August holiday with Dan!! Cinque Terre

This was the last part of our trip and probably the least fun. I think it was partly to do with just going too many places, or the heat, or the sheer number of people. Regardless, it wasn't that enjoyable. First, we drove out from the agriturismo we stayed at and went on our way to Cinque Terre. It was pretty easy to get to and not a lot of traffic, but once we got to the mountains, we saw the issue. We were staying in the third town, Vernazza. This town supposedly had a big parking lot which people could park at easily and there was a bus which goes to the town. When we got to the town, which was tough as it was, the parking lot was full. We had to turn around and go back somewhere, but we didn't know where. We called the lady who owned the room we were renting and she said there was nowhere else, really, and we must go to Levanto. Levanto was at the north side of the villages and close to Vernazza. When arriving at Levanto, we tried to look for a place to park. There was no free parking anywhere and there was no over 24 hours parking. Why would this town not let you park for more than one day, especially at the train station? Wouldn't they want to earn the money on people who would park there and take the train to Cinque Terre? After spending an hour or so looking for parking in this small town, we found the best idea was to park the car at the train station, then come back to Levanto the next day to renew our parking. By then, I was so frustrated and tired, I couldn't wait to take a nap.

The place we stayed at, whose name I don't' care to remember, was... ok. The room was extremely small, but we had a patio area to ourselves. We had a great view of Vernazza from where we were at, but outside of that, it wasn't that great of a place.

To me, Cinque Terre was a bit too hot with too many people. I think going there during May or October would've been by far better. The landscape is beautiful and there's a lot to see, but with so many tourists and it being so hot, it was difficult to enjoy the hiking and walking around the small towns. Perhaps another visit will do it better justice.