The Cinque Terre coastline from the Mediterranean Sea

It's the first day of school after a 2-week term break, and I'm more excited than my son about going back to school! I love spending time with my son, but him going to school for six hours is a blessing for a mum with an infant at home. Hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more on the blog and catch up on that backlog of photos from three trips we took in the past few months!

Continuing on our European vacation last summer, the Cinque Terre is truly beautiful. Hiking between villages was no small feat, and visiting the towns allowed us to experience the uniqueness of each town. Viewing the five villages from the Mediterranean Sea is another way of appreciating the beauty of the Cinque Terre, and that was what we did on our third day in the region. We barely made it on the 10am ferry from Levanto to Portovenere (one of two services, the only one in the morning), and we must have been quite a sight: a 5-months pregnant woman running alongside a man carrying an almost 5-year-old boy to board an already crowded boat. The morning run was well worth the effort, and we could sit back and enjoy the boat ride which took 1 hour 45 minutes. The boat stops at each of the Cinque Terre villages, dropping off those who reached their destination and to pick up others who wished to continue on in their journey south. It was a lovely boat ride, and the Cinque Terre coastline was so pretty.

Approaching the northernmost village of the Cinque Terre, Monterosso al Mare:

The striking marks on the rockface of the promontory adjacent to the beaches at Monterosso:

The western section of Monterosso, where the train station and the beaches are:

The view north-westwards at the rocky part that separates the two main areas of Monterosso (click image for larger view):

The eastern section of Monterosso, where the clock tower, restaurants and shops are:

Vernazza, looking quite different when viewed from sea than when viewed from the hiking trail:

Corniglia, the village perched on top of a promontory:

A close-up view of Corniglia, taken with the afternoon sun during our return boat trip. This was the only village of the Cinque Terre that we didn't visit due to its higher altitude location:

Manarola and her colourful terraced houses on the rocks:

The famous Via dell'Amore (Lovers' Lane) hiking trail that joins Manarola with Riomaggiore:

The beauty of Riomaggiore is best viewed from the sea:

And then off we sped southwards towards the final destination of the boat ride - Portovenere. This is the view back towards the five villages of the Cinque Terre: