Eurotrip: Cinque Terre

I am so glad we chose to visit the Cinque Terre for our last stop of the Eurotrip. Everyone I know who has visited this region of Italy raves about it, and now I know why. We had another long travel day, starting in Pompeii and stopping in Florence before ending in Riomaggiore. On the last leg, our train went through a dark tunnel with portions of rock cut out that gave us the most beautiful views of the ocean. When we stepped on to the platform, this was our view.

Angie and I were so happy!

We found our b&b at the top of the hill, got settled, took a trampoline stop (?!!), and then watched the sun set over the Cinque Terre. It was perfect!

The next morning we headed back down the hill to the harbor, before heading to the train station.

Seriously, is this real?!

This is part of the tunnel that connects the town to the station. The mosaics were so cool.

While at the train station, we decided to visit the town on the other side of the Cinque Terre and leave our backpacks there. It seemed that most of the towns looked really similar, and we didn't feel like trekking with our bags. The CT is known for hiking between each of the five villages, but some of the trails were closed and honestly we are pretty much over walking everywhere. So this solution worked great.

When we arrived in Monterosso, this was our view.

We dropped our bags at a laundry mat who offered left luggage services before wandering around the coast and through the town. Photo dump begins now.

It took us about three hours to wander, eat a leisurely lunch, and hang out on the beach. I think it would be amazing to actually hike from town to town, but that will be for another time. At this point, I am really happy with everything we saw. It was such a pretty place to close out the vacation-ish part of our journey.

I had one last mission before we stepped on the train: Italian gelato!

I'm not sure what has happened to me, but once we got to our destined gelato stop, I didn't want any. That means I have gone through days in Italy without any gelato at all. I'm not sure whether to be impressed or worried with myself.

We hopped on a direct train to Milan at 3:00, then another to the airport, then cabbed to our hotel. Holiday Inn Airport Express... luxury! Today we fly to Barcelona and then tomorrow I fly back to Dallas. I can't believe the trip is coming to an end. I should probably save those thoughts for another post. To be continued!