We finally did it! We got married! Well, actually, we got married back in September, but I am just now finding time to sit down and write about it. The wedding story (and loads of pictures) will come later in a different blog post. For now, I’m going to jump right into our Cinque Terre honeymoon. Besides actually getting married, the honeymoon is the best part. Am I right, or am I right?
We chose September for wedding for 2 reasons. 1) Our anniversary was on September 7th, so it just made sense to us to keep that date for our wedding. Who wants to remember 2 anniversary dates? 2) September is a great time to vacation in the Cinque Terre in Italy. The crowds are thinning out, but the days are still warm and sunny.
The Cinque Terre is a national park on the rugged western coast of Italy consisting of 5 towns connected by hiking trails, a ferry boat, and a train. Each little town has its own personality, but they all have beautiful colorful houses stacked on top of each other, extremely steep roads (no need for gyms here), vineyards clinging to terraces, and cute little fishing boats. And, did I mention the food? Fresh seafood straight from the Ligurian Sea, creamy pesto, wine from one of the many local vineyards, and, of course, gelato. Every time I got stressed about wedding planning, I would day dream about sitting on a balcony overlooking the sea at sunset with a bottle of wine, a bowl of olives, and my new hubby.
Finally, the day came. We were off to Italy on our honeymoon!
We got married in Tampa Bay, but Tampa doesn’t necessary have the best options for overseas flights. You will almost always have a layover (or 2 or 3), and the flights are generally more expensive. So, we chose to drive down to Miami and take a direct flight to Milan. I barely remember the 4 hour drive to Miami or the 9 hour flight to Milan. I was exhausted from the sleepless nights leading up to the wedding, and I was overly excited about the honeymoon.
Once we arrived in Milan, our journey was far from over. First we took a train from the airport to the Milan train station. Then, we took a high speed train from Milan to La Spezia. Then we took a regional train from La Spezia to Manarola. All that on very little sleep! So please be kind and don’t judge the huge bags under my eyes in the photos.
We chose Manarola for our home base, and it was the absolute perfect place to start our honeymoon. It is one of the smaller and quieter towns in the Cinque Terre, but it has a warm and very friendly atmosphere, and the views of the sea are absolutely stunning from every direction. When we arrived, we texted our apartment host, and he met us at the train station. And, then we experienced how steep the roads are. We got used to it, but that first time walking up to our apartment with all of our luggage was hard! I definitely boarded the #strugglebus.
Our little studio apartment was adorable and perfect. We had all the standard amenities including bed, sofa, kitchen, bathroom, and dining table. But, the best part and the reason we rented this place, it had a fabulous balcony overlooking the town, surrounding hillside vineyards, and the Ligurian Sea (photos coming up on day 2 post). If all this wasn’t already enough for a wonderful stay, the owner had fresh flowers and Italian champagne waiting for us on our bed since he knew that it was our honeymoon!
By this point, I was ready to pass out and sleep for a week. But, it was almost sunset, and we wanted to explore our little town before settling in for the night. So out we went.
The whole town is built into the hillsides, so it is filled with tiny, steep alleyways that are begging to be explored. Each house is painted with its own pastel color, but they all have standard issued green shutters (except for the occasional red one). Clothes hang from the windows for drying, people eat dinner and drink wine on their balconies with family and friends, and kids play soccer in the tiny squares that pop up between the houses. It doesn’t get more Italian than that!
And then out of the tiny alleys, it suddenly opens up to an amazing view of the coastline. The water is a stunning crystal clear blue, and it is mesmerizing to watch and listen to the waves gently crash along the rocky cliffs.
We eventually made it town to the little harbor area just in time to grab an olive gelato (yes, actual whole olives!) and watch the sunset. It was magical and everything we had dreamt up leading up to the honeymoon. Kids were jumping in the water. Wine glasses were clinking as people made toasts. Couples were walking hand-in-hand. Friends were laughing. The warmth of the setting sun was upon our faces. And we were soaking it all in with big grins on our faces.
After sunset we went in search of dinner. Normally, we put a lot of research into the restaurants, but with all the wedding planning, we just didn’t have the time. Plus, this trip was all about relaxing and going with the flow. So, we just went to the first place that looked cute. We ended up on an outdoor terrace right along the main pedestrian pathway. It was adorbs. I tried the trofie pasta with Genovese pesto and Nisheet had fried anchovies. Did you know that pesto was invited in this area of Italy!?! Amazing. It was the perfect way to end the perfect first day of our honeymoon in the Cinque Terre.
If you missed it, you can check out our engagement story here.
