European Honeymoon [7 of 9]: Cinque Terre, Italy (Part 1 - Riomaggiore)

Photography by Miguel Marino

Paused our European Honeymoon series over the summer, but now it's back with a few more destinations left! Cinque Terre, Italy is separated into two posts because there are just too many gorgeous photos of these charming towns. Part 1 is all in Riomaggiore, which is the quaint town where we stayed. Riomaggiore is the most southern village of the five towns (hence "Cinque"), and since we planned to hike the five towns, we were able to take the train to Monterosso and then hike all the way back (the hike through the rest of the towns will be Part 2!). Here are some notables about Riomaggiore:

1. Riomaggiore had these adorable, colorful homes stacked on the hill facing the Ligurian Sea. We watched the sunset while sitting on the rocks.
2. The restaurants in Riomaggiore seemed more "mom and pop." Pictured are snacks like a seafood cone, crepe with gelato, and arancini (fried cheese-filled risotto ball).
3. One of the days we were there, it rained so hard! We didn't want that to stop us from a hike we had planned, so we got ponchos and forged ahead! We spent hours hiking up the hills of Riomaggiore, which were pretty empty because of the weather. We stopped at a checkpoint for a bird's eye view over a fog-covered Riomaggiore, and then we kept ascending to wherever the path would take us, which led us through lots of cute homes tucked away in the hills. Even though our lower halves and feet were completely drenched, I'm glad the rain didn't stop us, but actually gave us quite an adventure!

Destinations before: Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Milan, Athens, and Santorini (Part 1 and Part 2). Next week: Cinque Terre, Italy (Part 2)!