We arrive in Monterosso al Mare for a little over a week in Cinque Terre, Italy, one of our most favorite places in the world. It's a stormy day on the Ligurian Sea (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea) and we start with a stroll around the city. We first pass the public beach in the old town with its boats pulled out of the water then walk through the tunnel to the the new town and the private beaches with their umbrellas currently furled due to the rainy/windy weather.
We've been coming to Monterosso al Mare every year for 16 years (except for one closed-for-Covid year) and the magical charm of the city and the Cinque Terre region never grows old and continues to amaze and delight us. We return every year to the charming, comfortable, friendly Hotel Villa Steno as our base for exploration of the region and truly look forward to our stay there every year (and sometimes twice a year!).
We follow a street up the hill to a spot overlooking Monterosso.
Returning to the beach, we take in some more views of the Mediterranean and its shoreline in the stormy weather.
We return to Monterosso's old town by way of a path up into the hills, then descending through the city streets of old town to find lunch of anchovies and thyme accompanied by anchovy pizza (and a little wine to welcome us to Italy).