Cinque Terre

The view of Vernazza

That photo you've all seen on Pinterest of the colorful buildings by the sea? That's Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre means "five lands" and consists of five towns: Vernazza, Monterosso al Mare, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. It has been on my travel bucket list ever since I saw pictures of the iconic Cinque Terre view.
This weekend we were finally able to go after hours of failed and successful planning attempts (see previous post). There were 14 of us altogether and we stayed at a cheap hostel in Riomaggiore. It wasn't luxurious, but it was centrally located and we had a great view from our window.

On Saturday, we took a 6 am train to Monterosso. The train ride was three hours long, but we were able to rest on the train before our busy day. We got there, checked into our hostel, and began exploring Cinque Terre. We started off by exploring Vernazza, the most beautiful and popular town of the five. We found a beautiful rocky beach there, where we took our first dip in the Mediterranean. The warm water was amazingly blue, warm, and clear! It almost felt like home--except for the ancient, beautiful buildings surrounding me.
After that we took a two hour hike from Vernazza to the neighboring town Monterosso. It was a little difficult, but completely worth it. When we arrived in Monterosso, it had a completely different feel than Vernazza. There were crowded, sandy beaches and more resorts. We had dinner on the beach before returning to our hostel in Riomaggiore.
That night we trekked up to the guys' hostel (we booked our hostel together, but were put in separate rooms) with wine and crepes in hand and hung out on their porch. We ended up meeting other students from Canada, America, and Australia who were also studying abroad in Milan and staying at the same hostel. They joined us for wine that night under the stars. One of the great things about Cinque Terre was that since it's so touristy, there are Americans everywhere! Lots of people would hear us speaking English and talk to us and it was nice hearing English voices.
The next day we decided to take it easy and went back to the beach in Monterosso before taking our train back to Milan.

Cinque Terre was amazing not only for the beautiful views, weather, and beaches, but for the food. Cinque Terre is known for its pesto and focaccia, and both were delicious. I also had the BEST gelato I've had so far in Italy in Monterosso right before we left. I had the amaretto and cheesecake flavors and it was amazing.
This weekend was action-packed and so much fun. I still can't believe that I'm going to be living in this beautiful country for the next 3+ months. This first successful weekend trip made me excited for the many more to come. Here's a video summary of our trip to Cinque Terre.
ciao! noel