A Little Piece of Heaven: Cinque Terre

"... just south of Portofino, five towns on the Ligurian Sea maintain the charm and character of Italian villages of the past. Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore are the pastel towns that make up Cinque Terre (five lands). They are vintage settlements where life moves in the key of easy -- each town clinging to the rocky coast, defying gravity and, most of all, defying time..."

Wow.  You didn't ask, but if you did, that's the one-word description I'd give you for Cinque Terre. Stunningly beautiful and remarkably quaint, Cinque Terre is a set of five little fishing villages linked together by a scenic hike through vineyards and lemon trees accompanied with gorgeous views of the azure sea. But no combination of nouns and adjectives that I could conjure up would properly do it justice so this post is intentionally light on narrative. Come along, I'll let the pictures do the talking for me...

At the midpoint of one of our hikes between the towns, there was an Italian lady selling freshly squeezed lemonade (remember what I said about quaint?).  I'm sure the setting had something to do with it, but I can't remember ever having a more refreshing beverage.

Connecting the towns of Riomaggio and Manarola is the Via dell'Amore. Squaw Peak can't hold a candle to this place... not that I know from first-hand experience... hey, there's those locks again! 

On a sad note, in October an unusually severe rainstorm brought flash flooding and landslides to the Cinque Terre towns of Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare — filling the streets with rocks, mud and debris up to 12 feet deep. In Vernazza, which was hardest hit, many businesses are still awaiting renovation.

Carrie - Sarah's shutterbug buddy. Many of the photo credits on this post belong to her. 

I can't read minds but I think it's safe to assume that both Sarah and I are thinking something along the lines of "let's say we strike it rich someday, I think I could get used to a summer home here..."