The Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre literally means "Five Terrace," exactly what it is.... Five precious little towns connected by a hiking trail. We stayed in Riomagiorre, the first of the five towns. We left on the bus on Friday morning very early and arrived around two. When we stepped off the bus, it smelled like the beach, salty and humid.

After checking in to our hostle (yes,), we walked around the little town and in and out of the little shops where you could purchase typical (and overpriced) beachtown items: beach towels, sunscreen, hats, shells, etc. Several of the stores were playing beach music and everything was so relaxedWe had dinner all together at a little restaurant similar to the old Oyster House on the causeway. . Cinque terre is known for their pesto, which was SO divine.

The next morning, Ali, Margaret, and I decided we were going to complete the 10km hike to all five towns. Most people do the first 3, and take the train to the 5th, but we were determined.

It was absloutely beautiful, and even though the hike between the last two towns was difficult, each little town we made it to made it worth going to the next. The Cinque Terre is a national park, so it is very well preserved. It is not a ritzy town at all, mostly backpackers and hostles, very different from Capri. The views were amazing, but we kept getting passed by 60+ year old hard core hikers. We laughed so hard. When we would walk past the marina in each little town, it felt sort of like home with the smell of boat motors and sound of sea gulls.

When we finally made it to the fifth town, I couldn't resist jumping in the freezing cold Mediterranean Sea.
It was so cold and so salty, but felt SO good.