All of the villages are nestled in gorgeous terraced hills, some higher up and some right on the water. As soon as you arrive you feel like you've accidentally stumbled upon some fabulously kept secret. According to our tour guide that isn't the far from the truth because there weren't even roads to this part of the world until the 1970s. I'm fairly confident that you still can't make it to some of the villages via automobile, but I was pretty intoxicated on sea breeze, so don't quote me on that.
For those more ambitious types, you can do an all-day tour which takes you on a sweet hike through all 5 villages. However, given my past history of falling on even the flattest of surfaces, the fact that we were with precious Jakers and our lack of combined hiking experience (thanks for nothing Texas), we opted for a tour heavy on the being chaffeured and light on the actual physical exertion. The agenda for the day was to meet up with our tour driver in Florence, head over to the first village, take a short boat trip to a second village, walk on Lovers Lane, and then eat lunch in the third village. We skipped 2 of the villages because one was inaccessible due to a landslide last year (#mountainsidelivingproblems) and the largest of the villages isn't that much different from a regular European town per our driver. So the tour company skips it.
Thanks to the fact that we
Just stunning. Our first glimpse of the promiseland.
I can't remember which village this was but we were definitely appreciative of a little break from the drive for a moment.
Adorable family photo.
Anyone who's ever ridden in a car on impossibly narrow one way roads in the mountains (think the Road to Hana, if you have done that) can clearly imagine the excitement and suspense of our ride there. If you haven't ever done that just imagine having these thoughts in rapid succession for 30-45 minutes: Will this next sharp turn be our last? Will this game of car chicken work out in our favor? Who will take care of Lola? Should I have eaten that much for breakfast? Thankfully our tour driver was far more skilled in the art of sharp turns and navigation than we are. We arrived safely at stop #1, Corniglia (I think- sadly I didn't write this down), and the view was more than worth it.
Jake, Mama Mel & I at the entrance to the main alley way of Corniglia.
The gorgeous view at the end of the alleyway. Whoever said that a pot of gold was at the end of a rainbow didn't dream big enough. I'd take this over a pot of gold any day. (To be clear, I'm referring to the view of the water as opposed to our posteriors.)
It was cloudy at the time and you can still see how wonderful the water color is.
No wind machines were used in the making of this photograph.
I love the way cloudy days cast shadows over the hills. Makes some of them seem like they're glowing.
My super hetero husband.
Escape artist! P.S. this is the main alleyway I was referring to. Note how narrow it is.
After we took more than our fair share of pictures of the gorgeous view from Corniglia, we piled back in our tour bus to head to Manarola. (Editors note: I have tried for about 30 minutes to piece back together what order we went in on our tour and I'm still not sure I have it right. So if you catch where I'm off, I apologize. Have I ever mentioned you should be drinking while you read this blog? You probably should. I'll probably seem a lot more with it.) We were supposed to get to go on a boat ride in Manarola but due to the water being too rough, we didn't get to do that. As the photos below will evidence, I don't think our day fell short on beauty because of it.
Best coping mechanism for sharply winding roads: taking photos out the window. It's a fact of life. Also, all these terraced hills are used to grow grapes, lemons and olives. Man this caption is educational!
Cool church.
I love how colorful all the buildings are. It's like the Heights on steroids.
We are so good at assimilating.
Apparently they knew what they were talking about. That water looks a littttttle bit dicey. Gilligans Island part 2 could have happened.
After we spent some time moseying around Manarola, we purchased tickets to walk along the portion of the trail between Manarola & Riomaggiore which is referred to as Via Dell'Amore (Way of Love). This portion of the path is more non-hiker-friendly. It was every bit as breath-taking as you would imagine.
My staple tree pic.
Railroad carved in the hillside. I bet that's an awesome train ride.
Live action shot- I'm sure you were wondering what we looked like walking along the trail, right?
"I walked along a hillside cliff that dropped off into the ocean to get my lunch," is the new "I walked uphill in the snow 2 miles to school each day."
Lova & I on Lovers Way.
Upon arriving in Riomaggiore, our tour guide let us loose to choose a place to eat lunch and explore the town. Because we have incredibly American priorities, we headed straight to find a restaurant. Do not pass go, do not take photos. Good thing we didn't do the all day tour- I can only imagine what would have happened if our appetites had been amplified by about 10.
We selected a restaurant that I can't recall the name of. The owner of the restaurant was unimpressed with us from the moment we stepped onto his patio. I'm not sure if he didn't like our accents, the fact that we came baring a stroller or if our stomachs were loud enough to offend him. Regardless, we didn't help our cause when we proceeded to drop a fork and spill 1/4th of a bag of chocolate cheerios on the floor. Perhaps this guy had good instincts?
Our view during lunch. Well this and an Italian scowl.
That was the last time that fork was seen above the table.
Oh... there are more forks? Awesome. Let me have them all. Is he not the cutest little man ever?!
To wrap up our tour day, we explored the remainder of the town. We poked our heads in a few shops and just generally enjoyed the vibe. Melanie procured some adorable flats and the rest of us procured some beers. We sat outside and enjoyed people watching- both the locals and Jake getting his calf workout on by tirelessly running up and down a steep hill in the middle of the village.
KarMar? Is that you? Fancy meeting you here. (I think this was meant to show how steep the road Jake was running up and down on was... this pic definitely doesn't do it justice).
Ciao bella!
Sunset from the car window heading back in to Florence.
After we arrived home, we rested for a bit and set mon feces up with a babysitter so we could do an adults feast. For dinner we asked our concierge to recommend the best pasta shop and pizzeria he could think of. He sent us to Baldovino and I can't thank him enough. The atmosphere was completely perfect for a relaxing dinner. The wine, pasta, pizza and company were second to none. It was the cherry on top of a perfect Sunday (haaaa, do you see what I did there?!)
Ryno & yo in front of a pretty chapel.
Melanie & Jonathan in front of the same pretty chapel.
Beautimous shot down a side street near Baldovino.
Ryan & Jonathan toasting with their salsas en frescas (this was deemed the "bite of death" and ended in some sweating on their part- Melanie & I are indeeeeed lucky).
ooohhhh i love this place!!!! Take me there!! I think you are forgetting about our epic hiking experience circa 2010 up the side of Enchanted Rock! If that wasn't training, then I don't know what is.
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