Cinque Terre, Italia

Over the Labor Day weekend, some friends of mine from the squadron and I decided to take a weekend trip to Cinque Terre, Italy. The drive was only about four hours, so it was an easy trip. We parked the car in a town called La Spezia just to the south and took the train 10-15 minuets north to a town called Monterroso. Cinque Terre is made up of five (cinque is Italian for five) small towns/villages along the northeastern coast of Italy, which is very hilly and has some nice cliffs. Monterroso is the one farthest north, which is the town we spent most of our time in. You can actually hike between all five towns over the course of a day or two.

The second day we were there, we decided to hike from Monterroso to Vernazza which is the next town to the south. The hike took a few hours through the hills and vineyards along the way before we arrived. Vernazza is a smaller town packed into the hills around a small harbor which has a small pier to break the waves of the Med. The sun eventually came out and we were able to jump off the pier and enjoy the water for the afternoon before catching the train back north for dinner and an evening out on the town. The next day we spent at the beach again before heading home on Monday. As with many places in Europe, I would highly recommend Cinque Terre if you're in the area. It's a cool place to see and what you would picture Italy looking like.

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Cinque Terre