Video: Cinque Terre

I had heard nothing but great things about Cinque Terre (the sun, beaches, food, hiking) and was really looking forward to doing some good hiking, getting the heart rate up and a good sweat going after so much flat city walking. I am happy to report that I was not disappointed and of all the places that have been so abundantly praised Cinque Terre lived up.

I was very surprised to have met more Americans in my first 12hrs in Cinque Terre than I had in the rest of the previous 2 1/2 months combined. Not surprisingly most of them were study abroad students on a short trip from Florence before the year got started. I made the aquaintance of Anna and Claire and spent the next two days hiking around and exploring the area with them.

Cinque Terra consists of five small towns along the cost with houses built into the sheer cliff sides, and connected by great hiking trails as well as railroad. The hike from the first to last town was great and took just over 4 1/2hrs, the last section definately got the heart pumping and made me realize how much stamina I've lost since leaving CO. At the last town, Monterosso, we were greeted by a small but sandy (finally!) beach and wrapped up with some splashing in the cool water, before heading back to the hostel with pesto pasta in tow. Apparently Cinque Terre was the place that pesto was 'invented' and it's everywhere. I had the chance to try some strange, but tastey, pancake looking pasta with an amazing pesto sauce.

Photos: Cinque Terre