Cinque Terre

Cinque Terra.  Just as unique as Venice is but in its own way!  

Stairs, stairs and more stairs!  These little villages are just climbing meccas.   

We took the train from Venice to Riomaggiori and peeked around for a bit.  This the fancy beach!  Funny thing was that Mark actually ran into our good friends, the Millecams!  How crazy was that and very fun to see their darling family here.  He made a special Weatherman Mark video clip with them and they surprised me with a cup of gelato - I had been sitting at the train ticket office with all of our luggage while he walked around.  I did one of those real double takes when they surprised me!

The door leading up the 7 flights of steep, narrow stairs.  

The building belonged to an old fisherman - it was very quaint.

Our little room was just perfect and the bed was very cozy.

The Air B&B host was so kind!  He helped us with our luggage and 

gave us some wonderful food suggestions.

Our room is up on the very top of the yellow building - far right window.

It was quite an incline just to make it up the hill to the building!

We certainly burned a lot of calories here!!

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. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all part of the Cinque Tere National Park.

Over the centuries, people have carefully built terraces on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea. Part of its charm is the lack of visible corporate development. Paths, trains and boats connect the villages, and cars cannot reach them from the outside. The Cinque Terre area is a very popular tourist destination.

The villages of the Cinque Terre were severely affected by torrential rains which caused floods and mudslides on October 25, 2011. Nine people were confirmed killed by the floods, and damage to the villages, particularly Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare, was extensive. (thank you, Wikipedia :)

Having seen photos like this but this online put theLigurian Coastal area 

on the top of our list of places to see in Italy!

And I get to take credit for all of these photos!

You can hike the trails, take the train or book a trip on the boats to see the villages.

We had limited time so we spent a little time on the trails and got around by the train.

Crazy how they just dock up next to the rocks and there you are!

Just remarkable to see this and think about the history of how it was built up.

Yummy fried veggies, shrimp and sardines!!

I'll catch up on the narrative soon!  Just posting and closing tonight!
Be back soon...