Cinque Terre

Although this was just a day trip, no doubt it was one of the most memorable.  I mean these views were postcard worthy, but we were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day and plenty of time having left Firenze early this Wednesday morning when we had a day off of classes!

A 2 1/2 hour train took us to La Spezia, where from there we were able to travel separately to each of the five villages, hence the name Cinque Terre.  Ci sono Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, e Monterosso. Three out of the five hiking trails were closed for the day, and Vernazza was most recently ruined

Via dell'Amore which most literally means the "Way of Love.'  

This was the hiking trail between Riomaggiore and Manarola

 

The hiking trail is placed at one of the farthest spots of land. And at some points, you have to option to hike down to the water for awesome views or a rewarding swim.

 :)

 

Just some waves :)

 

 <-- Riomaggiore

 We randomly met this other American student who was waiting for his group to arrive, and offered to show us to a fantastic trattoria outside the main touristy area.  It was so yummy!

I was just happy to be sitting down and eating after hiking all over the place.  The simplicity of things haha

 Dana and Maria!

My very.....interesting seafood spaghetti.  But hey,
you can't not get seafood at a trattoria 2 minutes from to Sea.

  

Imagine this being your patio with this view at your disclosure EVERY day.  What a life. 

 Here is Manarola.  Another small little village.  Many people were skinny dipping and jumping off those high rocks.  I didn't do any of those, but I definitely can say that I have been swimming in the Adriatic Sea while making friends from other students on vacation who were studying in Turkey.

 I thought this was so Euro and so cute. Besides the fact that the kid was butt naked and the father was wearing just his underwear, they were living as if no one else is around, and I loved that

 I immediately thought of my grandparents road tripping in their RV when I saw all of them stacked up on the beach.  Livin' simple and free even in Monterosso!

Cute gelateria :)

 Us girlies chilin' in paradise

A tribute to my sissy <3

And this pretty much just sums the simple and stunning beauty of our Cinque Terre trip: