Day 7: Cinque Terre
This was basically our vacation from our vacation day. Here, we got our chance to explore the cinque terre. It basically means five lands and is made up of five places: Monterosso al mare, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, and Vernazza. Now, due to how exhausted I got during this day, we ended up skipping Corniglia. It's the only town not close to the beach and there's a lot of climbing to do. We told ourselves that we'd leave one place behind and Corniglia was that place.
Manarola & Monterosso al Mare
I joked to my mother that the Cinque Terre reminded me a lot of Puerto Rico when I was growing up (we lived there for a bit due to my father's job). Indeed, the houses on the mountains, fresh seafood, and blue-green sea gave me that old familiar feel. In Monterosso al Mare, we also got to see a lot of lemon trees. And for dessert, we got to try a cake made from the lemons grown there!
Vernazza & Riomaggiore
The other two villages we saw, Vernazza and Riomaggiore, were full of bright blue ocean and sandy beaches. You can easily get from one village to another by taking the train (which we did), taking a boat depending on weather, and if you're adventurous, you can hike up to the next village. We did that the first time around and it is a lot of climbing!