Cinq Terre. Cinq Etoiles.

It's hard for words to describe how stunning this place is. From the imposing mountains, dropping off into the sea, to the tiny, gorgeous villages carved into the rock, the terraced vineyards, the more recent construction marvels (the train line that spends something like 90% of its time in tunnels, the roads, foot paths) - it's all quite breathtaking. We decided to jump on a ferry from our base (Portovenere) & head up to the 5 towns. This being italy, they scheduled something like 4 boats to arrive & leave at the same time. Chaos, shouting, but eventually everyone seemed to make it on the appropriate crafts.



Leaving the port, the first thing you see is the wonderful striped church with the fort (C.16th) further up the hill.



After 30 minutes of nausea inducing cruising (some of our party were affected) we came to the first of the 5 towns.



With only small natural harbours (our boat performed some exotic maneuvre to disgorge its passengers. Bad choice of words) its really quite amazing that the towns grew to be the size they are (or were, back in the day). The local inhabitants were really quite industrious. Nowadays, of course, the towns are prized for their character, location & downright cuteness.


After disembarking at the first town, we walked up the coastal path (the Via dell Amore). The local custom is to take a padlock & leave it one the path, locked to some convenient stanchion. I guess the hikers are locking their love - the kids spied one padlock with a pacifier...how cute! Its a terrific coastline. It being a Sunday, the local inhabitants were out in force, enjoying the sun & the sea. We even spied one couple taking the name of the path literally. Move on, children.



Quite a special place.