Corniglia

So, to steal a line from my friend and fellow blogger Lauren, I am declaring myself "back from sabbatical," because that sounds considerably better than "I've been too busy this December to blog."  Sadly I somehow managed to completely forget to take pictures of all the food I've made over the past few weeks, including homemade tomato-bacon bisque soup, a Christmas trifle, and dozens upon dozens of cookies.  As a result, we're picking up with the travel photos.

These photos are all from Corniglia, the middle town of the Cinque Terre, and the only one without even a tiny beach -- Corniglia is truly perched on the face of a cliff, with a sheer drop to the sea below.  It's tiny and quiet, even in comparison to the other tiny, quiet Cinque Terre towns -- and just as lovely.  The hike down to Corniglia from Vernazza was not too arduous.  Unfortunately, rock slides have closed the normal walking path between Corniglia and the next town, Manarola, so your only options are to take the (looong) inland path or the train between them.  Suffice to say, we considered both but opted for the train.

A glimpse of Corniglia as you approach on the trail from Vernazza.

Vineyards and terraces surrounding Corniglia.

Inside the town.

Stairs -- 360+ stairs, to be exact -- leading from the village of Corniglia to the train station, from which we went to Manarola.  We were very glad to be going down.