Cinque Terre

Probably won't write too much...we'll let the pictures tell most of the story. But...
We went down to Italy for the Thanksgiving holiday - an easy flight with Ryan air, an experience with the Italian rail service and we were on the coast. We stayed at a little place in Riomaggiore - one of the bookends of the five cities. From there everything is an easy train ride or a hike punctuated with spectacular views and pleasant restraunts serving excellent seafood and wine.
We boarded the train our first morning and went up to Monterosso - it's the other bookend - and we hiked back from there. It rained quite a bit along the way, but the temperature was in the mid-60's and very pleasant (very different than Germany.) Before we caught the train, we met a woman who was planning on going on the same hike, but she was alone; she tagged along with us and took the pictures of the 2 of us together.

Most of the pictures are along the lower trail between Monterosso and Vernazza - that was the most difficult section of the trail; they weren't "rest breaks," they were "picture taking opportunities." The next couple of pictures are of Vernazza...we were going to go back there for dinner, but went to Monterosso instead.

The pictures don't show it quite as well, but it was rainy and a bit dark for most of the day...especially when it started to turn into night (see the last picture.)

We made it back to Riomaggiore a bit after dark with wet feet and a healthy appetite...You can probably guess that we used the train rather than walk back...