Memory Monday - Cinque Terre, Italy

The Cinque Terre is nothing short of breathtaking.  While endlessly browsing Pinterest, the Cinque Terre has comes up in the travel section more than a few times.  Not to my surprise, just today when walking to my terminal in the DFW airport I saw that American Airlines used a vividly depicted Cinque Terre in one of their advertisements.  It's beauty is the essence of a snapshot getaway.  Every time I see these pictures I'm only reminded about how insanely beautiful this place (or five places) is.

Cinque Terre is translated in English as "Five Lands."  Along the Italian Riviera are five villages that each posses a different shine.  Hiking trails, small local vineyards, and stone carved pathways link the villages to one another.  The hiking trial my friends and I took was called the Sentiero Azzurro or "Light Blue Trail."  There are two routes you can go, one only connects a few villages and the other longer one is double the length.  Both trails have pleasantly overwhelming views.  Unfortunately about six months prior to my visit to the Cinque, a major flood hit the five villages and damaged Vernazza and Monterosso.  Even though it was April and most had been cleaned up, the bulldozers and rubble were proof of the destruction.  Since much of the lower trail was damaged we took the only option, 11 miles.  On a bright sunny day this would have been our pick but the weather wasn't on our side so we knew it was going to be tough.

The first of the five villages is Riomaggiore. This town is known for its artistic culture and cave tunnel that connects to the next town, Maranola.  This cave tunnel parades love inscriptions all over the walls, sealing their promises with locks that are dangling from every available surface.  These love notes are written in different languages signed with different initials, which adds to the luminosity of the fishing village.  This walkway is called Via dell' Amore (walkway of love) and you can't help but wish you had that special someone beside you.  Then the trail breaks into the hillside.  As you walk between gorgeous lush hillside and aquamarine seas you can't complain.  Once it started to rain I thought, okay this isn't too bad. Luckily I brought a light rain coat with me on my way out the door.  Gradually I started to feel the light tatter on my arms and back, a muffled sound on vinyl.  Then all of the sudden came downpour.  These were large drops.  Then as we hiked up the 360 steps top of Cornigilia.  By this time the water was flowing down the steps and we were going upstream.  The view was five million times more worth it, pictures to prove.  The rest of the hike was even more narrow and treacherous, so I would suggest to do it on a sunny day.

Unfortunately we had to skip over one of the inner villages, Corniglia, but the view from the hike was gorgeous!  The next village, Maranola is the oldest of the five villages.  Although it doesn't have a beach you can lounge around on, after seeing it's cliffside pastel multicolored houses you don't mind at all.  This little village had so much culture in it!  There were pastel greens, purples, and pink houses that all held various garments and blankets out to dry.  There were also bathrooms which by this time we knew were hard to come by.  After perusing around and snapping some photos we headed onwards.  We were definitely starting to get hungry but couldn't wait to see more. By the time we got through with the downpour and onto the grub, the sun was out.  We weren't afraid to accept the inner 90's kid in us and tie our jackets around our waist.  I was most excited about this town, Vernazza, because their pesto was supposed to be the best (the area that the Cinque Terre is situated in, Genoa, is world renowned for everything and anything pesto).  Yes, I said it.  It wasn't the buildings, or beach, or shop but the deliciously rich pesto.  My mouth waters just thinking about it.  So, eager to rest our feet, we caught some of the sunshine and ate out under a bright orange umbrella.  We ate pesto pizza to our hearts content, beachside, and were ready to work it off on the second part of the hike.

As sprinkles from the sky pushed us along the trail from Vernazza to Monterosso, this part was determined to be by far the most challenging.  It's not that it's incredibly exhausting, the trails are just very skinny.  As I walked I was always watching my footing, but it added to the exhilaration of the hike.  I'm not someone who is afraid of heights and at times I was even a little worried.  After we passed the narrow parts, we dipped down into a freshly dewed forest.  The colors of the trees were some of the most verdant shades I have ever seen.  It was so quiet you could hear dripping all around you and the crunching underneath your soggy shoes.  After feeling plunged out of the Riviera you come to the most amazing far off view of the shoreline of Monterosso.  The gradually progressing indigo waves meet the dark stone sand.  Since it isn't warm enough out to swim the brightly striped beach umbrellas are cooped up near the boardwalk.  The shops are, for the most part open, yet the shades of these buildings are much lighter than all the other villages. We ventured down to the beach in our tennis shoes (something I always vow to never do). All of us wanting to get closer to the clear water, we hopped from rock to rock, a few friends falling in!

This place is just magical. How can it not be?  For anyone who has an adventurous tinge in their body this place will put them at their utmost bliss.  This post doesn't cover a mere slice of what you can experience in such a genuine place. So take a gander at the Italian Riveria!

And please don't take the wrong train home like we did...at 11 pm...on a Sunday.

Memory Monday - Florence, Italy

From an aerial view there is no other city that looks more like the epitome of Italy than Firenze.  Looking down, the city is a blanket of terracotta tiles.  High above the rest is the duomo or more formally, Florence's Cathedral called the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.  It's incredible dome is designed by Brunelleschi and is just as beautiful from the outside as the inside.  This basilica is home of the largest brick dome ever constructed, as well as the Baptistery of St. John and Giotto's Campanile It was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio to be the largest Roman Catholic church in the world but had to later be reduced in size.  Like the duomo in Siena, the Florence Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  

After the two hour train ride from Orvieto we started walking from the train station, Santa Maria Novella.  Despite the gloomy weather we found our hostel quite easily, situated in the largest and most picturesque square, Piazza della Repubblica.  Coincidently the piazza I lived around in Orvieto had the same name.  This Florentine piazza held a brightly lit carousal that made the piazza come alive by adding a festive touch of juvenility. In this piazza the famous Florence Chocolate Festival was taking place, which only happens from February 10-19th.  I could not have been more excited for what seemed like a little slice of home.  There was every assortment of chocolate you could imagine.  There were booths filled with fountains, chocolate dipped fruit and nuts, chocolate shaped characters and tools and the most surprising - chocolate phones (i'm talking nokia AND the IPhone). It was almost dangerous. You could quite possible have found something for every family member imaginable, even that Aunt who only loves cats. We also discovered through the grape vine an American breakfast place called, The Diner.  Even though at this point it was only a short time since we'd been away from home, American coffee and eggs led us to shouts of joy.  In Italy there isn't much a breakfast other than a quick shot of espresso and pastry to go.  None of us ever got used to this. Even though the service was shoddy we didn't care one bit. 

One of the highlights of my quick trip to Firenze was running into my good friend who was studying abroad in Italy as well.  Her apartment was two doors down from the hostel we were all staying in, something that comes down to sheer luck!  Walking home after a night out I heard my name from a crowd passing us across the street.  She spotted me through the mass of more than ten of us.  I couldn't believe that before we were going to meet up the next day we almost literally ran into each other.  Having friend's input on a city is almost always more helpful than any guide book.  You could tell the city was changing her the way Orvieto was changing me.  

Florence is a city that I will always remember by it's unique coloring and refreshing adaptation of American culture.  In my own opinion, history aside of course, Florence trumps Rome any day. 

Here's a combination of my own and my friend's pictures.  I was mortified to find that I didn't have many photos of Florence from above!