We have arrived at the special place! The beautiful Cinque Terre: 5 small villages dot the coastline each dressed in pastel. Pesto is the spice of this region and we couldn't seem to get enough of it. There is a hiking trail that connects each village and besides by train or boat, hiking is the only other way to get from one village to the next. The hiking trails range from 20 min to 1.5 hour hikes. We took 2 of the 1.5 hour hikes which put about 6.5 miles under our belts. There were a lot of stairs and steep ups and downs. We went from climbing mountains on bikes to climbing hills on foot. Our legs are beginning to become sore in all new places. Who knew Europe was so exhausting? With all that muscle soreness comes guilt free consumption of pesto, pizza, wine and gelato.

We stayed at Cecio in the village of Corniglia. Our room was located above a small restaurant "Ristorante Cecio". The room had a great view and the restaurant had excellent food. We ate dinner there both nights. It couldn't be more convenient. The staff was kind and the pesto was incredible.

We explored 4 of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre. All were similar but the village of Corniglia felt more local than the other villages. It was the only village that was not on the water and was a steep walk up so it kept a lot of tourists at bay. It was a nice place to retire to each of our 2 nights and if we return to Cinque Terre, we'd stay in Corniglia again.

Time to check out, hop on a train and head on to the next leg of our trip: Florence