A Climb to La Madonna de Montenero

As I mentioned earlier, there are many hiking routes between the Cinque Terre Villages, ranging in difficulty and length. If you go to the visitor's center near the train station, you can get a handy guide that outlines the numerous paths that you can take. One of the most recommended trails starts behind Riomaggiore and snakes its way up the hill to the sanctuary of Madonna de Montenero. The best part of this view is that you can see all the five villages of Cinque Terre.

We decided to do this hike on our first day, immediately after reaching Cinque Terre. The way up is an easy to moderate hike of about an hour. We started at the base of Riomaggiore, after stopping by a local grocer to grab sandwiches made of fresh baguette, prosciutto, and slices of cheese. Then, we walked up the main street until we reached the path from which the hike really begins. If you are at all confused about the way, just ask a local! From my experience, they were all friendly and knowledgeable.

The road turns into a tranquil trail that weaves between gardens and terraces with olive and grape vines.

The higher up we went, the denser the trees and brush, though there were still little farmhouses dotting the trail here and there. As we ascended, the other villages started coming into view in the hazy afternoon sunlight.

Finally we arrived at our destination, a peaceful sanctuary at the top of the mountain.

From this point, we could see all along the coastline, and we spent some time trying to spot and identify the other four villages.

It was such a beautiful place to see the sunset. We spent a while here before heading down, because we did not want to be making our way down the unlit paths after dark. I definitely recommend going on this hike. It's not too difficult, and the views are simply gorgeous.

Riomaggiore, the Queen of Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre is a chain of five coastal villages along the Italian Riviera. These beautiful gems, dotting terraced hillsides and rugged hills, are popular for hiking and vacationing. The entire area is designated as a UNESCO world heritage.

The villages are well preserved to reflect the traditional way of life. They each have only a few thousand residents, and are connected to each other by a coastal train route. Each village has a distinct character and unique layout.

Cinque Terre has many different hiking trails that link the different towns, both along the coast and in the mountains. They are at all levels of difficulty, and contain short hikes as well as day-long hikes. Sometimes the trails are closed off, so it is good to check with the local tourist information center.

We stayed in Riomaggiore, the southernmost of the five villages, next to the larger town of La Spezia. It was built in the thirteenth century.

Riomaggiore has one long main street called Via Colombo, with many alleys branching off to homes and wine terraces in the hillsides. It starts near the harbor and meanders up into the hills beyond. There are a few inns and shops owned by locals, though everything closed early in the evening. Like most traditional towns, internet access is limited and the streets are not conducive to anything but pedestrian traffic, but I think most people come here to retreat from the chaos of modern life.  

Each of the towns is stunning, with vivid and colorful buildings, surrounded by green mountains in the background and brilliant blue seas at the coast. I am especially partial to the village of Riomaggiore, perhaps because we stayed here for three nights. It's a good size - there are a few restaurants and two small grocers. The harbor at the bottom of the village is gorgeous both in the daytime and sunset.

We were lucky to be here in the off season, so there were only a few other tourists in the town, lending a peaceful and tranquil air to village life.

One early evening, after a day of hiking, we decided to go down to the wharf to enjoy the sunset. The sun rays striking the buildings at dusk is a really marvelous sight.

There was another visitor who bravely ventured out onto the rocks with a big camera and tripod to get some good shoots of the setting sun.

Right before the sun sank beneath the horizon, it gave off deep red and golden rays that burned the sky. Though it was rather chilly, we were content to sit on the stone steps of the wharf to watch this stunning display of nature.

Over our three days in Cinque Terre, we visited each of the five towns and tried out a few of the recommended hiking trails, so I'll be writing about those next!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa is a small town in central Italy, most renowned for its leaning tower, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many tourists just stop by for a few hours to snap a shot with the tower, before continuing on to other locales. We were in Pisa for a night and half a day, with just enough time to wander around the town and see the tower. 

It's a shame that most people don't spend more time in Pisa. It's a perfectly lovely place, with tall colorful buildings bordering lively streets. The area near the river that runs through the town is especially beautiful.

