Cinque Terre with Mom

Last fall, I got to spend a wonderful long weekend exploring Cinque Terre with one of my favorite travel buddies in the world: my mom!

Though the Ligurian Coast is only a few hours train ride from Milan, this was only my second time visiting. Our base for the long weekend was in Monterosso al Mare, the northernmost of the five little towns, but honestly we would have been happy to stay in any. It’s easy to travel between them, and we were able to explore all five by train, by boat, and a ton of walking. We were lucky to have beautiful weather during our stay; one gray afternoon only made the colorful buildings stand out even more vividly!

One of the things that is so special about traveling together is that we’re typically awed by the same things. We stood alongside a stone wall for the longest time, admiring the way an artist had embedded ceramic fish into the cracks. We also fell absolutely in love with a shop selling flat ceramic houses, that when placed side-by-side created a cityscape.

Beyond the sightseeing, we, of course, loved all the eating. Liguria is well known for its incredible pesto, and we loved sampling bruschetta with different types of toppings. I don’t have a picture of our fine dining, but you can spot a little bit of it between my teeth in the first picture! (hahaha! Attractive, I know.)

Cinque Terre lent itself to exactly the type of travel we enjoy most: casual wandering, popping into tiny shops with local products, and sipping on an Aperol Spritz while overlooking the sea. It was the most wonderful weekend!