Cinque Terre

We took a day trip from Florence to Cinque Terre, which is an area along the coast. It is often referred to as the Italian Riveria because of its beauty and climate. Five, little towns are built into the cliffs and a walking path high above the sea allows you to hike from one to the next. Although this tends to be a tourist spot, it was not on the day we visited. This was most likely due to the weather.
We had pouring rain, which then turned into a thunderstorm and bitter cold temperatures. The views were still beautiful, and I would love to go back and see it on a sunny day.
None of the little shops were open in the towns. I guess they didn’t think anyone would be crazy enough to be hiking in a thunderstorm. They underestimated the Thoma family! Luckily, a train connects all of the towns, so after hiking in the rain from town #2 (Manarola) to town #3 (Corniglia), we took the train back to the first town (Riomaggiore).