Straight From My Journal: Cinque Terre Trail

**This is another entry in the series "Straight From My Journal" where I pair my travel photography with the journal entry I wrote on that day.**

March 30, 2008
Cinque Terre, Italy

This morning we got up and out the door around 10:30 am and stopped for some pastries before hitting the Cinque Terre trail from our little town of Riomaggiore. It was simply a gorgeous view. We walked along a small rocky ledge along the cliffs of the Mediterranean Sea for hours. In each town we stopped and explored the town, taking pictures. Manarola was a quaint town with a short, easy walk to it. The next town, Corniglia was on top of a big hill and took a great deal of effort to vertically climb the winding trails to it. The fourth town, Vernazza, was charming and picturesque with a big bay and rocks to climb on. By then I didn't think my legs could take anymore, but we managed to walk another hour or more to Monterosso, the fifth city of the Cinque Terre. There were luscious lemon groves, olive trees, terraced farms, and stone farmhouses on this stretch of the trail. This is one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen. All in all we walked 12 miles today- practically a half marathon and on a few mountains no less! I am quite proud of us!