Cinque Terre, Italy, May, 2013

This is the beautiful village of Manarola, which is part of the Cinque Terre, five villages that are literally built on the cliffs along the Mediterranean Sea. We took the train from Pisa where we dropped the rental car to La Spezia and then from there to Manarola, where we spent the next three nights.  Coming through a very long mountain tunnel, the view was absolutely breathtaking of the light aqua colored sea as we came out of the tunnel.  We walked up a big long hill to our rooms with incredible views of the sea.

The villages of the Cinque Terre are all connected by trails and train by land and ferries by sea.  The ferries weren't running while we were there and most of the trails were closed due to weather and mudslides, but we still ventured out by train and saw all five villages.  They were very picturesque with amazing views.  

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took from my phone!

Sunset from our window in our room!

On Sunday, May 26, we caught the train to La Spezia and took a taxi from the train station to church.  It was in a business district and a very unlikely place for a church.  We had a hard time convincing the taxi driver that our church was somewhere in this neighborhood and then we saw the little sign on the building and we knew we were there!  We met American missionaries who translated for us.  It was a nice friendly branch.  There were 21 visitors including 12 Utah State kids who were in Italy for a semester abroad program.  One of the girls was the niece of some of our good friends from our ward at home!  Definitely a small world!

After church, we walked to the bus stop with the Utah State kids and rode the train with them back to Cinque Terre.  We had some sunshine that day, so we took advantage of it and had lunch in a cliffside restaurant in Riomaggiore overlooking the sea.  It was very relaxing and delicious.  

Putting locks on fences and gates is a big deal in Italy.  It symbolically locks your love!

Pet magnet no matter where we are!

Despite the rough seas and no ferries and limited trails, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cinque Terre.  We highly recommend it!  Next stop.....Florence!