Via dell’ Amore

We traveled next to Cinque Terre, or Five Lands. They are small towns perched on the cliffs over the Mediterranean Sea. It was a gorgeous place, and I took a zillion pictures. In an effort to divide them into manageable blog posts, I’ll have one post on Via dell’Amore, one on the town of Manarola and one on the ocean.

The five towns were quite isolated until a railway line was built in the 1920s, and a trail was made between Riomaggiore, the first (southern most) town and its northern neighbor, Manarola. Landslides closed the path until after WWII when it was reopened and became a meeting place for boys and girls from the two towns. A journalist coined the name, and the path became Cinque Terre’s lover’s lane.

A hiking trail and a railroad now connect all five towns. Due to a landslide between Manarola (town #2) and Corniglia (town #3) and a railroad strike, we only saw Manarola. This was hardly a hardship, and we hope to return to see the rest.

Our first glimpse of Manarola as we walked along Via dell’ Amore from the train station in Riomaggiore.

These fences protect hikers from landslides.

A better view of the coast.

The rocks and retaining walls of Via dell’ Amore are covered with amorous graffiti. It is also traditional for couples to leave a small padlock attached to the fences as a token of undying love. This is the iconic statue for Via dell’ Amore, complete with padlocks. People also tie strings, bits of plastic bags or anything they can find to the fence.

We added a ribbon.

Sunset

Another sunset – because I can’t take this kind of shot in mid-Michigan.

Seagull