Cinque Terre

As a kind of breather in between Florence and Siena, we went to the Ligurian coast to the now famous Cinque Terre region.   These are five impossibly picturesque villages that cling to the mountains next to the sea.   I have a Michelin Green guide from the 1980's that gives a just very brief mention of the Cinque Terre region; today the five villages are a certified mass tourism destination, an  essential stop on the package tour of Italy, and the narrow little main streets resemble the corridors of the Uffizi, with tour groups from all over the world clogging the streets.  (I expected lots of Rick Steves-toting Americans, but not large tour groups from Japan.)  The five towns are not connected by road, but by a train line, built in 1874.  Riding the train is a bit like riding the subway at rush hour in New York!
But, like the Uffizi, if you make an effort, you can escape the crowds, and have a great time wondering the back streets. Or stairs, I should say, as the villages are perched on steep hillsides and rocks, and you go up and down stairs and alleys as you wander.  Everything is up and down.  The villages were constructed between the 12th and the 16th centuries, and are a testimony to the sheer ingenuity of the human constructive impulse.   It's hard to imagine how these villagers hauled the stones up to these impossibly inaccessible spots and created these little villages.  (Apparently they were defending themselves against pirates, among other things.)  And each village has its own little churches.

Postcard worthy views..

I can't help but mention that these pastel house colors are controlled by the local governments.

In addition to the villages, the rock formations and water are enticing.

The variety of structures within these towns is amazing; here's one sample.

Our second day, there was a big storm; huge waves and lots of wind, but no rain.

A 13th century church, with a window on the harbour.

A beautiful church in the town of Corniglia, where we stayed.

And you have to have drinks on a terrace watching the sunset!

In the train, on the way to Cinque Terre, we passed by Carrara and its quarries, the source of marble for Michelangelo and countless others since then. It's amazing to think that they have been getting stones from this mountain for more than 500 years.