Corner La Trin: Cinque Terre

The first of the five villages of Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore, bounced into view. It was built on a cliff, and the colourful houses dotted the green land. The houses were very colourful. Reds, pinks, yellows, oranges, blues and greens. They were just like in the movies! So cute. I understood why Cinque Terre had been named as a world heritage site by UNESCO. The minivan curved along the cliffs and parked on the outskirts of Riomaggiore. We jumped out, and went to explore.

The village had a very casual feel, and it was just so easy to walk around. In one of the many stores along the sloped, cobbled main street, I bought an "I love Italia" jumper. It was rather cold. We headed down to the foot of the village. The view was just so pretty. The blue water splashing up onto the rocks and the salty sea breeze floating around. Mmmmm, so nice...

Walking along the cliff face to Manorola, the next village, I couldn't help but notice the exotic plants that grew on it. Cactuses, Flowers trees and shrubs all grew all along the face. The sea that smashed up against the rocks was a kind of aggressive beauty. Inhaling deeply, I smelled the salty and crisp air mixed with fragrances radiating off the flowers. So good...

Manorola was a village exactly like Riomaggiore. So colourful and cute. I could see people fishing off the rocks, and the smell off cooked fish seeped up into my nose. I was getting hungry, but lunch would have to wait till the next village, Vernazza. For now, the view was enough. It truly was spectatcular. I could imagine what it would be like to see dolphins click-clicking happily away as they splashed around in the water. Especially at sunset. Lovely...

Vernazza was a village that had just jumped out of a movie. People strolled around casually, enjoying the beautiful sea breeze, just living life. We headed to restaurant recommended by our guide. It was called il Capitano, or the captain. I ordered grilled seafood since we were in the famous fishing village of Italy, and we were all going to share gnocchi with pesto. Cinque Terre was famous for its pesto apart from seafood. I couldn't wait to try it.

So... Mmmmmm... Exquisite. Tasty. To die for. This food was just delicious and a culinary success. The fish had such lovely, woody flavor and the pesto sauce on the gnocchi was just bang on. The tour guide had recommended well. Really well..

The last village we went to, because Monterosso al Mare, the very last village was really far away, was Corniglia. It was a village famous for its yoghurt. The yoghurt shop was closed, so we went to look at the panoramic views. They were really pretty. I could make out Vernazza and Manorola in the distance. The hills that made up the Cinque Terre national park just teemed with bright greens. There were vineyards and olive groves too. The sea, the pure blue sea, was just so beautiful too..

Finally we were in Florence again. Cinque Terre, or The 5 Villages had been very different experience compared to duomos and museums in the past few weeks. It had been a really good day. Truly memorable.

Colorful houses on the cliff - Riomaggiore, the first village