What an incredible day! Started off the morning on the train from Florence to my next hostel in Pisa. I was in the city for about 30 minutes to drop off my big bag and head out to Cinque Terre via La Spezia.

I got to La Spezia around noon, bought my pass to Cinque Terre for the day, and headed first to the furthest town, Monterosso al Mare. I decided to spend the whole time I had there on the beach, the beautiful blue water shadowed by the mountains above. Usually, you are able to hike between all the towns, but due to terrible landslides in October, many of the coastal paths are not walkable.. more on that later. I enjoyed a little over an hour on the beach and then hopped on the short train ride to Vernazza.

I want to kind of bring the city of Vernazza to everyone's attention. On October 25th of 2011, a horrible land slide hit Vernazza, more than 14 feet of mud and debris buried the town. Lives were lost, a state of emergency was declared, and the damage done will cost around 100 million Euro to complete. There are people living there still, the love of their town undying, committed to restoring the town to what it has been for so long. I knew nothing of this tragedy, but saw first hand the destruction and work that is being done to fix it. Just wanted to bring it to other people's attention as well!

In any case, hopped the next train to Corniglia, where I started the hike up the mountain to the next town of Manarola. Thankfully, a nice Brazilian couple on their honeymoon was also starting the trek, so we figured out the somewhat difficult to find trail together. The hike was beautiful.. and tiring. We were through the woods for part, in lemon and wine vineyards for other parts, and almost always had a view of the water from high above.

Two and a half hours later we arrived in Manarola, the town I got to explore the most. A stunning little fishing town, all of the buildings are painted different bright colors, giving the town a fun, whimsical feel. Took photos from a number of vantage points, the beach, the mountain etc. it's kind of silly how easy it is to take photos in a place like that. It reminded me of Positano and Amalfi. I ate a late lunch as the sun was starting to set. Many of the older generation in the town sit out in the common areas together watching the sunset, struck me as something really wonderful to do with the people you live around.

Got onto the 'Via dell'Amore path to head to the final town, Riomaggiore. I have to admit that I didn't explore the town (exhausted), but decided to stop on the far more developed path between the towns to have a glass of wine at a little bar and watch the sunset, hence the cover photo! After getting into Riomaggiore, I got the train back to La Spezia, and finally back to Pisa. As luck would have it, I'm actually in a double bed tonight! AND, they had good beer available at the hotel! No Peroni tonight! I'm on the move to Venice early tomorrow (last stop in Italy!!), so I'm off to bed for now!

http://savevernazza.com/