2017 - Le Cinque Terre - The Five Lands

Having heard about Le Cinque Terre for years, I just had to go! From Lucca, it's only about 2.5 hours to Riomaggiore, one of the five lands. I picked Riomaggiore as I felt it was easy to get to, with the limited amount of time that I had. 

The following is a picture of the train station. We are looking towards the north, although the town is a bit to the south.

Turning around (looking south), I immediately saw this pathway...

... which appeared to be brand new. Little did I know what I was getting myself into!

Looking back towards the station, I noticed how the rock formations appear to be lying on their sides. Many years ago, they must have toppled over into the sea.

Notice the rubber barrier so you don't bonk your head!

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The ability of the trees to grow here is amazing.

The climb was not subtle. I'm 'huffin n puffin' at this point!

As in most places, tourists cannot resist placing a 'love lock'. I guess it's better than graffiti.

I get my first glimpse of the small harbor, below.

This is the point where I was about to collapse from the climb. Even my small duffel bag weighed a ton! After reaching this spot, I wandered around for about 30 minutes looking for my hotel. Google Maps has it listed incorrectly and I was actually within about 50 feet of it, when I was standing here!

As you travel down this 'main street', you come to the small harbor.

The rock formations are stunning. It also doesn't look too safe!

Still, I had to go up to see another view of Riomaggiore.

Braving the mosquitoes, I got several nice sunset photos. Here are two of my favorites.

The next morning, I watched the kids kick the soccer ball around in their 'play' area. This is the only flat space in town. Notice all of the kiddie bikes... 

A few final photos of the harbor area. The water was getting choppy and it looked like a storm was coming in. It actually rained as I was on the train back to Lucca.

This was a wonderful experience, well worth all of the climbing. By the way, there is a tunnel between the town and the train station. The total time to walk to the station is about 8 minutes. I found this out AFTER I climbed my way up to the city center on the pathway. Doh!