Moments before the engagement! Lisa didn’t realize at the time that it was our photographer taking this photo.
Our meat and cheese spread was amazing. The wedding planning was already beginning.
Our post engagement dinner. The view was really amazing from our table.
Lisa shot this while waiting in line at the restaurant. Views for days.
The view from the top patio at our AirBnb.
There are trails between the five towns in Cinque Terre. They go through local vineyards, olive orchards and national park. We hiked a couple of the segments. This is starting the first one, in between Monterroso al Mare and Vernazza.
Vineyards were everywhere along the trail
Monterroso al Mare from the start of the trail
Getting started on our first hike.
Monterroso in the distance. The trail was very vertical.
This vineyard was owned by our AirBnb host.
This segment (Monterroso to Vernazza) wasn’t crowded, but there were a lot of people on it. Most of the vineyards were fenced and gated to deter people.
Starting to see Vernazza in the distance.
Closer to Vernazza. This was after about an hour and a half of hiking.
This was a nice way to end our hike into Vernazza
Walking into town in Vernazza.
We took the train to Riomaggiore and planned to hike the trail from there to Manarola. Unfortunately that segment was closed, so we decided to hide the segment from Manarola to Corniglia. It was nice to see Riomaggiore though.
We had lunch in Vernazza. One of the local specialties is pesto. Neither of us are/were big fans of pesto, but this changed both of our minds! It was a lot lighter than pesto we’d typically get at home.
Another local specialty… anchovies. This dish is a Vernazza special called “Tegame di Vernazza.” It was ok, but I don’t think we’re dying to have anchovies again.
Lemon everything!
Starting the trail from Manarola to Corniglia. It was cool to see Manarola from a different vantage point.
This segment was a lot tougher than the first one we hiked. It was very vertical.
Another view from the back of Manarola at the start of the trail.
Manarola from the start of the trail.
Random sign remenants along the trail.
The vineyards are all carved into the sides of the mountains in a stepped layout.
There were abandoned stone “shacks” along the trail that were both creepy and cool.
Inside an abandoned structure
This trail was much less traveled. There were no fences and gates gaurding the vineyards here like the Monterroso-Vernazza segment.
The steps and climbing were never ending.
More steps…
Corniglia finally in the distance.
You can see the train station down below. The trains definitely made it easy to get between towns here. Much easier than hiking mountains.
The view from our table.
Our dinner was amazing. The view, the food, everything!
The restaurant is just below a medieval castle
Pasta with black truffles. This was our first time having black truffles. They were ok, but the cheese/pasta was really good.
The “catch of the day”
No dryers here! We were thankful to have a washing machine though.
