Our First Anniversary in Italy, part 1

A Little Preface:
Celebrating our first wedding anniversary a few weeks ago made me realize - this past year has been a whirlwind. It has been an exciting, unpredictable and precious adventure.  Memorable, to say the least.  Alex and I got married, combined our households just in time to find out that his job was going to be moving us across the world.  I quit my job, bid farewell to loved ones and watched my entire life get boxed up and shipped to Luxembourg, where I could barely find on a map. Since April, Alex and I have been enjoying what feels somewhat like a hazy dream or extended honeymoon.  Each and every day I feel like its all too good to be true.  Yet it is.  Let this serve as encouragement - a reminder to all of you out there who are waiting...Waiting for your prayers to be answered and purpose to be realized.  Though the journey can be long, your whole life can change in a year - in the blink of an eye.  Keep believing that the One to whom you pray, is faithful...

Only due to the logistical simplicity of traveling in Europe (when living in Europe) were Alex and I able to spend our first anniversary in Italy.  I had pretty big expectations due to everyone's praises of all things Italian and they were all met in the first 24 hours that we set foot in that amazing country.

Alex and I flew into Pisa, which was only a little over an hour flight from the Brussels airport.  Because we were too close not to, we peeked at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and then hopped on our train to Cinque Terre, where we'd be spending the next 5 days. 

Cinque Terre means "5 lands" in Italian.  These 5 villages on the Italian Riviera - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore - are all basically hanging off the cliffs over the Mediterranean. Each unique village is connected by a hiking trail and must be accessed by foot or by train.  The scenery literally took my breath away...

Because we had five days in Cinque Terre, we had time to explore each of the villages. They were all full of character, color and lovely people.  Highlights of our Cinque Terre trip included some great hikes, a few days at the beach and, of course, amazing food!

Here are some photos from our hike from Vernazza to Monterosso...

Our view - 30 minutes into the hike



A few of the villages had rocky beaches.  Here we are trying to find some smooth stones to stand on (and not blind everyone with our white-ness :)

As usual, Alex and I made sure we sampled and enjoyed the local cuisine of our destination.  Cinque Terre is known for trophy pesto (pasta) and Sciacchetra, which is a dessert wine that is made in the villages from local grapes.  The trophy pesto was so amazing that I had it 4 nights in a row!  As for the Sciaccetra, we had the chance to sample some in a cute little restaurant on a rainy day.  The owner of the restuarant that we stumbled upon happened to make his own! 

Cinque Terre is such a special place.  Though its busy with tourists (even in September), the lovely local people are woven throughout the scenery in each village.  They are warm, kind and welcoming including the pastry chef and restaurant owner of a little breakfast joint we frequented each morning... 

This is my guilty face for knowing what's about to happen here :)  The best breakfast pastry that I've ever had!

After our time in Cinque Terre came to an end, leaving wasn't too difficult since Rome was our next stop!  You can read about our five days in spectacular Rome - officially my favorite city in the world - in my next post - Italy, part 2 (coming soon :)

Love until next time...Melanie