Italy - Part 1

In September we took 6 day trip to Italy.  It was so hard narrowing down where we actually wanted to go and what to do in those areas since there are SO many amazing areas of Italy!  We finally settled on going to the Cinque Terre area as well as Northern Tuscany and Pisa.  I think it was the perfect first Italian trip and we'll just have to go back to experience more of Italy!

It took us about 7 hours to get down to our apartment in Deiva Marina, but when you drive through Switzerland and landscapes like this...it's always a pleasant ride!

{Switzerland landscape}

We stayed in a really great apartment in the middle of the old town of Deiva Marina that had a little court yard with fruit trees and space for the kids to run around.  When we met up with the owner he had a little bag of fresh figs for us.

 Our first day in Cinque Terre (5 towns along the coast that have paths between them) we grabbed a breakfast of fresh focaccia and then took the train to Riomaggiore with a plan to hike to the next town, but when we arrived we learned that because of mudslides earlier in the year, the two hiking trails we wanted to take were closed.  So instead we decided to wander around a few of the towns, which was the perfect thing to do in Cinque Terre!

{Riomaggiore}

{gelato is a necessity...multiple times a day!}

{My sweet girl}

After taking it easy strolling through Riomaggiore we took the train back up to Monterosso, explored the town a little and then took a ferry past the other towns to Manarola.

{the beach at Monterosso}

{waiting for our ferry}

{Gray thought the water looked appealing so we had to hold on tight!}

{the town of Corniglia}

 When we got off the boat at Manarola and walked past the swimmers among the rocks, I knew that we were going to have to change our plans a bit and spend some time at the beach.  The turquoise water was calling my name!  We found a little restaurant overlooking the ocean with the most amazing views and delicious food!  It was the perfect end to our first day in Italy!

{the coast of Manarola}

{Manarola}