This week marked the first real springtime (more like summer) full week in Florence. After a horrible stormy and gloomy Monday, the sun came out bright and beautiful!
My company spent this Saturday on our first Cinque Terre trip of the season. I have a bright red triangle-shaped sunburn on my shoulder to prove it.
Cinque Terre is made up of five towns (literally means five lands): Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. There are a series of paths or hikes that visitors can take to travel from town to town and they vary in difficulty respectively. Unfortunately, just recently there have been mudslides in the area and the paths are currently closed until further notice; in hopes that most will be opened after Easter.
Here are some photos from my trip:
Via dell’Amore was the only open trail; it is more or less a sidewalk along the coastline. All along the way there are love locks and other trinkets locked up on just about everything.
I almost wished Lorenzo was there to share a smooch with me at this lookout point. Almost.
One of the things I love the most about living in Europe is the way people’s everyday lives are so visible to the passerby. In one of the most touristy towns in Italy, the residents wouldn’t think twice to hang their clean laundry in the fresh spring air. It is truly one of the most lovely sights to watch the clothes flutter against the bright colors of the old Italian houses.
Above photo taken in Manarola.
Due to the closed trails we spent the majority of our time in Vernazza, rumored to be the most beautiful of all the towns. I spent the day snapping photos (and getting a sunburn) while my fellow tour guides snoozed in the sunshine!
