Porto Venere, Italy

AND NOW, our favorite stop of the trip! Porto Venere is basically a little piece of heaven on earth. Located on the Southeastern tip of the Italian Riviera, this small little village has about 4,000 residents and it has been inhabited since the time of Christ. Motor traffic is very limited which adds to the charming vibe of the village. 

We had signed up to go on a tour of Cinque Terre by private boat in the morning, so we loaded up and were on our way.

Joe has his map handy

We cruised on, and got our first close up view of the most awesome building in the universe, San Pietro Church. San Pietro was consecrated in 1198, and was built over the remains of a 5th century Roman temple. They only hold weddings here now. Here are some pics from while we were driving around it:

Pretty sure that my jaw was on the ground the entire time we looked at it. I know its hard to believe but it is a trillion times more impressive in real life.

Right past the church was this:

a cave that Joe will go snorkeling in later (spoiler alert)

We rode along the coast toward Cinque Terre and saw a bunch of teeeny tiny little villages high on the mountains that residents had to climb a thousand steps to get to, and have to walk countless miles just to go to a market or church.

a memorial in the Mediterranean

Cinque Terre means "five lands" in Italian. There are five villages along the coastline that make up the Cinque Terre National Park. We arrived at our first destination, Riomaggiore and got off the boat to walk around and explore.

Riomaggiore

it's not actually a fishing village, the residents do fish, but its just for fun

We walked along the Via dell Amore (aka Lovers Lane) and saw the vineyards where the local wine "Schiacchetra" is produced. Only white grapes can grow in Cinque Terre because of the climate, so they only produce white wine.

beginning of the Via dell Amore

pretty views on the walk

lovers locks left along the walkway

Via dell Amore with Manarola in the background

We walked to the next village, Manarola, and had some wine and flat bread.

Manarola

We were rounded up by our local tour guide and we headed to our next destination.

Goodbye Manarola

Their backyard is ridiculous

Watching us cruise along the coastline

Our last stop was Vernazza. It was one of the coolest places I have ever seen. Look how blue the water was:

Vernazza

Lemons everywhere

Checking out the town

saw these door knockers all over France and Italy

strenuous hike in sandals to get some good views

The Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia was begun in 1318 and is right beside the water.

inside of the church

view from the church windows

Vernazza is a true fishing village

We were so sad to leave, but got back on the boat with some wine to head back to Porto Venere.

more San Pietro as we got back to town!

fishing outside of Porto Venere

We walked along the water to go checkout San Pietro up close and personal.

little restaurants lined the waterfront

walls lining the square in front of the church

checking things out

San Pietro's porch

the altar inside San Pietro (there are 8 pews in the whole church)

no fire hazards- everything is stone!

view from the church doors

church door detail

front doors of the church

walking around town

Joe got excited and wanted to go snorkeling into the cave that we saw earlier, so he got a mask and hopped in with our new friends from Chicago.

watching out for killer jelly fish

underwater spelunking

me and mother nature

Ryan and Melissa's new cork goal - inside the gelato shop

walking down the medieval alleyways

I got cactus-ed somewhere along the way and didn't know until I got out of the shower later

There is another church in Porto Venere, St. Lawrence. St. Lawrence is a Romanesque church that was erected in 1098. It also sits on the former site of a pagan temple.

they were having choir practice (I guess) while we were outside, so we sat and listened to their Italian chanting for a while

more exploring

just another view of San Pietro!

grain windmill remains in the oldest part of the town

on top of Porto Venere

St. Lawrence

Castello Doria in the background - the castle on top of the city

Joe forcing me to get "into" the freezing Mediterranean

captured a rare picture of a town elder

We were so sad that we had to leave Porto Venere. We got a bottle of local rose and shared it by San Pietro before we had to go back to the boat and sail away :( I cant wait for Mr. Ryan to have a destination wedding at San Pietro. 

Ill be back.