The Heights of Cinque Terre

Cinque terre, A large part of us selecting Pisa was its close proximity to Cinque Terre. This was a Must See for us in Italy. Known for its amazing oceanic views and vast hiking trails between the five small seaside towns. We were almost chased home by heavy rain and winds when we arrived, but we fired on our raincoats both days and headed up into the hills anyhow. As it turned out, our luck seems to have turned for the better.  Both days the storms broke and the sun burnt off most of the clouds by midday. We came prepared for the tourist friendly paths that followed the coast, but we're forced up high into the mountainside hiking trails to reach the next towns as the main paths were closed due to landslides. We were grateful, it was like our own private adventure. Across snail inhabited tired stone bridges(Sarah made a friend, eek), below outstretched branches of ancient trees, across vineyards and tiptoeing the outskirts of local patios. A very welcome change the elbow bumping of the tourist boulevards promoted in our pamphlet.The sights we saw and the perspectives we had of the towns were  unforgettable.  Not as unforgettable as a townsperson carrying a severed cow head in a clear freezer bag as we witnessed, but still, very unforgettable.We also came across some strange rails along the hillsides that almost looked like an irrigation system, but as we trekked on we later learned it was actually a trolly track for a  mini farm train. Crazy, this thing went down cliffs you would not want to shimmy down even on your butt. It basically looked like a rail mounted shopping cart! We finished off our final day in Pisa/cinque Terra with a seaside dinner as the ocean crashed against the beach below us. These towns were magnificent, the locals were friendly, what a way of life they have preserved. Next stops, Florence and Rome Pat and Sarah