Easter Weekend in the Cinque Terre

Saturday morning, Hannah, Meghan, Lindsey, Brittni, and I left at 9:53 for the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre means "The Five Lands." It is a group of five towns along the coast in the Italian Riviera in the region of Liguria. It's beautiful, and you can hike between the towns (or take boats, or trains) and hang out on the beach. We couldn't take a train directly to any of the towns from Florence; we had to stop in La Spezia, a city a few minutes west of the Cinque Terre. We got to the first Cinque Terre town, Riomaggiore, a little before 1:00. We were amazed at our first view of the Ligurian Sea.

To the Left

To the Right

We walked around the town of Riomaggiore, which was adorable with all its brightly painted, tall, skinny buildings with lots of windows and dark green shutters. The town seems to be one long road going uphill from the coast. We decided to eat at Ristorante la Lampara, where Meghan and I both tried the Penne with Smoked Salmon.

Lunch!

I wanted to have seafood since I was by the sea. The smoked salmon was really bacon-y and good. I loved it!

After lunch, we walked around some more. We went down to the coast and sat on some rocks and took lots of pictures. Here are some of them.

On the Way to the Water
It looks like a movie set.

The town!

The Coast

All 5 of us by the Water
(Picture taken by an old man from Pennsylvania)

Then we decided to take the train to the second town. We would have hiked, but it's about 7 euro for a Cinque Terre Pass to hike between the towns, so we just decided to hike on Sunday. We got our train ticket to the second town, but then we got on the wrong train. It didn't stop in the second town. It went straight through to the fifth. Oops!

We got out in the fifth town, found some gelato, and went out on the beach. It was cold and cloudy. I had worn shorts, knowing that there was a chance of rain, but not really thinking about it being chilly. Meghan, Brittni, and Hannah put their feet in the water, and Lindsey and I just hung out. After a while, it was time to head back to La Spezia. We had to make sure we were there in time to catch the bus to our hostel. (Our hostel was in a town about 15 or 20 minutes from La Spezia.)

After we got to La Spezia, we went to a grocery store to get things for dinner. 4 baguettes, 2 bottles of wine, 5 balls of fresh mozzarella, a jar of tomato sauce, a package of prosciutto, a big bag of potato chips, and 2 big bags of cookies cost 20 euro: 4 each. We took the bus to our hostel and checked in. It was a really nice hostel and pretty much the only option if you don't want to spend a lot to stay in one of the five towns. We couldn't get a room together, so we were split between two rooms. Brittni and I stayed with 2 other girls, and the other three stayed with one other girl. We got settled into our rooms and then went to Meghan, Lindsey, and Hannah's room for dinner and card games before going to bed.

The next morning was Easter Sunday! There weren't any buses running, but for 2 euro we could take a shuttle from the hostel straight to the first Cinque Terre town. We got there and bought our Cinque Terre passes to hike. Brittni has been sick and couldn't do any hiking, but she wanted to lay out on the beach, and she took a train to the last town where we would meet her later. Then we set off on Via dell'Amore. Via dell'Amore is the "Pathway of Love." Apparently, the trail used to be a meeting point for boys and girls between the first two towns. All along the trail are padlocks. In Italy, it's a ritual for couples to close a padlock together at a particular spot, usually a bridge. There is also lots of lovey-dovey graffiti all over the place. On the rocks. Even on the plants!

Hearts

Graffiti-d Plants

After our stroll to the second town, Manarola, we headed down to the water.

Pretty Boats

We bought tickets to ride a boat from the second town to the fourth. When the boat pulled up, the man threw Meghan the rope and she looped it around the pole. She had to dive for the rope, and her side got wet. But she was really hardcore when she dived for it, so I took her picture by the boat before we got on.

Meghan by the Boat

The boat ride was fun! It was nice to see the towns from the water.

Lindsey and Hannah

We got to the fourth town. There was a little beach.

Colorful Buildings, Umbrellas, and Boats

We walked up a bunch of stairs to this castle.

Old Castle

We climbed up the winding, narrow staircase inside. When we got to the top, we had a beautiful view.

Vernazza, the Fourth Town

Lovely

We came down from the tower. Meghan and Hannah went to find a bathroom. Lindsey and I did some shopping. Kind of. We went to one store and Lindsey bought some adorable earrings. Then we shared some focaccia with black olives. It was yummy and salty and buttery tasting.

Focaccia!

Then, the four of us set out for a hike.

View from the Hike

It was supposed to be about a 90 minute hike between the fourth and fifth towns. It took a little longer than that, mostly because when we got close to the fifth town, there were lots and lots of people going in the opposite direction, on a very narrow path that was somewhat slippery. People were falling all over the place. Which was bad. Because we were on a mountain. Luckily, we made it to the fifth town, Monterosso!

We found Brittni and then we went to a restaurant to eat. Hannah, Lindsey, and I all tried the Pansotti. It's a Ligurian specialty, ravioli with ricotta and greens, served with a walnut sauce. It was wonderful.

Pansotti!

After our late lunch, we got some more gelato. (It was a long hike, people. We needed it.) Then we went to the beach for a little while. The sun had come out before our hike, so it was nice and warm.

On the Beach!

We had to hurry back to the train so we could get to La Spezia in time to catch the cheapest train back to Florence. It was weird not being with family or going to church on Easter. But it was one of the most beautiful places we could have been and I spent that time with some pretty amazing people I've been blessed with.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!