Cinque Terre

We left the paradise of the Villa Volpi for another brand of stunning... the Cinque Terre. A string of five towns on the Mediterranean Coast built into the cliffs. We chose to visit the towns by foot, by train, and by boat. We started by taking the train inland from La Spezia to the first town.


#1 Riomaggiore
The Cinque Terre is also a National Park. The hiking path starts here with the "Via dell' Amore." It is rumored that couples from the adjoining towns would meet and make sweet promises on the love path. You can see padlocks clipped onto wire netting... it is a show of devotion amongst sweethearts.



#2 Manarola
There is a great swimming hole here. People arrived early to stake their claim on a slab of rock.... topless, of course.



#3 Corniglia
Ok. Honestly, as the trail proceeds through the towns, it gets harder. Corniglia is the only non-harbor town and it is at the top of a "hill." As we Southerners say, we don't sweat, we glisten... and we were glistening a lot.



#4 Vernazza
The folks took the train from Corniglia, while I chose to risk my life on the hike. Gorgeous, yes. Chance to fall to my death, yes. I envisioned taking a swan dive into the crystal waters for relief. Did I mention... gorgeous?



#5 Monterosso
The water was too inviting to be denied any longer. Oh yeah. I walked up the street and said, "I'll take that blue two piece please." Maybe not as klassy as what the Italians were wearing, but definitely refreshing!



Back in La Spezia, we cooled off, had a walk about and another delicious meal.
Ciao!

Villa Volpi

I've been back for months, and Italy seems like years ago, but I can't get the last few days of the trip out of my head. After biking in Lucca we went to our accommodations. A dreamy villa in the hills and vineyards. Was it for real? It was.

There weren't a lot of people staying in "our" villa, but two guests were a French man and his daughter. I'm pretty sure that little girl melted my heart. She only spoke French, so I had no clue, but I my powers of observation showed me she was reading Pinocchio. sigh.

From the pool, amongst olive trees, there was a divine view. I kept staring at this church in the distance. There were churches everywhere, but this one just looked like a storybook. We trespassed later that night, around dusk, and enjoyed a quiet moon rising.