The Fabulous Cinque Terre

5 coastal villages connected by a hiking trail... we got up bright and early to be on the trail by 7 am starting in the first village of Riomaggiore. It was pretty easy for the first hour, and then we faced an extremely large amount of stairs to get up to the third village of Corniglia. We assumed that we would not be going any higher...oh were we wrong. Up, up and more up... and then a steep descent to Vernazza. And then BACK up...all and all it took a little over 4 hours to reach Monterosso and the much needed beach! A little shopping and lots of time spent on our wonderful terrace with a bottle of wine and some books.