Italy Trip Day 1 - Cinque Terre

On Thursday evening before Good Friday, we packed up the car and drove out of Switzerland for a 8-day adventure through Italy. This is our last big hurrah before #2 arrives and we become officially immobile for awhile. The drive on Thursday took about 5 hours, winding through the Alps, and then along the Italian Riviera. After about 1 hour in the car, Mason began asking “Go back to Mason’s house?” I’m not sure that was a good omen for the trip.
The first stop on our tour is Cinque Terre. The name in Italian means literally 5 lands, and is named for the five small villages built into the rugged Mediterranean coastline. Vineyards and lemon groves line the mountains leading down to the villages, and the area is known for its great system of hiking trails between the villages.
We aren’t entirely certain what drew us (5-month pregnant wife and 2-year old) to a place known for hiking, but after spending the day here, we are very glad we came. The whole area is incredibly beautiful, with each of the five villages built into rocky cliffs. We lucked out on the weather today, with perfectly clear skies and temps in the low 70’s. We started out looking for an “easy hike” and ended up taking a 2-hour trail that was a bit more rugged than we were expecting. As we later learned while reading our guidebook, it was supposed to be one of the most difficult trails in the area. Whoops! Luckily for me, Mason still fits in his backpack, and Nicole is such a trooper and still intends to keep our marriage going. Actually, though, the views from the trail we took were incredible, and we were very happy we did it.
Mason was great today, which was a nice start to the trip. I think he only bothered Nicole a few times, when he keeps telling her, as he looks at her pregnant belly, “Mama so big! Mason so little.” He is a charmer!