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A word about Cinque Terre: you must go there. Even after reading about it, looking at pictures of it and dreaming about what our weekend might be like, I was not prepared for its beauty. In addition to not being an anchovy eater (or so I thought), I am not a hiker. But if you go, you must hike between the villages. Besides dinner at Trattoria da Oscar, hiking between the towns was my favorite experience. There were two trails open when we were there—one from Monterosso to Vernazza and the other from Vernazza to Corniglia. Both were fairly challenging and ran about an hour and a half, but not so tough that we needed special hiking gear to get through them. We had good shoes and a bottle of water to share and were fine. Just a few minutes into our first hike, I understood why so many people come here. The way each village reveals itself as you slowly make your way toward it is part of the magic of the Cinque Terre. I’ve never seen such stunning views in my life.