Get ready for a real culture shock
I thought I was prepared. I was not.
Leaving Florence was not easy. I got my last 1.20 E espresso at my favorite little local bar, knocking over locals with my increasingly huge pack and was on my way. The trains, also not the most simple. Thankfully there are young Italians literally waiting on the trains for lost tourist, there to bustle you over to validate your ticket, run back in a panic, and reseat you in a tram where there is no assigned seating. All for a lovely "donation" for a service you didn't really know you were asking for. So even being preyed upon, I still learned a lot on my way out to La Spezia. Rolling past Pisa, the entire territory starts to change. Mountains. Not the space or thunder kind I'm used to. Epic and breathtaking mountains to your right, vast open beaconing sea to your left.
Paradise is real
The first of the five towns making up the Cinque Terre. For day one, this is the only town I focused on and I'm glad I did.
Let's back up, when you get off the people sausage press aka, the train, you can go up and over the city, which of course I did. Or under the tunnel. Both are rewarding
Local art is everywhere
station_riomaggioreMural tunnel
Turning towards the harbor, you start to notice everyone's calves. These towns are literally carved into the mountain. The chiseling equally applicable to the townsfolk.
To the harbor!
heart_riomaggioreMore boats on land than sea today
Seeing how it is March, this little oasis is more in the in between stages between down season and a summer harbor oasis for Italians. I found the weather perfect for the trekking, cold for the sleeping, and a little too real for swimming. But, that's not to say local's don't. It was a bright and sunny day and as my air b&b host forcefully suggested, GO OUTSIDE. I climbed rocks. They tan on the rocks.
Welcome to the Cinque Terre beaches
beach_riomaggioreThis is the actual beach, these Italians are not messing around about getting to mess around
Now the last town has sand but honestly people were out on these rocks having a day of it.
I did more rock jumping which proved rewarding
work_riomaggioreGet a load of this work out. The seagull's were really buff too
looking_in_riomaggioreThank you wide angle lens
tied_riomaggioreTie me down here, I'm not leaving
And as the night sets in, the colors come out.
I went out on the break wall to get these next shots. It was slippery, loud, and probably pretty dangerous. Good thing two very drunk, 21'st birthday, American girls were in the there to slip on some rocks and provide entertainment. They very much wanted me to come have drinks with them, I very much wanted to stay to get these shots
sunset_riomaggioreSunsets in paradise
looking_out_riomaggioreI may have not been the most graceful getting to where I needed to be to grab this shot. But you can't tell in the photo.
paradise_riomaggioreEven with the pulse of the ocean breaking against the wall to my left, there was a stillness here watching the colors change
Zero editing or enhancements, just a lens, a cold Kit, and a perfect little Paradise.
Tomorrow is a day for hiking! So tonight was a night for the best pasta with fresh mussels. Happy, happy, so very happy.