Come Si Dice...?: Cinque Terra

oh my gracious this last weekend was like a beautiful dream! I felt like I was wandering around in a fairy tale.

Cinque Terra is a grouping of 5 small Italian villages along the Ligurian Sea. Its very close to France and could be described as the Italian equivalent to the French Riviera.

There are trails that run through the hills and mountains that go to each town; it takes a while, but it is one of the most breathtaking days I have ever experienced!

We even had some light rain and a touch of overcast skies, but nothing could mar the beauty of Cinque Terra!

we took a train from Roma to La Spezia - the sidewalks there were lined with, get this,

orange trees.

say what?

gorgeous - the rocks have this interesting layered pattern - rows upon rows of squashed sediment

I was not forewarned that this "little walk" would actually turn out to be a HUGE HIKE with danger of landslides.

ah. lovely.

these tiny little nets with the tiny little threads are supposed to protect me from boulders careening down a mountain? a mountain which is more like a vertical wall??

...ok then.

this guy knows where its at.

love locks - placed here by lovers to symbolize their everlasting love

I like to match my environment.

this looked SO fun, I almost joined in!

the patterns on the rocks are so interesting!

Snow White lives here. clearly.

Cinque Terra is famous for pesto and chianti. bring it on.

my sole complaint is that you can't eat pesto and chianti (a red wine) in the same meal.

I have to choose?? or do I....?

love the colors in this!

starting our 2 hour hike from Vernazza to Monterosso

can you imagine living here?!

Im telling you. a fairy tale.

There was a unicorn around this corner.

pretty stone bridge over a rippling creek

sometimes the path got so narrow, we had to walk single file!

(or fall to our deaths, no big deal)

one topic of conversation in Cinque Terra was how chill the Italian park rangers were - they kind of had an attitude of "don't be stupid, Im not your babysitter, you are an adult and perfectly capable of governing yourself. if you fall, you fall"

In America, this place would be covered in caution tape and WARNING signs to avoid being sued. and you would probably need a doctors note proving your physical capability.

can you see those 2 tiny people in the way back? yeah, thats the trail. Im taking a picture of the trail from a different spot on the same trail. long trail.