Cinque Terre: Monterosso, Manarola & Vernazza

Another trip on the blog today - and this time, it's the Italian Riviera! Otherwise known as Cinque Terre (The Five Villages),  where candy colored houses and beautiful views from the hills line this Ligurian coastline. This region is especially known for it's famous sauce, basil pesto as well as foccaccia bread.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site includes Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. I got to explore three of the five and that was just enough. Read on to learn a little more about this beautiful place:

Hiking

One thing I definitely recommend for this coast is to do a hiking tour of a few of the towns. I loved hiking through all the mountains (especially in Manarola) and the views were STUNNING! Plus since its a bit of a climb, you will definitely feel proud of all the calories you burned off to earn your next pasta binge later in the day. 

Beaches
The beaches here are so beautiful. Monterosso was my favorite (and also favorite town of all the ones I visited) because it seemed to have the most options of things to see, eat and do. You can sit on the cliffs and swim in the Mediterranean, tan by some cute & colorful umbrellas and even take a boat tour of all the towns if you want.

Pisa Pizza
Ok so I know this is not in Cinque Terre but I just had to include it since it was so good! On our way to Cinque Terre (I went twice so this was round two for me and round one for Mom) there was a train strike when traveling from Florence. My Mom and I were basically stuck at multiple stations for a whole day while trying to get there - it was awful. One of the places we stopped in was Pisa. Since we were hungry and wasn't sure how long we'd be stuck there for, we went to a place only a short walk away from the station and at first glance it seemed a little rough. However, their pizza menu was extensive - more options then I think I ever saw in the country! We settled on a sausage and walnut concoction and it tasted better than I thought! The nuttiness of the walnuts and the saltiness of the sausage mixed perfectly together.

Cuisine
The food here was a little hit & miss, definitely not my favorite compared to the other parts of Italy I've been to but still good! The highlights were definitely the walnut cream ravioli after our hiking day and the chicken dinner we had at Ristorante Ely our last night. Both were heavenly - especially the crispy potato medallions on the side of the chicken, yum!!

Overall, I loved the beautiful views of the towns but since there wasn't a whole lot to do, I recommend just staying a night.

Ciao!

The Hamptons of Florence: Fiesole

Last week I got the chance to get out of the city and go to the suburbs. This suburb in particular is considered the "Hamptons of Florence" and major names like the Medici family and Frank Lloyd Wright had houses here to enjoy the quaint & tranquil town of Fiesole. 

Fiesole is pronounced like "fee-ay-so-lay" and was the go to big city for Tuscany until Florence expanded and took over the title as we know it today.

Every year 12 boys used to be sent here from Rome to become monks in the monastery on the hill.

Its a great place to hike since there are so many hills and trails - it was so peaceful and quiet - I hardly ever heard a sound except for a bird singing every once in a while.

Here is the town square - where most of the restaurants are and a few historic shrines from when the Romans came through.

We found Frank Lloyd Wright's home on our hike - so crazy that out of all the people to have a home in Florence, it's him!

On one of the hills we trekked up - if you really look you can see the Duomo!

All the little olive trees to harvest for oil - yum!

Going up the hill to the monastery!

Here's the monastery!

It was a pretty quick trip but definitely worth the views and a great way to get out of the city for an afternoon. Next time, I'd love to bring a little snack & a book!


Ciao!