Vernazza and the Cinque Terre

All my flights to meet up with my parents went exactly as planned, and minus a small hitch where the hotel we made reservations at closed two weeks before we got there (like, bankrupt closed and completely shut down), everything was fantastic as the whole group met up!

My parents and I enjoyed an evening stroll and dinner in Parma (yes, the origin of REAL Parmesan cheese) before grabbing my brother Kyle and his girlfriend Kendra in the morning from the airport. We were on our way to the Cinque Terre!

We enjoyed a boat ride in to Vernazza, one of the 5 towns along the coast.

All the towns were picture perfect! Boating in took longer, but was well worth the time. Each of the towns we passed were gorgeous and way better than any of the pictures I've seen. By the time we pulled in, we were all excited to run around and check things out!

Vernazza in the evening!

First time I got to dip in to the Mediterranean Sea. Much more swimming followed!

What followed was days filled with hiking from town to town in the morning and afternoons, followed by swimming in the sea before happy hour and an amazing dinner every night.

We tried a different wine every night, then often hiked past the vineyard where the grapes were grown that next day.

The hikes were a ton of stairs up and down, and in the 90 degree heat, felt a little tougher than normal. It's okay- at night, we made sure to taste the local gelato. 

The Cinque Terre was incredible, and definitely one of the highlights of the trip. For sure. I liked staying in Vernazza, which was one of the smaller of the towns, yet big enough to still try new places to eat every night.

Pretty much a magical place. :)