Monterosso al Mare, beach of Cinque Terre

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Italian Riviera

This is the area of Italy along the Ligurian Sea, called the Five Lands, "Cinque Terre".
#1 Monterosso al Mare, #2 Vernazza, #3 Corniglia, #4 Manarola, and #5 Riomaggiore.
Picture this - tiny pastel towns, snuggled in ravines, against vineyard covered hills. Rocky harbors of sparkling clear blue-green water. And two content people lounging around the beach, the most crowded beach we have been to, but a beach none the less. The little restaurants are serving maybe the most delicious suppers we have had.
I debated whether or not to write about this area of Italy. It needs to be kept a secret. But I'm pretty sure this blog won't cause it to be spoiled.
The towns are old and had been isolated until the early 1900's, now there is a trail connecting the five. And of course the train, and highway on the other side of the hills. But to be here felt like we were in a different time. Cars are scarce, the towns are nothing more than villages, with narrow streets. Our days were full of sunshine and we have the sunburn to prove it. The sea was flat and calm, but we could imagine the waves breaking against the rocks and cliffs, on rough days.

We had arrived late at night on the train, and the next morning, we were treated to a glimpse of the sea from above the roof tops of the old town of Monterosso. We toured nothing. No museums, no guides, no schedules. I took hundreds of photos, we walked the trail between the towns, and napped in our rented beach "beds"! That's all. Perfect weekend. My photos don't do it justice...

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Photos

orange street
Monterosso

towards Vernazza
look way in the distance, it'll take us 2.5 hours to walk there

old giant
he is made of cement. Was built in the early 1900's to hold up a dance terrace for a villa

stripes
Church of St. John the Baptist, Carrara marble

giant
looming over the beach

old town
Piazza Garibaldi, this is Giuseppe. He is known for helping to unify Italy

dusk
to the west. reminds us a bit of Laguna Beach

morning
looking east

mechanics
Monterosso

Comments

[Yolanda Oglesby]

Wonderful Memories
Hello, I stumbled upon your webpage and pictures and wanted to say how much I enjoyed them. You got some fantastic shots. My husband and I were there second week of June and loved it. It was our second village visited. We figure will do one per trip! While I took tons of photos in Monterosso al Mare, you got some very different shots than I did and again, I enjoyed your pictures very much. Thank you for sharing!!!