Four days ago, we were hiking through the Swiss Alps around Interlaken, where the temperature was in the upper 70s, a few of the mountains still had snow on their caps and we were treated to stunning views of the surrounding turquoise lakes.
Today, we did several hours of hiking with more beautiful views as we trekked through four towns along the Italian Riviera. That route: the Cinque Terre. The views, however, were different from those we saw while hiking through the Alps.
The temperature was in the 90s today and we saw mountains covered with all sorts of trees and flowers ... but no snow. Instead of seeing turquoise lakes, we saw the blue Ligurian Sea below us all day as we went from village to village.
A trail (and train) connect these five small villages along the coast, and the buildings in the Cinque Terre towns stand out because of their bright colors and because they are built right along the cliffs. Here are a few pictures:
View of Riomaggiore, the first town we visited along the Cinque Terre
We left our hostel in La Speiza around 10:30 a.m. and returned to the train station to buy a Cinque Terre pass, just 10 euros for the entire day. We took a train from La Speiza to the first town, Riomaggiore. It took less than 10 minutes to get from the station to Riomaggiore, and we were treated to incredible views as soon as we left the station and walked into the small town.
It was like an artist took out his paint brush and used as many colors as possible to decorate the edifices. It reminded me of walking through Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, where you see the houses painted in bright colors: oranges, pinks, yellows, greens, blues and more.
We walked around the town for a little while and then went to the marina to get a view of the small beach. 
Small beach at Riomaggiore
The trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola has been closed for quite some time because of damage from a landslide earlier this spring, so we could not hike to the next town. The narrow trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola looked like it would have been such a scenic route right along the coast, so it was disappointing not to be able to hike. Instead, we had to take the train. We decided to go to the last Cinque Terre town, Monterosso -- the northern most village of the five small towns.
Once we arrived in Monterosso, we went to the beach for about 45 minutes to swim. The water was much colder than I had imagined! We spent more time out of the water than in it.
A flat part of the trail once we reached the top
A man selling lemonade at the perfect spot along the trail ... about half-way up when everyone is thirsty!
Beach at Monterosso
Beach at Monterosso
After spending a little time at the beach, we decided to hike south from Monterosso to Vernazza. The 90-minute hike was challenging at times as we ascended a narrow trail that in some stretches was no more than 2 feet wide. The average width of the trail was about 3.5 feet and many times it was too narrow for two people to pass each other. It was an adventurous route!
Part of the trail as we ascended
The view on the way from Monterosso to Vernazza
View of Vernazza from the trail we hiked
Once we arrived in Vernazza, we went to a pizzeria for a late lunch. We found a place in the harbor and ordered some salad and pizza ... the perfect lunch after a hike and the ideal spot to cool down since we were both sweating so much.
Lunch!
After lunch, we returned to the trail to hike to the next town, Corniglia. It took a little more than an hour to reach Corniglia as we made our way back up while still having stunning views of the sea below us. The trail again was difficult and narrow at times as we ascended, but it was well worth it. We saw grapes growing in the vineyards as well as lemon trees.
One view we saw along the way to Corniglia
We spent just a little time in Corniglia and then decided to catch the train back to La Spezia since it was about 7 p.m. Before we left, however, we found time for some Italian gelato ... our second gelato stop of the day!
We came back to the hostel for about an hour and then went out for a late dinner at a seafood cooperative. The hostel staff told us that the fishermen catch everything at night and that their wives prepare it the next day to sell at the cooperative. There is always a line since it is such a popular place in town, and we had to wait about 25 minutes even though we didn't arrive until around 10 p.m. I had some pasta that had seafood mixed in, and it was tasty.
Tomorrow, we are off to Genoa. We will spend the afternoon and night there before heading for a town along the southern coast of France on Sunday. Monday, we will be in Barcelona!!!
Hasta luego,
Justin
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