Cinque Terre & Pisa, Italy

Cinque Terre & Pisa

Wednesday, June 18

*More pictures at the bottom! 🙂

For the past decade, my dream has been to go to Italy and experience the culture, food, and history. At the top of the list was a place I had only seen on calendars and Microsoft screensavers: a hillside with brightly painted buildings overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. I learned it was called Cinque Terre (which I incorrectly pronounced as “Sink Tare-aye” for YEARS). Even then, I didn’t know that the Cinque Terre (correctly pronounced “Cheenk-way Tare-aye”) actually consisted of 5 small towns, each with their own little personalities.  When we started planning for this trip, Cinque Terre was at the top of my list. 

To be honest, we really didn’t research as much as we should’ve for this sprint across Europe. We had cities we wanted to see, and oftentimes we would Google what the most popular attractions were the night before or even on the train to the location. Even though I’d been dreaming of Italy for years, researching it sounded daunting, and because of that, I really didn’t. I didn’t want it to lose the magic I had created in my head.

So it wasn’t until a few days before we left for Europe that I learned that Cinque Terre was actually 5 towns and not just my hillside of colorful buildings. (Our lack of research did cause me stress, but figuring out a two-week trip through 5 countries paralyzed me. Planning meals and attractions in a foreign language when you haven’t been to the country is difficult. You don’t know what delays you might have. You want to have a plan but at the same time you want to have the flexibility to be spontaneous. I was so afraid we were greatly underprepared, but Jeffrey assured me that having AirBnbs, trains, and our most important attractions booked (The Colosseum, The Louvre) was enough.

I am so glad I listened to my “go with the flow” husband because our trip went perfectly, and he was so good at winging it and planning on the fly. I am grateful that he was decisive in the moment, because I am naturally not. This trip was a great opportunity for me to grow into being more spontaneous and go against my “must have a list for everything” self.

We woke up Wednesday morning at 6:00am and took the tram back to the train station. We then took 2 or 3 trains over the course of 2+ hours to get to the five cities. 

Our first stop was Monterosso. Monterosso was kind of like the lead singer in a band- the first you see, the one you want to be like, and the one you fawn over. (This was NOT the town with the colorful buildings I had been waiting for- that would be Manarola.) 

First, we paid the euro to use the bathroom before walking briefly through the town and up a hill to see a statue of a saint petting a dog overlooking the sea called San Francesco D’Assisi. We also saw a bunker on the side of the cliff, no doubt to protect the coastline during World War 2. 

There was a decent sized rocky beach overlooking turquoise waters with a small town with shops winding through tall colorful buildings. It was quite toasty this day. Our original plan was to spend about and hour and a half at each little town, but when I saw that crystal blue water and felt the sweat dripping down my lower back, I KNEW I needed a beach day more. So, we spent the 40 euros (grossss) for two beach chairs and an umbrella. We were in the third row, and ironically sat next to a family from Allentown, PA. The water was cold, but it felt so good, and it was SO salty. I could pick the salt out of my eyebrows after leaving the water.

We hung out on the beach for 3 hours before we decided we should probably go and see the other 4 towns. I was so grateful for the beach day though. I didn’t realize how much I needed the beach until I was enjoying it. 

After Monterosso, we went to Vernazza. It was a cute little fishing village (as they all are, but this one had more little boats), and walked around, watching people swim. I felt like I was walking through the movie Luca. This little town was cute, but we moved through it pretty quickly. 

After Vernazza was Corniglia, and it was ALL uphill. We hiked the 377 stairs (or so the rumor was) to the village at the top of the mountain that overlooked the water. The little town at the top had public water fountains, a small church, and felt the most local of them all. (We questioned a lot how the locals lived in such a town and got the resources they needed daily.)

We went back down the steps before heading to our next town, Manarola…with the colorful buildings!! We arrived in Manarola and immediately got some gelato. I tried Fig, and while it was good, I wouldn’t get it again. Jeff tried a vanilla with chocolate chips, and he really enjoyed it. 

After the refreshing treat, we hiked our way up to the overlook that looked out over the colorful buildings. I refrained from looking at it until I made it to the best vantage point. Along the way, there was a cactus growing on the side of the cliff that was blooming! (shown above)

After walking a bit further, we made it, and I turned around to see my colorful buildings!! I teared up a bit as the realization hit me- I had made it! I had crossed off my biggest bucket list item. It was surreal. 

After having my moment, we walked around and down to the water and joined some others swimming and cliff jumping. Jeff considered taking part in the cliff jumping, but knowing we had some big days ahead in other countries, he decided against it.

We walked around a small cliff and found a hidden and spiky little area to safely stash our things. The water was so salty and cool, and it felt AMAZING to jump in after walking through the previous towns. It was such a dreamy moment, swimming in my dream location, surrounded by the colorful buildings! 

After we were done swimming, we BOLTED to our last town- Riomaggiore. We only had 15 minutes to explore it before we needed to board our train and make our way over to the leaning tower of Pisa. 

While Manarola was known for the “colorful buildings,” Riomaggiore actually had brighter buildings! Manarola’s buildings had definitely either faded in the sun or been enhanced in photos, because Riomaggiore was significantly brighter. It was so beautiful. 

Once our 15 minutes were up, we went back to the train station, road it for an hour or so, and made it to Pisa! It was probably the most tourist-y area we were in. It had a different feel than the other “historic” places we had visited even though the number of tourists were probably fewer. There were many people trying to sell us things along the strip, and the number of people raising their hands to “hold up” the leaning tower (myself included, I won’t lie) was a lot. 

We viewed the tower, walked around a bit, and then rounded the corner for dinner. We, once again, had pizza (it was a cheap, safe option), however this was definitely the worst we had. It was oily and tasted more like a cheap, American pizza than the true Italian pizza with quality ingredients like we had had in Rome. 

After checking Pisa off the list, we took the 2 hour train ride back to Florence where we made our connection onto another very full tram and made our way back to our apartment. That was the only train I didn’t really enjoy on this entire trip. I was so tired and so ready for bed. By the time our heads hit the pillows, we had put in an 18 hour day and walked 9.4 miles. And that was after the total 35.8 miles we had put in the 4 previous days. 

Miles: 9.4 miles

Steps: 21,206 steps