May 032017
 

This is another one of my new favourite places in the world; Vernazza, in Italy’s Cinque Terre. It’s a small village connected to the other villages in the area by hiking paths and the train tracks you can see in the bottom right of this photo.

vernazza with train tracks church and castle with view of ocean

Apr 222017
 

It was a fairly long walk from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare up and down along the Italian coastline. When I arrived the first thing I did was sit down in a small cafe above this beach to enjoy parma ham and cantaloupe with a big bottle of water. It was while eating there that I discovered that wasps are attracted to ham. This would be confirmed a couple days later as I tucked into the same lunch in a different location.

the beach at monterosso al mare with church and castle on hill and blue and wihte umbrellas and lounger chairs and bathers

Apr 172017
 

I had a lot of company while taking pictures in the small harbor of Vernazza. During the day the town feels a bit overrun by tourists, but then at night it seems to all shut down with only a few visitors actually staying in the town.

colourful small fishing boats in tiny harbour of vernazza with church and square in background cinque terre italy travel

Mar 212017
 

I took a lot of photos from the same spot on my first evening in Manarola. I was feeling pretty lazy and spent the evening on my hotel balcony. This was one of the last, just before it got too dark to keep taking pictures.

manarola at night with lights one view from la toretta hotel

 

Mar 192017
 

It’s  a steep climb up from Manarola on the path to Corniglia. Once you’re up on top though, it’s a fairly flat walk until you get just above Corniglia and start your descent. About half way down, I got this view of my destination.

corniglia with ocean in background cinque terre italy

Mar 082017
 

I was pretty relaxed upon arrival to Cinque Terre. I was sat on the couch on my balcony enjoying a complimentary bottle of champagne. Then, I was sent scrambling for my camera when I noticed the sun shining out from behind this cloud.

manarola sunset village and ocean cloud

Feb 282017
 

You can see a loaded ferry seemingly on a collision course with the rocks in this photo of Manarola’s harbor. What’s actually happening is people are boarding as the ferry is nosed up to the “ferry dock”. I put the ferry dock in quotes because it’s less a dock than a rocky coastline with a couple of cleats on it. The ferry noses up to it, and the crew roll out a gang plank for people to climb aboard as the boat pitches and rolls with the waves.

Manarola harbour with ferry at dock and village on hillside

Feb 202017
 

On my third day in the Cinque Terre, I decided to walk from Manarola to Corniglia. I knew that there would be some walking up involved as Corniglia is on top of the cliffs. I asked at my hotel where the path started and they pointed towards a steep flight of stairs heading up the hill. I asked if that was the extent of the walking up involved and he told me it flattened out at the top of the hill. What I didn’t realise is that you couldn’t really see the extent of the hill until you were at the top of that first set of stairs. It was far higher than I realised!

Still, the uphill walking resulted in a lot of photos as I needed an excuse to catch my breath.

manarola from above with approaching ferry

Jan 272017
 

On my first night in Manarola I was provided with a complimentary bottle of prosecco. I promptly plopped down on my balcony to enjoy it while the sun set. I took this photo just as the last light disappeared behind the horizon.

view of manarola from the hill at night