Cinque Terre

We decided to spend Thomas' 3-day weekend in an area of Italy known as Cinque Terre. The literal translation for this into English is "5 Lands." Cinque Terre is known for it's hiking trails that span between the 5 towns of the area. The 5 little villages include: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Recently, in October 2011, the area endured some severe mudslides. The beautiful area was now looking destroyed. But, now, you wouldn't know it. Yes, there is still some construction and rebuilding going on, but all-in-all, the towns are better than ever. I have to semi-quote Rick Steves..he talks in a recent article about how you can tell that the rebuilding of this area was so important to the community because Italian workers were working around the clock. He mentions that you can only understand this and find it funny if you've ever live in Italy. It is the truth. The Italian workers typically take their sweet time and enjoy a nice reposso. So, it's a big deal that so many are working all hours to get this place back up and running. We drove up to Cinque Terre on Thursday afternoon. We arrived in Vernazza (the town we were staying in) around 830 in the evening. I usually debate going anywhere later in the day after Thomas gets off work, but it was worth it because we had all day Friday and Saturday to see everything. We had to park in one area in the middle of nowhere and walk down a path that leads into the only road in Vernazza. It was quite a small village with beautiful water. After getting settled into our rustic little Italian apartment, we ate a restaurant that overlooked the sea. We enjoyed delicious Trofie pesto, wine, and bread. We settled into our rooms for a good sleep once we were done with supper. I was awaken by tons and tons of church bells at around 700 am. Their bells were bizarre..they rang a lot more than they do here. They even had a special ding for when the clock hit the "30" mark. 

The first day was spent hiking the trails between the 5 villages. The first trail took us from Vernazza to Corniglia. Now, there are two trails you have the option of doing...one is the easier trail and one is the more difficult trail. Well, wouldn't you know it was just our luck that the easy trail was closed for some construction due to the mudslides. So, Thomas and I, as well as another military couple from Vicenza that we traveled with, took the hike up the difficult trail. When I say we hiked "up" I am not exaggerating. It was all uphill. However, as the saying goes, "what goes up must come down." We finally made it to the top and found rich green vineyards and a great view of the sea. We arrived in Corniglia and our first stop was eating some lunch. I had some pasta with pesto and tomatoes, while Thomas opted for just the pesto pasta. Our friends got this pesto gnocchi which tasted amazing. We walked down to a rocky area where the wind was beginning to pick up so the waves of the water were crashing down over the rocks. You had to be careful or you would get soaking wet.  After Corniglia, we headed to the village of Manarola. The trail between these two towns were closed so we had no choice but to take the train. I will have to say...us girls were not too disappointed by this. It was nice to take a short ride instead of a very long walk. After arriving in Manarola, our first stop was for some gelato. We quickly began the walk from Manarola to Riomaggiore. The trail is called "Via Dell'Amore." Translation? The Love Walk. There were gates with various items tied around them..locks, paper, string, etc. etc. Its supposed to represent couple sort of locking their love there forever. Thomas didn't want to do it..he said it would jinx us. He sort of compared it to tattooing someone's name on your body. Oh Lord, silly boy. After we got to Riomaggiore, the boys took a quick dip in the water for a swim and snorkeling expedition. Once done at Riomaggiore, we hopped on the train and headed back to Vernazza for the night. We had visited 4 out of the 5 towns that day. That night we ordered in pizza and drank wine while playing Catch Phrase with the two couples we traveled with. It was so much fun! Sometimes, I think an evening in with friends can be just as fun as going out. 

                                              Before Starting the Hike!

                                            Beautiful Vernazza

                                                  Going uphill!

                                            Beautiful Views from the Top

                                            Made it to the top

                                         Another View from the top

                                          Corniglia

                                          Windy day causing big waves

                                           Starting the love walk

                                         Lock away your love

                                          Riomaggiore

                                         Catch Phrase with Friends








The next day, we took the train to Monterosso for a beach day! There would be absolutely NO HIKING involved. Nothing but sun, clear blue waters, and sandy beaches. Wait! Hold the phone! Did Rachel just say "sandy beaches?" YES! SURE DID! Not only did we find amazing clear blue water, but the beaches were actual sand beaches and not the stone, rocky ones we have become accustomed to. It was a perfect, relaxing day. The boys were able to do some more snorkeling while us girls sat in the sun with a beach bar near by that served us delicious, fruity cocktails. That night we had a lovely dinner out. We spent the evening taking a little walk around the seaside of Vernazza and then went to bed early. It was a perfect trip! The next morning we had our cappuccinos and croissants, bought some amazing paintings, and heading back to Vicenza. 

                                           Beautiful beaches of Monterossa

                                           Loving this water! Gorgeous, right?

                                            Yum! Cocktails made from fresh fruit!

                                           Ready for some snorkeling

                                        Snapshot of our last night

                                         Bonjourno! Time for a Cappuccino before we go home!

                                            It really makes for a happy morning!


Cinque Terre is one of those little "heaven on earth" places. With it's bright colored houses, mountains, and clear blue waters you will not regret a trip there. I cannot wait to go back there. Once again, I find myself amazed by this country. It is truly remarkable. 

Until next time, Ciao Ciao! 

Cheerio From Merry Ole England

Yes, this post is entirely waaay long overdue. After our visit to Ireland, we hopped a plane to London, England. Our flight was supposed to fly into London Gatwick Airport, but due to fog we had to land in London Stansted for a delay. During the delay, we discovered that our hotel was actually closer to the Stansted airport. Too bad we couldn't just get out of the plane right then. We finally got back up in the air and then landed in Gatwick.

We quickly found out that our hotel was like about an hour drive from the Gatwick airport. It was one expensive taxi cab ride, but we finally got to our hotel. Our hotel was...okay. It wasn't what I expected at all. It was the crappiest place or anything like that, but after a long delay and a long cab ride..this was not what I wanted to see. I eventually got over it, because we were in LONDON!! We found this great little pub in the town we were staying in. It was filled with these old men, so hilarious! And of course, I got some amazing fish and chips with mushy peas.

 We spent the evening walking around London on our own. My mom was feeling much better than she did in Ireland, so she was walking way ahead of us looking at everything. We were in search of Buckingham Palace. We went around and around around. We saw lots of things..Big Ben, Parliament, the back of West Minster Abbey, and even the changing of the guard. But, for some reason we could not find that palace. 

Then...(sorry Mom)..right in front of Parliament, my mother had this really intense, horrible leg cramp. It was awful and scary at the time. Now, we sort of look back and giggle about the fact that only my mother would have a leg cramp in the middle of London right in front of one of the major sites. The next day Mom's leg was still sore from the cramp, so her and Dad stayed at the hotel while Thomas and I toured the city. We did the hop-on-hop-off bus. I totally recommend those, especially if you have a time crunch. We finally got to Buckingham Palace and discovered it was very close to where we had been the night before.

 

We took a river cruise and saw Big Ben, The London Eye, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge. The river cruise dropped us off at the Tower of London.It was interesting to see all the torture stuff and kind of creepy.

Well, I am really displeased with this blog post. I'd say it isn't one of my best. I guess that's what happens when you wait 2 months to write about something. ;)

Until next time, Ciao Bella!