For this Italy trip, we covered the areas we have yet to cover in our previous Europe trip. Also, being in Moscow made flying over cheaper and much faster. There is a direct flight on S7 to Verona and we travelled to the other parts like Florence and Cinque Terre by the trains. The main point of this trip is to visit Cinque Terre as I have heard amazing reviews on the place from my friends. It sure did not disappoint us. We were awe struck upon entering our room. I couldn't stop taking pictures from the balcony even when the guy was telling us about the room.
Cinque Terre is located along the coast of the Italian Riviera. Cinque means 5 in Italian. Thus there are 5 villages in Cinque Terre - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We chose to stay at Riomaggiore and we loved it! This place is not easily accessible by car so the train is the most convenient mode of transport. Fortunately at Riomaggiore, there is a lift to bring people up to the top. Upon arriving, we could either take the lift or drag our luggage up to the city centre to start climbing steps. This is the view of the train station taken from outside our apartment.
After settling in, we decided to fill my ever hungry tummy before exploring the area and to do some hiking! Our sense of smell brought us here. Cinque is famous for their seafood and only in Riommagiore, can one find the most stalls selling fried seafood and they smell so heavenly! There were 3 stalls and this was the best of all. Ooohhhlala~ It was so shiok, we ate it for all 3 days in a row and even had it once after dinner as a snack again.
The city centre of all the villages are really small and compact. There are many steps in all the villages and the lanes leading to all the lodgings are really narrow.
According to our information online, there is a lover's walking trail that starts at our village and leads to the other village called Manarola. It is supposed to be one of the easiest walking trail with flat land and a beautiful of the coast. However... we somehow walked the gruelling mountainous path that got Der's face all green hah. Even my legs ached the next day. We were totally unprepared.
But the view from the top was amazing...
And we finally arrived at Manarola, the second smallest village amongst all 5.
The city centre in Manarola.
Each village is different in its own way. We visited all the villages including the neighbouring islands and the 2 nearest towns Levanto and Portovenere in the 3 days we were in Cinque Terre. They are all accessible by ferry as well as the train. The view from the ferry was definitely different from arriving by train. Each has its own merits. Thus most people will devote a day each to try the different mode of transportation.
On board the ferry. We were too guang ho and brought too little clothes on this trip. I was freezing my ass off near the end of this trip! Poor Der even caught a cold coz he sacrificed his jacket for me!
Cinque Terre is really a beautiful place. If you are really into hiking, there is so much more to be done and more beautiful sights to explore.
Cinque Terre is located along the coast of the Italian Riviera. Cinque means 5 in Italian. Thus there are 5 villages in Cinque Terre - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We chose to stay at Riomaggiore and we loved it! This place is not easily accessible by car so the train is the most convenient mode of transport. Fortunately at Riomaggiore, there is a lift to bring people up to the top. Upon arriving, we could either take the lift or drag our luggage up to the city centre to start climbing steps. This is the view of the train station taken from outside our apartment.
After settling in, we decided to fill my ever hungry tummy before exploring the area and to do some hiking! Our sense of smell brought us here. Cinque is famous for their seafood and only in Riommagiore, can one find the most stalls selling fried seafood and they smell so heavenly! There were 3 stalls and this was the best of all. Ooohhhlala~ It was so shiok, we ate it for all 3 days in a row and even had it once after dinner as a snack again.
The city centre of all the villages are really small and compact. There are many steps in all the villages and the lanes leading to all the lodgings are really narrow.
Vernazza on a cold day when Der sacrificed his jacket. It was raining heavily in the morning and we were so happy that it finally stopped!
On board the ferry. We were too guang ho and brought too little clothes on this trip. I was freezing my ass off near the end of this trip! Poor Der even caught a cold coz he sacrificed his jacket for me!
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