Italy: Cinque Terre

I have to agree with Lizzie from Eat, Pray, Love that Italian is a beautiful language. What sounds like five in English, is gentle and musical in Italian - cinque, as it is village with terre.

Not only does this place sound beautiful, it is breath-taking indeed. Being declared as one of UNESCO heritage, the five villages (namely Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore) are small quaint fishing villages/towns that lay along the Liguarian coast of Italian Riviera. Over the years, it has emerged to top the list of vacation escapade.

From other Italian cities, you may take a train to Genoa and from there, you can easily get a train to La Spezia, which then connects you to all the five villages. If you are staying more than a day, or even for just a day-trip, do get the Cinque Terre Train Card. It costs €10 for 1 day card and you can hop onto trains and buses between La Spezia and the five villages to your heart's content (unlimited rides) for the entire day. You can also use that card to access to museums or walking paths of the villages.

Note that it is only valid till midnight of the day despite it says 24-hour validity and please do remember to validate your card before you hop onto the train!

According to an Italian friend, it is best to go around the villages by boat, foot (trekking. There are available trekking paths that connect all the five villages. However, due to a flood in 2009, some of the paths were destroyed. When we were there in March, they were still closed for tourists. Do check again before you plan to trek) or train. Private cars are not allowed to enter.

Our first stop was Monterosso. It wasn't the most impressive one - Monterosso is probably the most "commercialised" one as it has many resorts along the beach. As you can see from the photos, it wasn't our lucky day. It was rainy and gloomy for the entire day!

Arggghhh,....look at the clouds and misty sky -.- It would have been fabulous if it was super sunny instead.

Hubby and I like Vernazza and Manarola the most. We find that they are the most beautiful among the five. However, some would say Riomaggiore is the best. Anyway, the judge is yourself :)

There are a lot of restaurants in all the five villages. You will notice the menu and the price range are very similar. Needless to say, pasta and pizza is a must in Italy! Secondly, seafood is worth trying. Surprisingly, the menu has disclaimers stating that some dishes used frozen seafood instead of fresh seafood. I was expecting that fresh seafood should be abundant in a fishing village. Anyway, an applause to the Italians for being upright about it :) You can also get some local Italian snacks in a few small cafes located there.

For meat lovers, you should try some of the meat dishes there too and anticipate a pleasant surprise. Hubby and I did! The pork dish was absolutely yummy - especially when we were stranded in Manarola for hours in a rainy evening (one train service broke down and the schedule turned completely insane)! I can't remember the name of the restaurant. It was at Manarola train station - the restaurant right in front of the station's office/counter.

Right, do not miss the Italian gelato if you had missed it out in Rome, somehow! ;)

Cinque Terre is a must if you come to Italy or even if you love vacations by the beach. It was our last-minute-final-Europe trip before moving back to Asia. So, we didn't have the luxury of time but for you, who can make advanced plans, do remember to visit during summer and not during spring. Rain can be a spoiler.