Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Cinque Terre: Monterosso - The Hike, part 3

* I'd suggest starting with The Hike, part 1!

Although we hadn't set out with a destination in mind, we decided to keep going up into the hills above the meadow in search of a good view of the sea.


Good bye, helpful steps


Hello, rocky path!


A door to...?


Treacherous footing ahead
(Can you spot Gus?)


 The payoff!
See that little brownish v-shaped spot in the center?
That's Monterosso with the sea just beyond.
We were a long way out, and we were maybe 1/2 way up the hill!


Gus on the way back down


A peaceful path

Cinque Terre: Monterosso - The Hike, part 2

* I'd suggest starting with The Hike, part 1!

As we continued our hike, we encountered pretty flower-filled meadows and stone walls




So many flowers!


 Lemon tree above the wall



:)


Enchanting archway beckoning us onward


Gus leading the way


An unexpected doorway


Looking back down the path


After hiking up these steps for a while, things became a little less...civilized. (To be continued!)


Cinque Terre: Monterosso - The Hike, part 1

Our second afternoon in Monterosso, after we pulled ourselves away from the beach, we started wandering up the streets of the Old Town. We found a path that looked inviting, and away we went!

The start of our journey








I like this photo. :) 


Closer look at the flowers and bridge 


We found a friend!

To be continued....

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Cinque Terre: Monterosso - Il Giardino Incantato

The B&B we stayed in is called Il Giardino Incantato, which means The Enchanted Garden.  The B&B has just 4 rooms.  The room was the nicest we'd had in Italy, but the two major perks to staying there were the breakfast (full breakfast made to order every morning) and the garden!

The garden is a small, private, walled garden directly across the street from the inn.  This is where breakfast was served every morning, and it was open to guests from early morning to midnight.  We spent a lot of time out there relaxing, reading, and enjoying the peace.  It has half a dozen lemon trees and an abundance of jasmine across the back wall.  It smells amazing!

No Vacancy
Good think we booked back in December!


The view from our room
The flowers in the foreground are in a planter on the windowsill
The stone wall directly across the street is one of the walls of the garden


Walking up the steps into the garden


This is the view directly ahead when you step into the garden
Note the lady sitting to the right of that tree. 
She's sitting at one of the breakfast tables


Tables for guests
Our assigned breakfast table was to the right.
One of our chairs is just visible on the right side of the picture.
This picture was taken from just inside the doorway.


More tables and flowers
Picture taken from behind the tables in the center of the previous picture


 View from the breakfast table!


View from the opposite corner of the garden


 Leaving the garden


Cinque Terre: Monterosso - The Coast

The coast line here is just so beautiful!

 Photo taken from the beach in New Town


Slightly different angle 


One of the many, many boats full of daytrippers
See the hotel up on the hills above the back end of the boat?
Just below it is a trail that leads from Monterosso to Vernazza.


This picture was taken on that trail just past the hotel in the evening


Old Town beach in the evening


Foggy coast

Cinque Terre: Monterosso - The Towns

I didn't take many pictures in Monterosso, for reasons unknown. Here's what I do have:


The view of Old Town from the hills to the east


The Old Town square
You can see a tiny bit of the train bridge on the right edge of the photo


New Town street


So many flowers!
New Town


The truck version of the Smart car? 


The view of the sea and promenade 
from the train station in New Town


This place makes the best focaccia I have ever had.
It's located beneath the train station in New Town.
Gus and I ate there 3 years ago, and I'd been pining for it ever since!


 Mmmmm...... 


Cinque Terre: Monterosso - Beach!

Monterosso is the western-most town in Cinque Terre, and it's where we stayed for our 4 nights.  We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and, after checking into our B&B, went to the beach in the New Town.  Monterosso is divided into the Old Town and the New Town, and they are connected by a tunnel.  Old Town has more restaurants, shops, and B&Bs.  New Town is more residential and modern.  We stayed in the Old Town.

The approach

Getting closer


We rented an umbrella and two beach chairs for a few hours
This was our view to the right


Gus swimming in the Mediterranean


 On Wednesday late morning, we headed down to the Old Town beach:

The bridge in this picture supports the train tracks.
Our B&B was about 2 blocks up from the beach.


 This is how we whiled away several hours:


 Not too shabby!