Italy #2

First of all I got my uni exam results today. No great surprises. Reasonably good marks for written stuff and average marks for oral. Oh well.....
Anyway, back to last week in Italy. On Sunday we (Ian, Louise, Ramiro, Maria and I)went to Cinque Terre. We went in a slowly trundling train to La Spezia and then worked our way back. Cinque Terre is a World Heritage Site and a National Park. It is a series of 5 higgledy piggledy and very cute villages clinging to the cliffs around the coast. For centuries the locals have eked out a living here, growing olives and grapes in the terraced and drystone walled vineyards. In fact, if the land wasn't worked it would quite literally slip into the sea.
There are walkways of varying lengths connecting each village. We just walked from Riomaggiore to Manarola. To do the whole walk takes about, I don't know exactly - about 12 hours. We might possibly have walked to one more village, but in fact the next walkway was closed due to a slip, and timewise what we did was just right. It was a beautiful walk, but I'm glad we didn't do it in the summer. I wouldn't want to be jostling for position on those paths! We were able to amble at our leisure and enjoy the views. The seat I am sitting on is a lovers' seat, and people bring along padlocks and lock them and throw the key into the sea. So I was probably supposed to be sitting there with someone, but never mind. I didn't have a padlock anyway!
I know that my photo of a sunset wouldn't necessarily win any prizes, but I think it's great - the sun setting over the Mediterranean! Stuff of dreams for me.
On Monday we slept in a bit and the trains were on strike and the local village shops and museums were shut, so we just pottered around really. Italy #3 will tell you about Tuesday in Pisa!