On our first day of hiking, we followed Trail 2 (Sentiero Azzurro) from Monterosso to Vernazza and then on from Vernazza to Corniglia.  The blue trail is the most well-known trail in Cinque Terre, as it hugs the coast and provides the beautiful views of the five towns that the area is famous for.  The idea was to take a train back to Corniglia on our second day and pick up where we left off, hiking on to Manarola and Riomaggiore.  But both those sections of the trail were not just closed; they were “really closed” according to the daily …

Another slightly hidden stairwell on the opposite side of Vernazza’s main street pointed us towards Corniglia.  Overall this hike seemed slightly easier than Monterosso to Vernazza, although it started out tougher.  Yet again, this hike had many steep steps to get out of town and into the hills above, and the first half of the hour and a half hike was mainly uphill.  We found the trails on this stretch to have a lot of loose rocks so you have to watch your footing.  The second half of the hike – after reaching the highest point in Cinque Terre – …

After finally finding the start to Trail #2 (Sentiero Azzurro or Blue Trail) from Monterosso to Vernazza, we headed up the stone steps to start our hike.  Since the normal trailhead was closed, I’m not sure how far we hiked before joining up to the main trail.  I was nervous because we planned to purchase our hiking pass at the checkpoint and we seemed to walk a long time without coming across one.  I was concerned that the checkpoint was on the section of the trail that was closed and we would somehow get busted for hiking without a pass. …

Monterosso was our home base so we were able to explore it more in depth than the other towns.  We arrived at the Monterosso train station from Florence around 7pm.  The train station is in the new part of town and you can either take a taxi or walk to the old part of town where our hotel was.  We had been warned that there were only a handful of taxis in the town and that they should be reserved ahead of time.  Since we didn’t plan the exact train we would be taking in advance, we figured we would …

Cinque Terre is a series of five picturesque towns built into a 6 mile stretch of cliffs along the Italian Riviera.  Each town has its own distinct look and feel and they are connected by both trains and an awe-inspiring series of hiking trails.  From north to south, the cities are Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. We stayed in the northernmost town of Monterosso, which proved to be an excellent starting point for hiking between the towns.  We researched online and fell in love with the Hotel Villa Steno and chose the hotel more than the town …

We had only scheduled two tours ahead of time for this trip and a Tuscan wine tour was one of them.  We booked the Castle and Chianti Wine Tour with tour company Italy and Wine.  At almost $200 per person (160 Euro each), this was a bit of a splurge but we did not want to come to Italy without visiting Tuscany and touring some vineyards.  The tour was a full day, lasting from 9:30 to 5:00, and included transportation, lunch, and two (generous) tastings, so while expensive, it was not a bad deal by any means.  And it ended …

We took the train to Florence after a whirlwind day in Rome.  It was a quick and easy hour and a half trip.  We checked into the Hotel Porta Rossa a little before 5:30 and then set out to explore the city.  We wandered the narrow city streets and explored Ponte Vecchio before deciding to try to make it to the top of Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset. Ponte Vecchio is Florence’s iconic bridge – a pedestrian bridge across the Arno River known for the jewelry shops that line its sides.  The bridge as it is today was built in 1350 …

Rome!  Our bonus city on our trip to Italy.  We hadn’t originally planned to go here but the flights forced a change in our itinerary.  And boy were we glad they did!  What an amazing city.  Our time was way too short there and I’m already certain that we’ll go back one day. But first the back story on why our time was so short…  You may recall from my pre-trip report that we booked reward tickets way far in advance and I had to take the boys up to my parent’s house in NJ first.  So my flight to …