In March of 2017, we started off the boys’ Spring Break 2017 get-away to Italy but our experiences continue to linger in my memories. On this trip, I was struck with the thought of how “old” is beautiful and valued in Italy. We seem to come across abundant reminders of this. I also love finding the sacred tucked away in unexpected places, how time seems to slow down, and the landscapes take my breath away.

 

 

As an added bonus, we find cats almost everywhere we go. =)

 

We spent a week traveling through Tuscany and Umbria. We flew into Pisa on March 31st, rented a car with full insurance (peace of mind) and took off for Cinque Terre. This beautiful coastline on the Italian Riviera is home to five villages and the Cinque Terre National Park. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visited three of the villages over the weekend…Manarola (where we stayed), Vernazza and Monterosso. Lovely!

 

 

 

 

On Saturday morning, we took the train to the village of Vernazza. After fueling up at a local cafe, we headed out on a two hour hike in the Cinque Terre National Park. Since it was opening day, we got an unexpected discount into the park. Score!

 

 

We passed vineyards and olive groves, crossed over streams and stone bridges, walked under canopies of trees and even by a cat sanctuary. We came upon a man selling freshly squeezed orange juice on the trail and stopped for a sample. We taught the boys phrases to encourage hikers coming in the opposite direction and smiled when they cheered others on. It was a fun hike and we were so proud of how well the boys did! I had picked this hike out (from Vernazza to Monterosso) during my research and it turned out to be a great fit for our family. We would definitely recommend it!

 

 

 

We incentivized the boys with the reward of playing in the ocean once we made it to the village of Monterosso. Shortly after we arrived, they were wading into the cold water and playing to their hearts content!

 

 

Mein Mann climbed up a nearby rock to take in the view. Can you see him up there?

We took the last ferry back to Manarola and found a great kids’ playground. Somehow the boys STILL had energy!!! They devoured their seafood dinner that night.

 

We had a steep walk out of Manarola and back to our parked car the following morning.

(This was a draft entry that I found and published to include it in our blog book even though its incomplete…)