Cinque Terre- Example of God's Artistry

We went to Cinque Terre this weekend. Cinque Terre is actually five towns on the coast of Italy along the Mediterranean. You can hike to each of them once you get to the first one or you can just take a 2 minute train ride through the mountains. I was completely unprepared for what I saw. It was breathtaking, The first village we went to was Maranola. This was the one that when we googled Cinque Terre most the pictures came up from. Once we got off the train we did not know where to go, but sooon found the most gorgeous walk ever. We had to pay 5 Euro to walk to Maranola, but it was worth it. The walk of love or something di amore was what the pathway was called. It wound along the mountains and the sea. All along the walkways there was steel hearts and wire. On these things couples would place locks to signify their unending love for each other. We were definitely in a honeymoon spot. The village of Maranola is like one big hill. You walk up the streets in the midst of tall vibrant buildings of red, yellow, and blue. Olive oils, postcards, and homemade jewelry all line the streets. I loved peeking into the different stairwells and seeing how they wound up into the buildings and different doorways. Everyone in Italy hangs their Laundry outside their windows and it was no different here so you can always see an ample supply of laundry. I dont think they use dryers. Probably better for the clothes anyways. We had not reserved a room because we thought we could find one when we got to Cinque Terre. False. Turns out this place is a hotspot and since the villages were so small we were only able to get a room for one night in a different town. The tourist lady was nice enough to let us leave our luggage with her, so we changed into our bathingsuits grabbed our purses and headed down towards the water. We ate at a little restaurant first by the sea. I had ravioli seabass. It was amazing. Carbs carbs everywhere. The bread they serve at every restaurant is straight from their bakeries. I am almost not even hungry for a meal after I am done eating the bread haha. After we finished eating we hopped down to go swimming. I have never been anywhere so beautiful. There was no sand, just rocks. The water was a beautiful blue I cannot even describe. Crystal clear. I looked up a word to describe the color and all I got was Mediteranean Blue. It is so beautiful it has its own color. The girls and I went rock jumping into the water. We would look up at the green mountains and the colorful city and marvel at where we were. "OMG can you believe this" "this is so unreal" and "I feel like I am in a dream" were all phrases that were repeated over and over. After we swam and took pictures we headed up for our luggage and on to the next town. This town was called Corniglia. We stepped off the train and all we saw was sea and road. Where was Corniglia? The answer: Up. A few tourists from Oklahoma grabbed us and showed us the way. We could not see a town but we could see stairs that led into a mass of green. I looked at my little rollaway suitcase and wished it was a backpack. This was not a problem for long. The guys showing us how to get to Corniglia were from Oklahoma and later on I found out were Christians so there was no way they were going to let me carry my suitcase up the 370 stairs (we looked it up). The other girls turned down the offers for the boys to carry their things, but not me. I was all about that haha. Turned out two of the guys had been traveling since February. They had been all over, and not just in Europe, Africa too. As soon as we breached the green we still could not see a town. So we kept walking, and then there we were. Possibly the most quaint, picturesque town I have ever seen. Corniglia is built into the mountains and once you reach the city there is no place for cars. There are stairs and that is it. The houses go straight up in Italian fashion and are very close together. I wondered how old the village was, I imagine really old. The Oklahomans told us that people in this village have lived up to 120 years old. The low stress environment plus all the stairs that force them to keep active makes them live a long time I guess. I loved how all the villagers just sat outside their doors. People were so kind and I really enjoyed seeing so many elderly people. The little kids were so cute. The old people took so much joy in the little ones. I hardly ever saw a child with their parent. They always seemed to surround the older folks. What a wonderful sense of community. The view of the ocean was wonderful, but i so enjoyed seeing a place where the people loved and cared for each other. They supported one another. They fought. I witnessed a coupe of fights actually that were pretty funny. Italians are so passionate. So much PDA and so much public fighting, but so much love :-) The last town we went to was Monterossa. This was a beach town and we had a blast laying on the sand until we were so sweaty we couldnt take it anymore.. then running into the water. Sooo many speedos were there. I am so glad that is not part of our culture. I for one prefer to have my Mom leave her top on at the beach and for my Dad to wear his swim trunks. But thats just me ha.. Now on to Florence :-)