Here's a beautiful view of the boat harbor just in front of the hotel. Check out the church on the hill in the background.
View from our patio at the Hotel Lauren in Santa Margherita Ligure at dusk.
View of the Hotel Lauren. Our patio is on the left above open truck door.
On the trail among the five towns of the Cinqua Terre. The trail varies from areas like this which are lined with old stone walls to open trail areas to the spectacular (and somewhat scary) narrow trails along the steep slopes down to the Ligurean Sea.
The following pictures were taken in two different directions at one point along the trail. Notice that, in one direction, you can see two of the towns in the background as well as the steep, terraced vinyards going down to the sea in the foreground. It's hard to imagine how they harvested the grapes and olives on those slopes.
As we arrived at the next town, Monterossa (Red Mountain?), you can see Franny walking down the path steps into the town and then looking up at a restaurant built along the side of the moutain.
As you can see, the beach is beautiful
and the area would be a field day for geologists and kayakers.
For you more cerebral readers, of course, your curiosity is only piqued by general views of the scenery, but you yearn for more up close and personal insights into the culture of this part of the Italian Riviera. The following pictures are for you: