Easter in Italy

Ok, so prepare yourself. Picture overload coming right up! For Easter I went to the Cinque Terre and Portovenere, Italy (northern along the Italian Riviera.) Italy is beautiful country with beautiful people. Everyone was extremely friendly there. Our first day we arrived around 3 pm and just explored the main town of La Spezia...

Our bed and breakfast in the hills of the medieval village of castè

Dark alley way in La Spezia... Oooh... (this is for my overly scared mom.)

Our second day we decided to walk into Riomaggiorie... which turned out to be more like a pretty intense hike. It took us 3 hours to finally make our way to the coast after not getting lost! But wandering around for a little bit. After Natasha said a couple of prayers we were joined by a little dog that we named Brutus (God sent?) who we decided to for some reason follow. Smart idea because he knew where he was going.

I spy with my little eye!!! (Hint: it's the Roman ruin arch/bridge)

Hiking from medieval village to another.

Italy's idea of a hiking trail map.

Where Brutus left us: view of Manoral (Cinque Terre)

From here we went into Riomaggiore and enjoyed some sun, coast, and people watching. Enjoy :)

Little do they know... that they're being watched too!

Crazies/hard cores. That water was freezing!

The two lovers...

Italians..

Not italians...

I think he's happy to be here.

After our little nap, we decided to do the most famous walk of the Cinque Terre called "Via dell'Amore."  It takes you along the coast from Riommagiore to Manarola.

Via dell'Amore

Via dell'Amore. It really was quite spectacular. 

Day #3. We took a train up to the furthest north village of Monterosso. Saw that, and then saw Vernazza. Vernazza was the most hard hit of the villages last October by a flood. It literally looked like a war zone.

Monterosso

This was for Easter. I believe it's Jesus's path. 

Thank goodness for happy colors amidst the gray gray skies!

Atlas lives.

After 4 only ok pizzas I decided to stray and get this Ligurian Classic. I was tastin that pesto for a whilllle.

Really creepy church. This belonged to the association of the dead? It said "mortis et orationis confraternitas" on the outside and all the decorations had skulls in them.

Classic Ligurian architecture.

Inside of a catholic church.

Somewhere in the Cinque Terre...

Vernazza

Poor Vernazza

Our last day there we woke up to craaazy rain. Little did we know that this would turn out to be the most beautiful day. We decided to leave the Cinque Terre and take a bus from La Spezia to Portovenere. If ever you get the chance to go to Italy, Portovenere is honestly worth seeing.

Portovenere

Happy to be here! (Real laughs came after the fake laugh to try and make them laugh for the photo. I think it was a success!!)