Cinque Terre Hiking Trip – Preview

October 2025

My blog posts have been intermittent for some time now. Sorry!! I have had very limited cell service since last Spring and no convenient internet service. But, I’m back home in Vermont for the foreseeable future and enjoying consistent connectivity! So, I have a lot to catch up on!

The list of posts that need to be written and shared include: the continuation of my Le Puy Camino from Spring of 2023; the trip my husband and I embarked on Spring of 2025 consisting of a cool Danube River boat trip and our Camino Portuguese adventure; and my most recent hiking trip to the Cinque Terre coastline of Italy. I hope to devote a little bit of time every day to editing photographs and drafting commentary – and hopefully get caught up documenting my travels over the coming winter months.

I’ll start off today with a single photograph from my recent trip to the Cinque Terre – just a little snapshot of what’s to come! The photograph above was taken along the pedestrian walkway lining the harbor in Le Grazie, Italy. Le Grazie is one of several towns that line the coast of the Gulf of Poets – also referred to as the Gulf of La Spezia. It is my home base for the next week as I explore the wonders of the Cinque Terre!

The boats in the foreground are commercial boats used in the mussel farming industry that dots the gulf waters. The black barrels float on top of the water and farmers suspend ropes from these barrels. The mussels attach themselves to these ropes and are left there to grow before harvesting. This is an industry that has been active since around 1800 and makes a significant contribution to the local economy.

Le Grazie was my home base for 8 days while exploring the Cinque Terre National Park or the Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre in Italian.