The forth day of our trip in Italy was the last one we would spend in Cinque Terre, so in the morning we headed towards Riomaggiore where we would spend the night.

After we left our luggage, we took the train to visit Manarola. I fell in love with this lovely village, almost the same as I fell in love with Vernazza when we first got there.

Just near the harbor, there is a perfect place for swimming, with big rocks and with a blue clear water.

If you head towards the foot path to Manarola (which is for the moment closed), you will get to a Belvedere point, Punta Bonfiglio which offers you a breathtaking view over the village.

Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name “Manarola” is probably dialectical evolution of the Latin, “magna rota”. In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to “magna roea” which means “large wheel”, in reference to the mill wheel in the town.

There is a foot path between Manarola and Riomaggiore, the most famous one, called Via del Amore (Path of Love), but it is also closed due to the flooding from October 2011.

After about an hour of visiting Manarola we took the train back to Riomaggiore and relaxed until the evening on the beach, tanning and swimming.  The beach of Riomaggiore is only made of pebbles so it’s not the perfect place to relax with a cocktail in your had, but it will do just fine if you want to have a quick swim.

In the evening we had a walk around Riommaggiore, on the streets and in the harbor. A really must do is going up to the castle from where you will have a great view over the village.

So this was the trip to Cinque Terre. It’s an amassing place, I enjoyed every second of the trip. Each step I climbed, each glass of wine, each glance at the sea, each flower scent I smelled and each rock I stepped on. It’s the perfect place to just clear your mind of any problems you have, to forget about work, study, future plans. Waking up in the morning and walking in these villages just makes you forget about any annoying or sad thought you would have.

It’s hard to describe in words how Cinque Terre looks like or how it makes you feel, maybe the photos may offer a better picture. But actually, you can only understand what Cinque Terre is all about only if, on a summer day, you get off a train in one of these lovely villages, and you look around, feel the warm wind, hear the sound of the sea and see the beautiful colors surrounding you.