5 terre – the 2nd day

The next day we took a train from Levanto and started our journey through five villages – Corniglia, Manarola, Monterosso al Mare, Riomaggiore and Vernazza.

When you arrive in any of the villages, you get the feeling, that they almost stand on the last fingertip of land and that they will sink into the sea every moment now.

For centuries, the five small villages have been inaccessible by land due to the steep terrain. Each of them has something different to offer:

- Monterosso a famous beach, a monastery with some fine paintings and an ancient castle.

- Corniglia great views of the other towns

- Vernazza with crashing waves and the ramparts of a ruined medieval tower.

- Riomaggiore is famous for having numerous aquariums and towns vineyards

- Manarola, an authentic fishing village, is most probably the most genuine of them all. It may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338.

5 terre – beginning

Prolonged weekend was a great opportunity for a quick getaway from everyday haste. We spent wonderful weekend in the Ligurian most known area, Cinque terre.

We left the country on thursday very early and were able to avoid the traffic jam near all the biggest cities in Italy. Around Modena we had enough of the highway and decided to take a scenic road going from Reggio nell’Emillia towards la Spezia.  As it turned up, it was a good idea. The road took us through beautiful land, passing by small cities like Castellnovo ne’Monti,  Fivizzano and over two mountain passes.

Finally we stopped in Levanto, since it is near to Cinqueterre and offers a good connection by train. This town is situated on the coast at the end of a valley, thickly wooded with olive and pine trees. It has a long sandy beach, an old city center, many magnificent villas and some of Italy’s biggest waves.

To be continued.