In the hope that someday soon restrictions will be lifted and tourism will again become possible, I thought I’d share some pictures from my 2009 Italian vacation.

My wife wanted to visit Cinque Terre, a region I had never heard of before. She sold me on the idea of five isolated villages with no access roads. For centuries they could only be reached by boat (or, I presume, on foot). These days you can take a train, and I think there are roads that get you close enough to walk the rest of the way.

She wanted to hike from the northernmost village to the southernmost. Not a long trek, but on a hot July day with the temperature rising into the mid-thirties Celsius, it turned out to be a challenge. A lot of ups and downs over the 11 kilometre route.

Given the heat, I ran out of water before we got from our starting point, Monterosso, to the next village of Vernazza. However, I was able to pick up a litre of milk at the grocery store to fortify myself for the next portion of the hike.

It was a spectacular walk. I took lots of pictures. Today just a few, the view as we were coming down the hill into Vernazza.