Portofino and the Cinque Terre

This last week has been pretty busy and I want to apologize for not putting up any new posts!  I had a friend from the United States who was in Italy come and stay with me for a few days, so we were busy enjoying the beach, shopping, and visiting different cities together.

Portofino

The first place we went and visited was Portofino.  Portofino, which is located a little more than a mile away from Santa Margherita used to be a small fishing town but is now where all the wealthy people come to vacation with their huge yachts, and I mean HUGE!!!

View of the Italian Riviera from Portofino

Not only are the yachts bigger in Portofino, but so are the ducks!

The next place we visited was the Cinque Terre, which is by far my favorite place in Italy.  The Cinque Terre, which literally means "Five Lands" in Italian is a group of five small villages (Monterosso, Vernazza, Comiglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore) that are located right on the Italian Riviera.  Most of the cities are built on steep hillsides, but over the centuries the people who live there have built terraces where they now cultivate grapes and olives to make their famous wine and olive oil (I had my fair share of wine when I was there).  

Terraced hillside in Monterosso

One of the things that makes the Cinque Terre so unique is that the area is all part of the Cinque Terre National Park, so no corporate development is allowed in this area.  Also since cars aren't able to get to the Cinque Terre from surrounding cities the main form of transportation to the cities is by train or boat.  Paths also connect all five of the cities and are very popular to tourists who want to hike from city to city.  If you ever get the chance to go to Italy I would definitely recommend going to the Cinque Terre!

View of the other four cities coastlines from the beach in Monterosso

While in the Cinque Terre, I stayed in Monterosso which is one of the bigger cities with the most beach access.  Me and my friend splurged and went to the paid beach one day and it was so worth it (another thing I would recommend doing).  The beach chairs they give you there are way better than the ones we have in the United States!

The newer part of Monterosso

We happened to be staying in Monterosso during the festival of San Giovanni Battista and were able to see the Bonfire 'San Giovanni Battista.  In different cities around the area children gather wood, which is then burned in the local fisherman's beach as a sign of purification.

I finished off my busy week by returning back to Santa Margherita and spending time with my wonderful cousins.  I would just like to point out the nice tan that I've been working on while I have been in Italy!