Cinque Terre

On leaving Florence to go to Cinque Terre, we stopped over in Pisa, just to take pictures. Of course we were actually holding up that tower (or trying to push it down), it no longer stands. I am glad we stopped in Pisa, it was really fun to see the tower, it is so famous!
After leaving Pisa, we continued to Cinque Terre, which was gorgeous! This place is on the northern and western coast of Italy. Cinque Terre is a group of five small towns that are protected, as the is water surrounding them, as a national park, so there is no construction, and there are no big resorts. The beaches were rocky in four of the five towns, but in the fifth were coarse sand. The water though, was so clear and warm, and blue. It was a beautiful place to be. We stayed in the first town, Riomaggiore. The towns are all linked by trails, and it takes about 4 hours to walk between all five. The trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola only took 30 minutes, and was a beautiful walk along the tops of cliffs boarding the sea. This place was so relaxing, with swimming, hiking, and sitting on the beach, like a wonderful tropical island, we even rented kayaks. But it still felt like Italy. For example, there were lemon trees and vineyards. The people were very clearly Italian, and so were the food and markets. It was hot, but I loved Cinque Terre.