Cinque terre

Each day in Riomaggiore is a faithful reminder to be thankful for nature's gifts.

One of the 5 villages of Cinque Terre - a Unesco world heritage site & national park, we chose to stay here for the week as it was quieter than nearby Vernazza or Monterosso. Plus it was the ideal location to start our hike as it's the first village.

The houses painted in traditional bright colors form a pretty backdrop for the small but busy marina.

We stayed in a modest apartment but the view from our window won us over. Every morning, the waves woke me up... I'd jump out of bed, look out the window & smile to myself. Then we would eat our breakfast & glare at the early risers who dared to take our rock. OUR rock cos it was directly underneath our apartment which was built into the cliffs. Hmph.

Never mind, we soon realised there were plenty of other rocks hehe. We explored the village on the first day... i never climbed so many steps in my life... little did i know that over the next few days, my main physical activity would be stair-climbing.

With my best friend... who's on a world tour & just finished Bosnia, Slovenia & Croatia in the past 2 weeks! For the first time in our lives, she's darker than me :P

Of course, what's Italy without the food?? Seafood spaghetti... best i ever tasted.

We could order the most boring pasta - spaghetti with tomatoes - from the most run-down restaurant... take the first bite & sigh deeply with contentment. How do the Italians do that?

An ancient monastery... and a friendly old man who kept asking us to go in.. I was more fascinated by his beret than anything else.

Best-kept secret of Riomaggiore - a kind (or forgetful) soul left his Wifi unlocked so every single day, alot of us would sit outside his home & surf the net for free. We sat alongside cats & dogs & shared satisfied smiles.

Soaking up the sun on our rock while watching the sun cast diamonds on the gentle waves.

Time to cool our hot bodies!

I jumped in & the chill of the sea surprised me... as well as the depth. It looked shallow from the rocks but underneath was a totally different world of jagged rocks, algae, fishes, dead coral... even though i'm a strong swimmer, i was actually pretty scared.

Luckily there's always the beach.

Every time the sun went a little west, we'd follow it but eventually, we had to let it go home.

The heat got too much at times... but every evening, we were rewarded with spectacular sunsets & the smell of fresh pasta cooking in kitchens... Thank god we did the Blue Trail hike to compensate for everything we ate.. trail photos comin soon xx