Visiting Pisa and Cinque Terre, Italy
I am unable to locate any photos of the farm for this week's blog post. Here are a few from our trip from lunch, to produce shopping to an amazing hike. What views! Since last Tuesday we have visited Rome for two nights and stayed in Tuscany at the walled town of San Gimignano for 3 nights. Attended a cooking class and took a wine tasting tour. Oh man, what a trip we are having!
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| Alex's lunch in Pisa, Italy. Fresh mozzarella and tomatoes drizzled with olive oil. Yum. |
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| After visiting Pisa and the leaning tower of, we found fresh produce for sale in Riomaggiore, Italy. Riomaggiore is one of the 5 villages of Cinque Terre, Italy. This area is a national park and a protected area. |
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| We shopped here for our two nights' stay. We were staying in an Airbnb with a kitchen. Fruit for snacking was a staple for us on this trip. |
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| Flowers everywhere. |
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| Another place to buy fruit and veggies. |
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| Riomaggiore is the most southern of the 5 villages of Cinque Terre. It has a small harbor and all lodging is up a steep ravine through the one street of the little town. |
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| The next day we took a local train to the northern most town of Cinque Terre, Monterosso al Mare. This town has the best beaches of the 5 villages. We hiked south from Monterosso to the next village of Vernazza. |
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| The previous photo was one of two beaches in Monterosso. This is the other beach. The water is so very clear. |
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| The beginning of the hike to Vernazza. |
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| Most of the hike is along the cliffs. Some of the trail is level and has fencing along the edges. The far right shows a bit of the trail. |
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| Here is another segment of the trail as Alex (in the lead), Bryan, and Angie head up through the terraced vineyards, olive groves and lemon groves. |
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| A vineyard on the left and Monterosso in the distance. We have made progress. Such blue water from up high! |
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| Looking ahead to Vernazza in the distance. We have a ways to go. |
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| The path here is narrow and a pretty good climb. |
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| And then it is back down the hill. You might be able to tell from our attire it is hot even though it is before noon. |
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| Beautiful terracing for their crops. The silvery trees are olives. |
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| More terraced vineyards. The lower left, dark green trees are probably oranges or lemon trees. The rocks in the terraces do not have mortar. They call it dry stacked terracing. |
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| Vernazza is in sight. It also has a small harbor. |
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| More terracing with a house built into the hillside. |
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Dropping down the hillside near Vernazza. Across the harbor in the light pink building is a gelato shop Angie and I found later.
What a beautiful hike! Hope you enjoyed it. |
