We spent time in Riomaggiore and Monterosso al Mare before we arrived here in Manarola.

We made our way over to Manarola by way of the train and started to explore all the seaside trails where some of the more commonly seen pictures of Cinque Terre were taken. There were huge black rocks around where the sea met the land that people of all ages were picnicking on, sunbathing, lounging, everything that you could ever want to do on them. Christie and I immediately vowed to come back and do just the same thing.  Our train to Pisa the next day fairly early but we tried to figure out how to squeeze just a little more beach time into our agenda unsuccessfully. We worked our way up the cliff trail to some amazing views and found the most adorable al fresco restaurant which overlooked the town with live music. Being the broke girls that we are, after a number of photo ops we worked our way back into a local restaurant without a view, realizing that we would pay for the view before the food and drinks. We found a small place tucked away after our search for aperitivo did not prevail. We settled on a pasta dinner and some red wine. We had been unprepared for how much the sunbathing and trekking around would drain us.

the town of Manarola from the hiking trail 

in front of Manarola, thanks to the lovely couple who snapped this pic!

Heading out of Manarola we rushed to the train station as it was getting dark and late and we still had Corniglia to fit into our day. The climb from the train station at Corniglia was unreal. Stairs piled onto stairs piled onto stairs, which by the way was a little scary climbing as it got darker and darker. Upon finally reaching the small town we immediately wished for more time there. Tiny little alleyways leading to cute hostels and hotels, cafes, and gelaterias. We followed a winding path until we reached the most beautiful few of the moon on the terrace of a cafe overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. After our attempts at photos and strolling around with gelato we worked our way back down to the train station to take it back to La Spezia for the night. The town was pretty lively still after we arrived back but after walking back with some Peronis from a local shop we were worn out.

the black rocks by the sea that are just made for lounging 

The next morning we had to leave on the train fairly early to reach Pisa so we packed our things and never made it back out to those amazing black rocks but we grabbed a quick american breakfast at a local cafe instead.  I’m dying to find my way back to Cinque Terre and get my fill of these little towns. These days tourists are being limited to Cinque Terre to conserve the integrity of the area. While it’s sad for the rest of us its such an important step to preserving the area for the future generations to enjoy. What was your favorite thing about Cinque Terre? Do you think we missed anything important?