The Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre (CHINK-weh-TAY-reh) was even better than expected!

Fabulous for the everyday tourist - breathtaking vistas at every turn - the cameras were working overtime! The value and service was also very good - I was worried it was a tourist trap but it is just a great place. 8 euro wine in the resturant (I think they make it on site as there was no label)

The trails are like an international meeting place - say hello in almost any language and you will likely get a reply. The first part of the trail starting at town 1 Riomaggorie is called the love trail (dell' Amore) and is easy - could be done in a wheel chair - but don't be fooled as this is the only one.

We stayed in town two, Manarola at Du Paulin apartments - a great choice but lots of steep inclines and steps!! Every step is worth it though because of the views.

We hiked from Manarola to town 5 in one day - the hardest 13 miles I ever walked! It took us seven hours (we stopped for lunch and fun along the way) (I know this distance does not count the verticle!). From Manarola to Cornigula is also easy until yo get to the base of Cornigula - 400 steps to the town. From there the trail starts to get a bit rough and steeper, with some part of the path verry narrow ( and not always a rail of any kind). It is worth every step because it winds through vineyards and olive groves of the most industrious farmers on the planet - some even use special unirail vehicles to tend their crops on the very steep terraced hillsides!

Vernazza is a great town with a fairly good beach and lots of little shop - everywhere has great gellato! (ice cream just does not describe it) From here the trail really gets smaller and steeper but the wonderful resort town of Monterosso al Mare is a great place to end up - with a bar for beer right at the end of the trail - tasted great".

From here we took the boat back and that was a treat as well. You can actually take the train or boat from every town to every other one. It was a bit disappointing to leave the Cinque Terre!

We had an extra day - no accommodations booked and everyone said go to Lucca. We breezed into the medieval town and found a great economy hotel right at the train station - Hotel Rex.

Lucca is a great place with so many piazzas (squares) and a wall around the entire old city. You can wak the ramparts on a great, wide trail. They also have great shops and resturants - we had dinner at Osteria da Rosolo at 55100 Luca - the owner speaks Engilsh, Spanish, French, Russian and Italian and is great at recommending what to have. the food, wine and service was excellent!!!.