There was a bountiful open air fruit market off of the main street...

...and lots of little squares filled with colorful buildings.

The Leaning Tower is located in Cathedral Square. It was built in the 12th century, and started leaning over because of unstable ground on one side of its foundation. It has since been stabilized, and now is a major attraction and the background of many tourists' photos.

The tower itself is a little more than 50 meters tall. If you want to get to the top, you have to buy a ticket, but I think most people just want to get a few pictures of it from the ground.

From up close, the base doesn't look very tilted, but I'm sure that the slight angle of tilt really becomes magnified and more noticeable because the tower is so tall.

I had to take this requisite photo of holding up the tower. Walking around the square was really amusing because there are so many tourists trying to take unique and funny photos with the tower in the background. A lot of people were holding really awkward poses and laughing.

Pisa also has the oldest botanic gardens in Europe! I'm sure that one could spend a whole day here and look around, but unfortunately we had an early afternoon train to catch so we had to leave soon after visiting the tower. 

Orvieto, A Medieval Fortress

Another beautiful and memorable experience I had in Italy was a day trip to Orvieto, a medieval fortress built 1000 feet above ground upon a magnificent cliff in Southwestern Umbria. After we left Rome, we decided to wind our way up north to our final destination of Venice, and Orvieto was our first stop, about two hours out of Rome by train. The stunning views of the surrounding countryside and the idyllic cobbled pedestrian paths were the highlights of this stop for me. 

The train from Rome stops below the butte upon which the city lies. We had a nice pizza and focaccia lunch in a family restaurant near the station, and the friendly staff agreed to store our luggage behind the bar while we spent a few hours above in Orvieto. There is a funicular train that transports visitors up to the nearly impenetrable fortress for a few euros in about 10 minutes. 

Once you reach the top, there is a nice public park right next to the station with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. It was a misty, chilly day, and the gray weather seemed to enhance the lushness of the natural scenery.

Orvieto is easily walkable, and there are little alleyways and paths that traverse the town in all directions. Many of the streets are just for pedestrians and there are few cars. The main street has lots of shops and cafes, though most weren't open in the early afternoon when we were there, probably because it was the low season for tourism.

 

One of the main attractions in Orvieto is the bell tower in the middle of the town, called Toro del Moro. For a small fee, you can climb all the way up to the top (about 240 steps), and be rewarded with a 360 degree view.

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We were the only tourists there! After a short but strenuous hike up, we reached the roof and saw these breath-taking views, with the town sprawling out in front of us in all directions. 

After soaking in the beauty for a while, we climbed back down and continued exploring the rest of the town. We ventured off the main roads to get a glimpse of the hidden nooks and crannies of small town life.

There were barely any people around, tourists or locals, which made the whole town have a rather magical and mysterious vibe. Side streets led to ancient arched walkways and verdant garden courtyards.

Some of the alleys led us to seemingly private residences, but again no one was around. I felt like I was intruding on someone's domestic peace, but these picturesque facades were begging to be photographed!

Finally, we came to the end of town, on the other side of the butte. Again, we were greeted with the flat expanse of rolling patchwork land.

Umbria is at the heart of Italy, and it is the only region that neither borders the water nor a neighboring country. It is famous as a wine-producing region, so I imagine that some of these hills must have contained vineyards.

Here's a close-up of a stone farmhouse, and the twisting driveway that leads up to it, bordered by narrow evergreen trees.

It was time to turn around and head back through the town!

 

We made sure to loop back to see a famous 14th century cathedral. The beautiful facade has many detailed mosaics, sculptures, and base reliefs.

As we had come to expect now of Italian churches, the interior was equally as gorgeous as the exterior.

As the sun set, we took one last stroll around the park near the station of the funicular train. In the dusky light, the landscape looked more like a masterpiece painting than reality. 

After we rode the funicular train down, we went back to the family restaurant where our luggage was waiting. To thank the owners for helping us with our belongings, we ate another delicious meal there before catching a train to our next stop in Italy, Pisa.