Cinque Terre

How do I begin to describe the day I had yesterday. Absolutely amazing. I know that I will see many beautiful and breath-taking things while I'm here in Europe, but after yesterday I am feeling in awe of what I have already seen...it almost feels like enough to satisfy my desire to see new and beautiful places.

We left early in the morning to make it to the Cinque Terre, which is an area north of Florence, on the coast. It is comprised of five small villages that are built on the rocky coast of the Italian Riviera. Each of the villages are a few kilometers apart and are connected by train and footpaths. They are the quintessential villages of Italy: small clusters of pastel buildings overlooking the sea, with its blue-green water crashing against the rocky shores.

The first two villages, Riomaggiore and Manarola, are connected by a paved trail called "Via dell'amore", or Lover's Lane. It sprinkled a little bit as we were on the lane, but afterwards it cleared and became a perfect day, slightly cloudy so it wasn't too hot, nice breeze, perfect...

Next is Corniglia, which is built up a bit higher on a hill, looking as if one of the houses on the edge could break off into the ocean at any moment. We stopped to have lunch here, sitting on benches overlooking the ocean. We explored the streets and found a tiny little church that overlooked the town.

The fourth town is Vernazza, which may have been my favorite. It has a natural harbor, with lots of little, brightly-colored boats. We stopped for an espresso and then explored the streets and went inside a tiny, charming church, with a domed, stone roof and beautiful views of the ocean out the high windows.

The last and largest town is Monterosso del Mare, or Monterosso. Here we made our best discovery. There was a small castle-like building at one end of the main street, up a slight hill, and we followed the path there, passing little cafes that overlooked the ocean. It turned out that the castle was actually someone's private residence (my dream house, by the way!). But there were stone steps that continued up the practically vertical mountain. We kept climbing and found a little overlook where there was a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, overlooking the ocean, like everything else.
But the best was yet to come. Curious, we continued climbing, following small and seemingly-forgotten little paths. Farther up the hill was a small church, so beautiful and peaceful, with paintings and music playing inside. There was another set of stairs that continued up, and curious, we followed it.

It led to one of the coolest places I have ever been. At the very top of the hill, as high above the town as you could get, was an old, forgotten cemetery, but not a normal one. This place had crypts, with smooth marble fronts, stacked on top of one another, 10 high. There were also mausoleums of families, with small shrines and wrought-iron gates, some left open. Inside were graves of over a centuries worth of family members. Many of the graves were from the 1800s. The cemetery seemed to continue on forever, and we explored for quite awhile. The thing that made it so much better was the fact that we three girls were the only ones there. It was like a hidden treasure that we had discovered.

Being there, I found myself becoming a true traveler, having the desire and the curiousity to keep going, to constantly see something new, to always want to know what is around the next bend or behind the next door. I know that this is the attitude that will make my time here that much more amazing.

So, in conclusion, I highly recommend going to the Cinque Terre for anyone traveling to Italy. Even just a day is enough to see and appreciate the towns and their beautiful setting. And they are the types of places where you can make your own little discoveries, like I did!