Cinque Terra

On our first day, we arrived by bus from Florence early in the morning. Our first glimpse of Cinque Terre was down the narrow street of Manarola. We following the cobblestones down to the sea, walking between the vibrant houses and cute street shops. It was early, so everything was quiet and peaceful. We then followed the shoreline up along the cliff to the famous viewpoint of the city. Sitting at a cafe there, we enjoyed breakfast with a view. After spending a few hours here, we then took the ferry over to Vernazza. By now, the sun was higher and the town was bustling with tourists coming in on day trips. We started by wandering through the streets again, stopping for some calamari. Then we hiked up to the fortress, which had beautiful views over the whole town. After spending a long day in the sun, we ended our evening by the water, eating pasta at a small restaurant.

Our second day quickly became a bit of a beach day once we took the ferry over to Monterosso. There was a beautiful sprawling sand beach, so we grabbed some sandwiches from the local grocery store, and set out for a picnic in the sand. After a late breakfast, we spent most of the day swimming in the crystal blue water, and climbing on the rocks that jutted up out of the waves. By late afternoon, we dried ourselves off and decided to hop on a ferry over to Riomaggiore, the last of the five towns that was easily accessible by sea. We spent the evening here on the dock, eating pizza while listening to the waves.