The beautiful Cinque Terre...

Cinque Terre means the five lands. It is an area on the coast that consists of five fishing villages. Oh, this is a gorgeous area that is top on my list to return to with Rick.

You are not able to drive cars between the cities, you can ride the train or walk. The trails between the villages range from easy to very difficult. This trip we just did the easy ones, but next time I would like to take a few days to walk all the paths.

Our friends, Donald & Merle Davis visited Italy last Christmas. I think they stayed here for nearly a week, walking between all the villages (the hotels will transport your bags for you to the next village). I would love to spend a few days here with Rick.



One of the paths, between the villages is called the "Via Dell' Amore" which means the Path of Love. If this isn't the most romantic place in the world, I don't know what is. Oh, how I missed Rick on this part of the trip!

There is a path that is just lined with graffiti.

From the tunnels to the plants, the graffiti is everywhere you look.

It's actually grafitti that you don't mind though, it's what gives the place some character.

They are mostly love notes (from what I can tell). There is a little bench that Cinque Terre is famous for. It looks over the sea. Next to it are thousands of padlocks. Couples write their names on a padlock, attach it to the guard rail, and throw the key into the sea...symbolizing their love forever. Isn't that so romantic?

And here is a picture of me...alone in the 'love chair'.


The pathway is quite interesting at times, as it wraps around the cliffs.




I was the only one who ever wanted to climb the stairs down the cliffs to the sea. Oh, how I wanted to throw on my swimsuit and just lay there for hours and hours. Some day...

We rode the train through the mountains to get to most of the villages.



Here are some of my favorite pictures from this beautiful place...