Wish I Was There Tuesday

I have a serious travel bug at the moment...itching to go somewhere exotic and unknown. Some very exciting plans are afoot.... more on them soon! But for today, I'm going to revamp an old feature I used to run way back when... well, when I was also hard pressed for new and exciting material to post on here.

Today, we're in one of my favourite European destinations....Italy!

Back in 2008, on a walking holiday in Tuscany that I wrote about here, we did a day trip to the Liguria region. A bit of a long haul on two separate and very infrequent trains (we made the second one by a whisker!) but we were finally on the rugged coastline called the Cinque Terre ("The Five Lands" composed of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore). The hills above the villages are criss-crossed by a network of footpaths linking the villages and little dry-stone-walled vineyards.

Map found here

It was an incredibly hot day... the Italian Riveria in July is scorchio! The paths range from fairly easy going and smooth, to steep steps and rock-strewn. I found it a challenge to hike in parts and was grateful of my comfy, sturdy boots to negotiate some of the rougher paths. I was astounded to be overtaken in places by... ahem!...mature Italian ladies, tripping along in their flimsy high heeled, strappy sandals, not even breaking a sweat!

Superb views all the way....

Foccacia!

Feel free to join in with your very own WIWTT....