I’m back from a short trip to Cinque Terre in Italy. We decided on it last minute, looking for sun and singsong accents, and I wasn’t disappointed. This is the perfect destination for breathtaking scenery lovers (and lovers themselves).

Cinque Terre comprises of 5 gorgeous villages along the Mediterranean coast: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore (don’t you feel the sun on your face just saying these names out loud?)

This first post is dedicated to the last two towns (Riomaggiore and Manarola) I visited on the first day. As you can see, it’s quite hilly here! These villages with colorful houses are built “on the rocks” in a land where vines and olive trees are cultivated.

I exchanged my run for walks on the top of the cliffs, which meant climbing hundreds of stairs, but it was worth it: the view was spectacular. There’s actually a pretty renown path, called “Via dell’Amore” (The lovers path) but I couldn’t go: it was closed to the public, due to stone falls this past winter (yups, there’s even a love crisis going on!).

That said, the other paths that connect the villages to one another are beautiful too. On these pictures, you get a glimpse of the path linking Manarola to Volastra, a high perched little village (after this intense climb up, I’ll admit, we came down by bus, which totally impressed two hikers we had seen on our way up, who wondered how we had managed to make it back down so quickly! “We have super powers, ya know!”).

Next stop, Monterrosso, Vernazza and Corniglia, please step away from the side of the platform! (English translation by Bleu Marine)