Italy: Chapter 2: Cinque Terre

For our second day in Manarola we took a train to Monterrosso and hiked to Vernazza on the only part of the costal hiking trail that was open. It was busy but the sights, views, and tastes were worth it!

At the top of the hardest climb we stopped and enjoyed some fresh lemonade that the local lemon orchard was selling and enjoyed the view of Monterrosso:

We continued on to Vernazza

We passed many streams and waterfalls rushing from the mountains to the ocean:

And David got attacked by an alien life form:

Down into the village:

In the center of town there was  a huge rock face - through the tunnel - to a beach:

Vernazza is one of the few towns with a fort. Here's the view of the whole town from the top:

Back down the tower:

To the ferry back to Manarola:

 A beautiful sunset for our last day in Manarola:

After a diner of fresh sauteed anchovies, pasta, and tiramisu we went down to Manarola's small harbor for some night shots.

While we were there two little boys with plastic bags ran past us to the end of the dock. It looked like they were feeding bread to the fish. And then I realized that they were using the bread to catch the fish with their bare hands - lying flat on their bellies out over the water and quickly reaching in to pull out each fish!