Cinque Terre

During the winter its empty, but still nice to relax.

We arrived into Riomaggiore, one of five villages in the Cinque Terre, confronting overcasted weather the first day and doubts about the city meeting its expectations. In Lonely Planet, and according to people who have been, the Cinque Terre is suppose to be beautiful all year round. But with snow falling during the night from cold temperatures near the ocean, our ‘layout in the sun’ hopes were a big laugh. So instead, the trail between the five villages kept us busy, taking into consideration it was the ONLY thing to do. The weather permitted us to complete 3 out of the 5 villages, touching Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia, but missing out on Vernazzo and Monterosso. The next morning made up for everything with clear skies and beautiful weather.

I think Cinque Terre is a place you should see but only if you have time to spare. I think Cinque Terre would be charming had I not known about it and stumbled across it by accident… and, if it was sunny. There is really not much to do, not even a beach to sit out and play. The coast is rocks and cliffs, but beautiful. I bet in the summer it’s bustling. When we travelled there it was peaceful, almost a ghost town.

We stayed at a an aparmento that overlooked the entire village. When we arrived in the Riomaggiore we had no accomodations lined up so we consulted with a travel specialist when we walked through town. We were lucky to find a place to sleep because it was pretty late and dark. This Italian grandma walked us up a gazillion flight of stairs, opened up our apartmento and showed us the view. We were so tired at that point, we just said thank you.