Cinque Terre

This past weekend we took advantage of a clear weekend to take the kids out of school for a couple of days and head to Cinque Terre before the summer crowds descended.

First stop was Lucca. We’ve been spending time improving Audrey’s bike-riding skills so we decided to risk renting bikes and ride around the city walls. After about ten minutes of settling in she was totally self-sufficient.

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We had been to Lucca with Hayley in 2007 and it hadn’t changed at all (I wish I could say the same for us).

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After a loop of the city walls we headed into town for lunch before the rest of our drive.

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Polly even managed to find Miyazaki-themed bubble tea.

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Then it was back to the car for the rest of the drive. The first glimpses of the coast were pretty spectacular.

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As was the view from our apartment overlooking Riomaggiore.

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We dropped our bags and headed down into town to explore.

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We managed to grab a spot at a bar overlooking the water and watched the sunset as it set over the town.

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The next day I headed out early to get a coffee (with two companions temped by the promise of pastries).

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As the sun came up we could see it was going to be another stunning day.

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We had planned to tackle the hiking trail to the next town, but it was closed for maintenance so we got the train instead. We still got to enjoy a spectacular view.

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We got off in Manarola, which was just as picturesque as Riomaggiore.

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After walking around (and getting gelato) we headed back to the train to the next town - Corniglia.

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Corniglia sits on a hilltop up 382 stairs.

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But it was worth the climb.

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We grabbed lunch, made it back down the stairs and caught the train to Vernazza.

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The kids even managed a dip in the (cold!) water.

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After that we were exhausted so we headed back to the apartment.

The next day we walked around to explore the ‘beach’ in Riomaggiore.

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After experiencing the pebbles at Riomaggiore, we decided to get the ferry to the sandy beach at Monterosso.

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We spent a couple of hours on the sand, then grabbed gelato and headed back to Riomaggiore on the ferry.

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We arrived in time for another stunning sunset.

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The next day we packed up and headed home (managing to stop by a few chocolate shops on the way, of course).