This weekend we ventured out to the coast for a long weekend in BEAUTIFUL Cinque Terre. What we found there was beyond exceptional! The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of the city of La Spezia. "The Five Lands" comprises five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Many tourists come and hike all five towns and stay a day or two in each one. They are the most beautiful and gorgeous cities I have ever seen. Each one is bigger, brighter, and more spectacular then the next! Over centuries, the people have carefully built terraces on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea. So you hike around the step areas reaching each town with a combined time of a little over 5 hours.
The 14 of us (the students I am studying abroad with) decided to go together to celebrate Betsy's 21st bday. We stayed in the last town called Monterosso and I have to admit it was one of the best towns. A cute small town full of local artists and small wine tasting shops. The beach is the first thing you notice with its crisps blue water and rocky sand. We hiked up 135 stairs to where we stayed called Manuel's GuestHouse which I must admit was the cutest house with a most amazing view of Monterosso. Manuel himself lives right now the stairs in his own house and owns two of the biggest, friendlies dogs I have ever met. He is a local painter and paints down by the wine store all day long. He is extremely talented and enjoyable with a great guesthouse! ( www.manuelsguesthouse.com )
Cinque Terre is known for its delicious seafood and we decided to indulge in it the first night we were there. We went to a delicious restaurant where we all enjoyed various amounts of pasta with clams, mussels, and octopus. After that some freshly grilled and skinned bass!! YUMMY! My mouth waters just thinking about it! That night we sat by the water and shared funny stories and enjoyed some good red wine!
The next day we woke up very early to start our hike to all five towns. We thought each town was better than the next with the most amazing views. We sat in silence for moments at a time just admiring the view! Just stunning. We got back 7 hours later and decided to have a huge cookout since Manuel's Guest House has a large cooking ground right on the outside of our rooms. Lorenzo ( my good friend ) was the chef of the night BBQing steaks, and chicken and I cooked 5 pounds of noodles to feed all 14 of us and stir fried it with cheese, olive oil, red peppers and fresh tomatoes. We cooked for about 4 hours since we only had one small stove but had the time of our lives. I would recommend Cinque Terre to anyone and everyone! What a great experience!
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