief walk, we sat down for a rooftop lunch. We had an seafood sampler antipasti followed by a main dish of spaghetti with homemade pesto and potatoes.

 

 It was a good meal and it served as good fuel for our hike, walking from Corniglia to the next of the five towns, Montorosso. The hike was 2.5 miles, and with temperatures close to 90 degrees, it was not a walk in the park. The views were beautiful; lush, green hillsides on Italy's Northwest coast.

At the halfway point,  there is a cafe, which serves a variety of cold drinks and snacks. We settled on a lemon granita and a cold water which both came in handy. Once we reached the cafe, the second part of the hike was easier. At the end of the hike, we saw a dog swimming in the water.

Once we were done with the hike, Fabian had recommended a cinnamon Gelato, so we decided to treat ourselves to Gelato as a reward for finishing the hike. Aaron picked cinnamon only and Elisha picked cinnamon and pistachio. The cinnamon was outstanding

For dinner, we had a mix of fried seafood and veggies, which was great. We were pretty tired by the end though.