Cinque Terre

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for the well wishes. We wish we could respond to everyone individually but that would cost way too many Euro's :) Internet cafe's make a killing here!

Here are some of our favourite pics from the Cinque Terre. We have tried to capture how beautiful it is, but I dont think the pictures do it justice.

Last night we went to a tiny restaurant that was down a little alley way. It was run by an old Italian man who later on in the night broke out the guitar and started playing and singing. Soon enough the guitar was being passed around the tiny restaurant and everyone was singing. There was another set of Canadians from PEI, an old couple from Louisiana (the old white haired lady was not too impressed but her husband was having the time of his life, smiling ear to ear), a couple of Austrians, and a large group of Swedes (which included a guy who had visited Calgary and knew of the "Red Mile". Small world! We danced and sang and laughed a tonne. It might have helped that Lance and I drank 2 litres of wine and then some beer. Whoops. I ended the night passed out by the hotel room toilet. To keep me company Lance read me stories from our travel guide book. Awwww so sweet. It was funny because I passed out and woke up a few minutes later (it felt like hours later) and he was reading stuff about William Wallace to me. I passed out again shortly thereafter. SO ROMANTIC for the night of one's engagement, eh? Okay, so that is my story of passion and young love....almost puking in the toilet and then sleeping there all night. Ahhhhhhh.

Today we hiked in between the villages and it was beautiful. However, I vow never to hike hungover again. Not fun. Anyway, enjoy the pictures. Our next stop tomorrow is Rome. We cant wait to see the sites but are not looking forward to the crowds.

This is a shot along the rocky coast between the villages of Corniglia and Manarola. The tide was high and the waves were large enough to produce rip curls. Beautiful!

This is the village of Riomaggiore. All of the buildings in each of the villages tower in between the nooks of the hills along the coast.
This was a shot of a display of beer and wine bottles outside of a little shop in Corniglia. If you click on the pick and look closely the bottles all have pictures of political figureheads and revolutionists from around the world. It looked as though some may have been political propaganda or something of the sorts at one time or another.
This is the picturesque village of Vernazza, where we are staying. This is the harbour and our room is just up the street tucked away in the buildings on the left. At the harbour of this town is where the action is. Locals and tourists fill the harbour and it's main street to eat, drink,swim, mingle and take in the beauty of the area.
Ahhhh. Drunk Amy showing her affection and taking in the atmosphere, food and music in one of Vernazza's eclectic restaurants.
All of the hills surrounding the villages here look similar to this. The mountains are covered in lush vegatation and offer places to grow grapes for some of the finest wine around. One of the villages "Corniglia" is most famous for it's wine and it is rumoured that a vase of it has been found in the remains at Pompeii. Amy and I have tested the wine here. We were told the white wine is the best and we agree that the wine here is like no other we have ever tasted, it is magnificent!

Another shot of the harbour in Vernazza.
And another.
This is the beach in Monterosso. It was big and Amy and I cooked under the sun and took a dip in the ocean to cool off. Unfortunately we could not hold out in the sun quite as long as the locals and we left in the middle of the afternoon for fear we may die of heat exhaustion. Here we are dying in the heat and the locals are so relaxed in it, they spark up a cigarette. Crazy.
Amy on her birthday at one of the restaurants in the harbour.
Some dude oggoling Amy.