Cinque Terra

One place high on the tourtista list is Cinque Terra. Last time we missed it so we went this time. Cinque Terra is a series of little villages, five to be exact. The area is right on the coast overlooking the Mediterranean and is the essence of picturesque. No cars are allowed unless you are a local resident. If you travel between the little villages, you walk or take the train. There are about ten minutes by train between them so it is easily walkable on a good day if you are so inclined.

Each little village along the railway is unique and features the varied interests, products and customs of the residents past and present. One thing that Cinque Terra needs to be seen at its best is sunshine. Unfortunately, it was sorely lacking the day we went. The weather has been less than desirable for most of the month but I think we noticed it most in Cinque Terra. Every photos one sees of Cinque Terra it looks something like the photos above. But even with cloud cover and rain and no bathing beauties on the beach, it was delightful. People over here are outside rain or shine...you just pop up your umbrella and off you go. I think it does keep some tourists inside though. So the advantage is there are no crowds. Jim and I really don't mind traveling in the rain or cold weather as neither of us like being hot and sticky or waiting in big lines for everything we want to do.

Vernazza is city #4 and our favorite. We met Jim and Gloria there on their return by train from Chiavari at around noon so we didn't have as much time in Cinque Terra as we would have liked. But we spent a few delightful hours just strolling around, enjoying the magnificent views and being quite happy that in spite of the incessant rain it wasn't cold or windy. Here are some photos:

The Cliffs and some of the railway track.
They have made Cinque Terra very negotiable
and visitor friendly with lots of nice walkways, etc.


The hillsides


One of the beaches where Spencer
and Ross found plenty to keep them entertained.
They bring in a lot of sand for the summer
sun worshipers that spend time here.


The Good Life is everywhere in Italy
and yet they struggle with so much.
The Irony of it all!


Where else can pink houses look so cool?
Answer~NOWHERE!!


Spence by the fun boats!

Us walking through the shopping area.
We got Laura's birthday present here.
It is a beautiful red coral ring.
She will be 32 on January 30th.

Even when they could make more money
~everyone closes for Riposo!

But Laura and Robert found other
things to keep them occupied!

We found this open chapel just before we left
to go back on the train.
We lit a candle for Baby Hazel here.
It seemed appropriate!

Our local newspaper publishes photos of people traveling
the world with the front paper of the paper.
Jim's mom carried this around for weeks
to get a photo of a four generation family vacation!
Sooooo,
If they don't publish ours~you can see it here!

To all our beach loving family (Uncle Tom and Aunt Jean, Gar, Mar, and Bob and Beth, Tracey) and our friends in Florida (Becky and Nellie...this place is for you!)