Cinque Terre and Pisa

We arrived to Cinque Terre around 4 by train and had to get on a bus to get to our hostel. As the bus winded all the way up the mountain we could see the breath taking views of cinque terre and knew we had chosen an amazing place to visit. We checked into our hostel and they have a free shuttle that takes you down the mountain to one of the 5 cities called Riomaggiore. We decided to explore the town that night and grab dinner because the only non reserved shuttle dropped us off at 6pm and picked us up at 9. When we got down to the town everything was so colorful. All the buildings and people were lit up. There was resturants upon restaurants and lots of shopping. Also, everyone spoke English because tourism had hit this place hard. (Thanks Rick Steve's) we decided on a bar that served pizza and was famous for its giant mojito bucket. It was a fun place with great music and we really enjoyed the mojito. As we were leaving we met some Australian guys who were staying in our hostel and had a drink with them. It was interesting to hear things from other countries perspectives especially how they view Americans. It makes me more aware and to be less ignorant when in different countries. 

The next morning we got up early to conquer all of cinque terre. We started in the same city as last night to grab breakfast. everyone in the place was American, Canadian, or British so the whole room was filled with English. To top it off we even saw a guy with a Virginia tech hat on!! After breakfast we headed to the farthest city on our list Monterosso. The train ended up being an hour late so we had a bit of a slow start. This city was known for its beaches because it had sand not just rocks like the other cities. We explored the beach and Debbie even went in for a swim! Many people were trying out the ocean even though the weather was not too favorable for swimming. After that we stopped at a nice cafe for lunch to try cinque Terres famous pesto. It was delicious but so much food! I have never had pesto so I was spoiled by having it in the city known for pesto. 

After that we decided to do the hike to Vernazza. It was the only hike trail open. We assumed it was just going to be long and far around the cliffs. Wow were we wrong. It was an intense hike! And to top it off we weren't even dressed to hike. I was in jeans, a cardigan, and wearing my diamond hoops. Meanwhile, people are in full hiking gear with walking sticks. The first 45 minutes was straight uphill that my legs were shaking when we finally reached the top. It was extremely hard but I was so proud of myself when we got to the end and got to see the most amazing views of cinque terre. After we got to the next city it began to pour and the hiking trail behind us got closed. We rewarded our hike with some refreshing mint gelato and tried to stay dry.  







Next we went to Corniglia. It was a beautiful city but you had a lot of stairs to walk up to see anything. Because of the rain not a lot of people were out but it was still cool to see all the beautiful scenery. By the time we got back to the train it was dark and we only had 2 hours until the bus was picking us up so we headed back to our original city. We had dinner in a bar (hamburger yum!) and watched the inter vs Roma game. It was great to watch the game with all the townies and feel apart of the culture. 

The last day we took a day trip to pisa to see the leaning tower of pisa. To get there we literally had to walk through the slums and it was very scary. But once there every tourist in sight was taking a picture with their hands holding up the tower. It was fun to get a picture and was a great way to end our fabulous weekend. Overall, it was nice to see such an amazing place and I look forward to going back to cinque terre in a less rainier season.



XOXO RIVA DIVA