An American in Paris

The forecast in Paris predicted rain all week, so looking at these pictures makes me want to go back to...

I said goodbye to Gina and Hallie and got on a train to meet my friends Vanessa and Malorie in La Spezia before heading to those five towns that I've heard so much about.

The balcony at our hostel in Riomaggiore

 On the first day we hiked through terraced vinyards up to a church that overlooked all five towns.

 On the second day we hiked to Manarola and then to Corniglia. The normal route to Corniglia was closed, however, so we ended up taking the long way, which involved a LOT of stairs. It was totally worth it though, because it was so beautiful.

The view of Corniglia from the beginning of the hike. Not pictured: the mountain to the right that we had to climb over to get to it.

 We had lunch when we got there and I had fantastic seafood risotto (tentacles included).

We spent the last night in Monterosso. Until then the weather hadn't been bad, but it hadn't been great either, but when we got there, the sun decided to make a full appearance. Perfect for the beach!

Monterosso was still recovering from the flood last year, and there was a lot of construction going on, but we still had fun wandering around the market, seeing the church, and climbing up to the cemetery perched on top of a hill in the middle of town.

Just as the architecture stood out to me in Greece, I really loved noticing the array of colors throughout the towns:

Now there's only one stop left on my spring break, so make sure you don't miss it!