Cinque What?

Since we had a long weekend in Florence (Monday is some sort of holiday here) we decided to spend on day and go to Cinque Terra. This place is raved about by everyone who has visited so I was excited to see what all the talk was about! We took a train (about 2 and a half hours) to get there, we have learned that this is one of our favorite ways to travel because you can arrive ten minutes before it departs and there is no hassle. The train ride there was definitely longer than expected. You could see around us the doubt on our friends faces about whether or not we had made a good decision about making the long journey or not.

Upon arrival in Cinque Terra my jaw dropped! I was stunned by how beautiful this coastal town was. Just a little background about the place, it is composed of 5 different towns that line the Mediterranean Sea. The cool thing about this place and probably one what it is most known for is the fact that you can hike from town to town in the edge of the mountainsides! OMG you cannot believe the stunning views you get while trekking from place to place.

Our first hike was I would say beginner but that sounds even too hard for it hahaha. It was more of a relaxing stroll from town to town total a mere 10 minutes. Breaking a sweat here was never an issue. After getting to the first town we were starving (obviously because of all the hard work we had just incurred). Cinque Terra’s claim to fame in the food division is pesto. After many trials while being abroad I have come to learn that pesto well just isn’t my thang. While everyone else opted in I opted out and for a more traditional meal of spaghetti a pomodoro. (It is amazing that while I would never order noodles with red sauce in the states here I would have to say its one of my favorites! Its just so simple but SO flavorful, you cannot even try to compare it to anything you have tried before back home)

Our next hike was from the town of Verranza to Monterosso. This was no “beginners” hike it was 2 hours long and you had to work for it the whole time pretty much. We started out with about a solid 30 minutes of stair master…oh yeah we were feeling the burn. Why I even put makeup on that morning who knows? It was interesting though it always amazes me how many people can hike in jeans?? Haha to each his own. We winded around the mountainside but always having a front row view of the ocean! I cannot possible put into words what a cool experience this was! After about an hour and a half (yes we beat the estimated time GO US!!!) we had made it to Monterosso. Once we got here we were soo excited to take a break and headed down to the beach! We got to napping and………WE MISSED OUR TRAIN. Man was this a catastrophe! So we ended up getting back later than expected to Florence but I have to say that nap on the ocean was worth it!!!