"The Five Lands"

We awoke to a nosy, agitated French lady who we think was complaining about a phantom alarm she heard in the middle of the night. What a bitch.



After a breakfast of foccacia pizza, we went to the local deli to pick up some fresh prosciutto, salami, cheese, and baquettes to have for after our hike.

Unfortunately, the main hiking trail of the Cinque Terre between the main villages was closed due to mudslides from previous rainstorms.

However, the trail from the town of Levanto (just north of the CT villages) that we were staying in to Monterosso, the northernmost village, was still open. It would take us approximately 2.5 hours to complete the hiking, trekking along the cliffside high above the coast.



The thing I've found out about hiking is that the first 30 minutes will always be the hardest, and will almost certainly be all uphill. When I "hiked" the volcano down in Panama, despite almost all of the hike being uphill, once those first 30 minutes were over, your legs and your body had a chance to get the blood flowing and loosen up.



The same happened during our hike. There were times when I felt like keeling over, puking, and just outright dying for that first half hour, but after that Bryan and I dominated the trails.

The views were incredible as you might expect, and when we hit the summit of our hike, we were able to look out over all five of the villages at once.



We arrived in Monterosso and spent some time on the beach to regroup, and headed off to visit the remaining four villages.








All tucked into little nooks and crannies within the mountainside, the picturesque towns all have a different look and feel to them. Corniglia is perched atop a hill and the only town without direct water access. Vernazza and Manarola are centered around small marinas.







The last photo is of Vernazza, my favorite of the bunch. We grabbed a takeaway dinner and hung out on some large rocks down by the marina as the sun set and blasted the town with incredible color.



My one complaint with the Cinque Terre is that it is supposed to be a "secret," but after walking through mobs and mobs of people (fucking bastards), im not so sure its much of a hidden gem any longer.

One question I ask of myself after every place I visit is: Would I return? For Cinque Terre, I am not so sure. These people have lived a life of seclusion for a long time...yes tourism is great for the local economy, but its destroying the image that these towns are so well known for in my opinion, and like I said, I am not so sure I'd want to contribute to that.

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Location:Cinque Terre, Italy