Tour Day 6: Sunrise

I awoke before most of the others to shoot the sunrise.  I had scooped out a location along the waterfront when we arrived and knew exactly where I wanted to be at the first break of day.  The waves were even bigger than the previous day, splashing a good 50+ feet in the air.  I quickly set up my camera, used the shutter lock, and used the time for some mindful meditation, walking through the 5 senses and savoring the present moment and starting the day with prayer.  

While the colors of sunrise were not the most vibrant today, the other aspects were: the roaring of the waves that drowned out almost every other sound, the mist in the air from the waves hitting the cliffs, the light play on the billowy clouds, and looks of surprise when the early morning joggers were unexpectedly splashed followed by shared laughter between us.  I find these morning shoots to be some of my favorite travel memories and never regret getting up early for them.  

A quick jaunt back to Hotel Amici and we enjoyed breakfast together as people were heading out for the day to explore Cinque Terre as each wished.  We noticed 2 additional sections in the breakfast area labeled for other tour groups...all of which were not up, yet.  We all noted that they were missing the best hours to avoid crowds and were limiting their experience of this UNESCO site.  Not, us, though!  We were off to enjoy a day of exploration of the area and avoid the crowds of later in the day by having an earlier start.

I delved into the glories of steep cliffs with quintessentially colored ancient buildings perched perilously on them.  One of the images I hoped to capture when preparing for this trip came about in Manarola where you can walk to the far side of the harbor.  The boats were pulled in with their colorful colors, lining all off the streets near the harbor of this active fishing town.  I found it the most breathtaking of the 4 towns I explored (I passed on Riomaggiore as it is the steepest hike and time was limited).  

The crowds were thinner in Corniglia as the town is not on the waterfront.  Take the bus up to the town here to save your legs, which will likely be asking for a rest from hills at this point in the tour.  I heard the famous opera-singing flower seller, hiked up as far as I was able to see the town from above, then went onto Vernazza.  

In Vernazza, I had lunch with some of the couples on the trip, eating a dish that this area is known for: Tegame alla Vernazza, a sardine and tomato dish.  I cannot say I was a huge fan of sardines (I tried, Rick, I tried!), but was glad I made an attempt on this adventure.