riviera di levante - the many splendors of cinque terra (page 1)

riviera di levante - the many splendors of cinque terra

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when i told people i was visiting the french and italian riviera they all told me to visit cinque terra. cinque terra (5 villages) is well worth a stop, and a couple of days, even in mid-december. apart from a very rare hailstorm (they get one maybe every five years or so), the weather was beautiful, albeit cold. I made base camp in the small (big, compared to the cinque terra towns) town of levanto. levanto is one train stop above the cinque terra, and the only town i could find with an open hotel. (december, of course, is not the height of tourist season, so most places are closed). i alighted from the train late one cold evening, and began trying to figure out where my hotel was located by staring stupidly at a sign-map by the trainstation. a nice italian guy and his girlfriend were kind enough to give me (and my large backpack) a lift to the hotel located almost 2 kilometers away from the train station.. without his help, it would have taken me hours of wandering around small twisty streets in the freezing cold. his kindness was typical of the italians i met who were some of the friendliest people i've had the pleasure of meeting.