Hiking the Cinque Terre

Wow. The Cinque Terre.

It was incredible. Of all the places we visited in Italy, I was most excited for our time in the Cinque Terre. It was even better than the photos on the internet and quickly became a trip highlight for us. We stayed at an Airbnb in Riomaggiore, and explored the surrounding towns: Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare.

A few of the hiking trails were closed, so we hiked from Corniglia to Monterosso al Mare (which is the longest stretch anyway). It basically took us all day to hike from town to town, ending in Monterosso. Cinque Terre National Park is THE prettiest hike I have ever done. You would hike, approach a town, hike through the town, and then see the town get smaller and smaller behind you as you walked towards the next one. It was such a cool experience. We had to stop at every new viewpoint because each view was so different and breathtaking. And each town was very unique with it's own quirks and arrangement along the cliffside. When we arrived in Monterosso we were pooped! My legs were literally shaking uncontrollably! haha. We had dinner, watched the sunset while eating gelato, and took a late train back to Riomaggiore. It was a long day, but SO MUCH FUN!

On our last day in Cinque Terre, we took a ferry to Manarola, explored the cliff-side town, and took lots of pictures, as you will see below. Later that evening we dressed up all fancy and had a really nice sunset dinner in Riomaggiore. The food was delicious and the sunset was incredible. It was the perfect way to end our time together in Italy! It was the quintessential bittersweet moment you always have while traveling.

I'm so grateful for the time Braden and I had together in Italy. We will never forget the new places we explored, the art we immersed ourselves in, and the memories we created. It was truly amazing. Again, we want to thank all of our family that made this possible, and who cared for William while we were away. We are so grateful. <3

And now....the picture dump! Feel free to look at as much or as little as you want. There's a lot.

Shot on Kodak Portra 400, rated at 200 ISO and scanned by TheFINDlab. Some digitals + iPhone as well.