Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre was easily in my top two, so I have a lot of pictures. We were meeting Jamie and Megan in La Spezia but before they got there, Shane and I headed to a grocery store to stock our apartment. We had 15 minutes till the place closed, so Shane shoved a basket into my hands and instructed me to get the breakfast stuff and he’d do dinner. So there I was wandering around the grocery store trying to look at pictures to figure out what I’m buying. This box has a cow on it… it’s probably milk… Shane took one look in my basket and had to run back and make some corrections for me. “I forgot you’ve never shopped in Italy before.” Well YEAH! We met the girls and took the train to Corniglia . Corniglia is the smallest of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre. It’s also the only one that’s on down on the water. It sits 382 steps up a cliff. It was late when we got in, so the busses weren’t running anymore. Sweaty and tired we entered the village and were immediately charmed by its narrow, windy walkways, colorful shutters and laundry hanging out to dry. I’m in love with Corniglia. We also arrived on Good Friday and just in time to watch the town gather and follow a procession through the candlelit walkways. It definitely felt like we were guests in a small village rather than tourists.

This photo is so classic. Anywhere you go in Italy, just look up and there will be some old man or woman at the window, just checkin' stuff out.

Jamie, Shane and I got up at sunrise the next morning to go take pictures and explore the town. When everyone else was up, we took the train to Monterosa and dipped our feet in the Mediterranean. Then we hiked from Monterosa to Vernazza. The hike is GORGEOUS! (but a little crowded). Vernazza hasn’t changed in size or shape for the last 500 years! We went back to the apartment for Lunch and met up with Amy. We spent the remainder of the evening in Manarola.

I think this is the only picture we have of all six of us.

Killing time at the Train station. We had a lot of photoshoots at train stations to help pass the time.

We woke up easter morning to find little zip-lock bags of easter candy for everyone. Megan is such a sweetheart! We dressed quickly for church, loaded up our gear and walked down to the train station. We took a train to La Spezia and then a Taxi to help us find the Mormons. It was a neat experience to hear the gospel taught in Italian with Shane whispering sweet translations into our ears. The gospel is true no matter where you go.