Cinque (five) Terre (towns). A tough act to follow only being an hour south of our favourite place. Monterosso, the most northern town, was the place to stay. I read a post from Backpacking Battlers in 2012 and I wrote:

Got off the train at Monterosso and were greeted by the most spectacular views. My first thought was ‘definitely bringing my missus here one day’. You’d get unlimited brownie points if you took her there.

Apparently no unlimited brownie points (I asked).

Expectations can be a funny thing. From what I remember it to be and what Bec was hoping it would be, the amount of tourists and people hanging around made it somewhat underwhelming. Payment was required to enter the main, photographed, swimming area. In 2012, I cannot remember there even being a single person on the beach. Still a beautiful town nonetheless.

An early morning hike from Monterosso to Vernazza, the heat and humidity struck early, more so for one Idiot than the other. Shirts were drenched with sweat but the vistas remained impressive. A train from Vernazza to Riomaggiore due to landslides closing half the hiking trail (this was the case 10 years ago too). Sun baking in the port of Riomaggiore was a nice change from Manly Fairy Bower.

Limoncello spritz, visit to the laundromat (thank god) and living in the moment, watching the Italians be Italian was enough for us.