"cinque terre" a Monterosso al Mare Travel Page by deedeechi

riomaggiore is hte tiniest of the five cities, but my favorite, it is a tiny harbor with tons of room for rent. once off the ttrain you will be met by mamas and papas offering the cheapest room for rent. we followed this women to her so-called-palace, and found that the place reeked of i dont even know if i can place the smell, and cobwebs the size of milwauke. she was so adorable though we could not refuse her or her "palace" and decided it couldnt hurt to stay the night.

we explored the charming town and the other four as well, just a minute train ride away. we had and amzing dinner, so yummy and decided after a couple drinks to head home. we entered to find that the women had rented half of our room to and older couple, ok , real weird, so we stayed out late. but all in all riomag is the cutest and most charismatic of the five, also the best view.

when you get to cinque terre, make sure to do the five city hike, you will have views of crumbling cliffs, terraced vineyards and dazzling turquiose waters. i am not gonna lie, it is a super intense hike, like 6 hours. all up hill and at times you feel like you are gonna fall of the edge of the earth the trail is so narrow, , but you will be motivated to finish because 80 year old mamas, are lapping you in their wool skirts, carrying buckets of grapes over their shoulders to the vineyards. wow, adn they do this daily.