Cinque Terre area May 2010

Leaving Lucca, our next overnight stop was to be Monterosso al Mare in the Cinque Terre National Park. Yet there was time to make a short pit stop in Pisa. Even though I visited the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" in November 2009, I wanted my traveling companion, Sharon, to see this phenomenon. I mean, afterall, how many times do you get to see a leaning tower--truly leaning--like it could fall over any minute? My husband says he's totally okay just seeing a picture in a book. That doesn't work for me. After all the years of seeing photos of this Italian landmark, it is still incredibly impressive to view in person. Take time to visit all the buildings on the grounds as they all have something special to offer. The cathedral was especially worth a stop because of the many gorgeous paintings and stain glass windows. Both Sharon and I took millions (aka a lot!) of pictures of the beautiful art.

We arrived in Monterosso (one of the five villages of Cinque Terre http://www.lecinqueterre.org/eng/ along the Ligurian Sea) in the late afternoon. We stayed at La Poesia, http://www.lapoesia-cinqueterre.com/eng/index.htm a charming bed and breakfast in the older part of town. It was just slightly
difficult to find ...down one of the little side streets--but well worth it once we did. The rooms were rather small, (we stayed in the Clizia Room) but they were sweetly decorated and had lovely, sparkling clean bathrooms. The courtyard, where they served an incredible welcome snack with grapes, wine and a variety of cheeses as well as their gigantic fresh breakfast was a beautiful place to retreat and relax any time of day.
The courtyard had several trees filled with fresh sunny lemons hanging from the branches teasing us to pick them. Bright, colorful flower blossoms cascaded over the iron railing. Nicoletta, the owner (photo to right), was a remarkable hostess who made sure we had plenty to eat each morning.


Upon arrival to La Poesia, enjoying the courtyard while our hostess Nicoletta brought us wine, fruit and cheese. Note the adorable checkerboard painted flooring!



Monerosso beach at dusk....wow....I wish I were there right now!

Monterosso beach during the day...


Me and Sharon enjoy a drink under an umbrella on the beach...a perfect way to end another busy day of sight seeing.

There is a pathway (some sections
"easy" while others "difficult") between the five villages in the Cinque Terre National Park. One of the easier legs of the journey takes you through a rock tunnel to the portion of the trail, Via Dell' Amore, http://www.travelsignposts.com/Italy/sightseeing/cinque-terre-via-dell-amore where people from all over the world bring and attach locks to the rail, fence and any other lockable surface as a symbol of "locking their love" forever.
The villages in Cinque Terre are built into the cliffs overlooking the sea. The buildings in each of the villages appear to have been painted with soft radiant pastels as if they were individually touched by an artist's paintbrush. In fact, during our visit to Vernazza (photo above) we found an artist from South Africa painting the village from the waters edge. She was trying to capture the town as the late afternoon shadows softened the colors even more. We were awed by her work and watched for quite some time. Hopefully, we will come across her work on future travels as she was a very talented artist.


I love anything seafood... and this was one of my amazing Monterosso meals at the little restaurant, Ristorante Il Moretto, at the "Y" as you pass under the tunnel and enter old town. Delicious!


We were fortunate to be able to spend three nights in this welcoming little village. One day we hiked the path between the villages--as far as we could go. That's actually not saying much because several portions of the path were closed due to landslides so we were only able to hike between the first two villages. On our final day in Cinque Terre, the sun came out full force for a day trip via shuttle boat to Portovenere.

I couldn't resist this display of flowers and wooden boxes in Portovenere.

Wa..la...I'm in Portovenere, Italy!



A picture perfect setting from the Portovenere castle. We spent the afternoon in this sleepy seaside town exploring the hillside fortress and the shops in the village. And of course...there was always time for gelato!