Cinque Terres

After a long day of trains, planes, and automobiles; we arrived in Montorosso. We did get a fleeting glance of the leaning tower of Pisa as we whipped past with our cheeks pressed up against the window of the train. Montorosso is one of five villages perched along the rocky coastline of the Italian Riviera known as Cinque Terres (Five Lands). Each of the quaint towns can be visited by bus, train, boat, or foot. Having done a lot of sitting around on the boat for two weeks, we figured the latter option would be most beneficial. We worked up quite a sweat in the 35 C heat clambering along the undulating paths between the villages. We were rewarded with a couple of swims, gelati, and a delicious lunch at an authentic Italian taverna. The wine and lemoncillo certainly did not qualify as performance-enhancing. We did the return journey by boat taking in the view of the villages from the water. The next couple of days were spent kayaking to one of the villages, doing the hike in the opposite direction (at a far less leisurely pace), and spending some time on the beach. With sore legs we ventured off in anticipation of some therapeutic wine consumption in Tuscany!