Italian Bread has bubbles

Well today was for sure our most tiring but fun day in Italy yet. We woke up at about 6:30 and got to the train station at 7. After a quick English muffin and orange juice from Mickey D's, we hopped on our train to the Cinque Terre. It was our first train ride but fortunately we had Jordan with us so he showed us the ropes. The trains go about 120 mph so we were flying. It was a great way to see some of the country around Florence. We had to change trains in La Spezia but that ain't no thang for pros like us. That train let us off at Riomaggiore which was the first village of the Cinque Terre. For those who don't know, Cinque Terre is a group of 5 villages on the coast of Italy that are linked together by a 7 mile trail. The coast is very mountainous so some of the villages are literally built on cliffs as you can see from the pictures. Also, there are vineyards on the mountain sides that they somehow farm. What we did today was hike the trail from the first village, Riomaggiore, to the last one, Monterosso. Tripp and I agree that it is one of the prettiest places we have ever been.

We started by meandering along the trail stopping every 10 feet it seemed like to take a picture of a new great view. Its hard to describe but the water was so clear and blue and the villages were so colorful and steep along the cliffs it seemed like they were painted on the mountainside. It was so neat because you could always see the water or a village or a vineyard. I'll just put some pictures so you can see for yourself.

The trail goes through the top arches with views out towards the sea. This part is called Via dell' Amore, the Italian Version of Lovers Lane. Inside people write on the walls different things, mostly couples. Jordan, Tripp, and I didnt have any lovers with us so we didn't hang around there too long.

This is a special request picture of the one and only Laura Miller. This is a view of the second village, Manarola, and is probably one of the best views of a whole village on the whole trail. You can see the water, the cliffs, the village, and the vineyard to the left. What a view!

This picture is of me and Tripp looking out from the trail. Yes we looked like twins with same backpack, same sunglasses, same haircut, white shirt, black shorts, and a watch, but who cares?

This is a picture from where we ate lunch. The restaurant was on the top of one of the mountains and looked out over a vineyard on the right side of the picture and straight out to the sea on the left side of the picture. I sure do hate to be out of the USA on the Fourth of July but I gotta admit, it doesn't get much better than this.

This is a picture of the fourth village, Vernazza. It was very cool because it had a beautiful port and also a little beach. There were tons of people just sitting around or laying out...very relaxed. This picture helps to show how high we were. We had hiked from all the way down there to this point so you could imagine it was a little intense. Definitely worth it though!

After the hike, we went down to the beach at the last village, Monterosso and sat on the beach and got in the water. It was nice to relax after the long hike. One funny thing was that they charge to use the bathroom or shower or use a changing room on the beach. They nickel and dime you for everything around here but in this case its euros which is more than a dollar.

As you can see, this place is beautiful. I wish I could put more pictures up but it kinda takes a while. I took 163 just there. Our train rides back were a little interesting. They were crowded with tons of people. One funny part about the train is that they go so fast and a lot of times they pass by each other. They are so close that it is really loud and sounds like the windows are hitting each other. One time we were all not paying attention and all of sudden there it goes and we all jump out of our seats. Even trains can be entertaining!

We are worn our from the long hike and the travel today but I would do it again tomorrow if I could because it was a blast. We can't wait to hear Dave tomorrow!!