Our NCL Viva cruise ship docked at the port of Livorno, Italy. This was our first time here on…read morevacation. We took a cruise ship bus up to Lerici, Italy, which is located on a natural bay discovered by the Romans. Lerici is a nice nautical town with lots of boats docked including some very large yachts. We took the rubber boat across to the other side of the bay or to Porto Venere. This was also our first visit to Porto Venere. Porto Venere is a village on the Ligurian coast of northwestern Italy. It's known for Porto Venere Regional Natural Park, a protected area with trails and dive sites. The park encompasses Palmaria Island, dotted with beaches and caves. The Gothic-style Church of St. Peter sits atop a rocky headland. We walked the local streets up to St. Peter, but did not go inside St. Peter. Nearby is the centuries-old Castello Doria, an imposing cliff top fortress with views of the Gulf of Poets. More to come regarding our lunch in Porto Venere before we returned to Lerici on our two rubber boats.

Fun city at the tip of Cinque Terre. Great bars, bistros, restaurants, and clubs…read more Gorgeous beaches with bright blue water. Nice hotels

This almost 800 years old church of Saint John the Baptist in a small alley on the bottom of…read moreMonterosso Al Mare village in UNESCO protected Cinque Terre, Italy was such a treat. The combination of black and white stone looks very dramatic, almost hypnotic, it absolutely captures your attention. Life and death, good and evil, it makes you wonder is it for pure decorative purpose or is it a hint on duality of life. Entrance:free and open to public Time spent:5-10 minutes

The parish church of San Giovanni Battista is located in a small Piazza don Giovanni Minzoni, right…read morenext to Piazza Garibaldi. The church was built between the 13th and 14th century, completed in 1307, and later renovated in Baroque era. The facade features the signature two-tone white and dark serpentine facing, a large rose window of white marble under which is the main portal. An English language brochure explains further details. They also sell a Church calendar inside for those who would like an interesting souvenir and a way to keep up with all the Holy Days. The associated bell tower was originally a watchtower, part of the fortification built by the Republic of Genova in the 13th century. In the 15th century the tower was raised, and partially rebuilt in the 18th after an earthquake. The Church also sustained extensive damage during the 2011 mudslides and I wouldn't have known that by just my brief visit here. It's a testament to the Community regarding their hard working and successful efforts bring their Village back to full strength.

This church is found in one of the highest parts of Riomaggiore. Outside of the church is a lovely…read moresquare offering beautiful views of the town and the sea. Gayle and I landed in Riomaggiore by boat and walked up. It you happen to come to this Cinque Terre Village, it's worth your Journey.

This attractive Oratory is found next to the Riomaggiore Castle, on Cerricò hill. It was built in…read more1480 after a plague and there is a carving of Saint Rocco which shows him having the disease. Inside the Oratory there is a triptych representing the Madonna with the Child and Saints. Gayle and I climbed up here during our short hike around Riomaggiore. I'm a sucker for expansive hill top views and pretty churches. We go both here.

Right next door to San Giovanni Battista is the chapel of the Brotherhood of Death and Prayer:…read moreMortis et Orationis. Dating to the 16th century, it belongs to one of the surviving charitable lay groups created during the Counter-Reformation when the Catholic church, under threat from the spread of Protestantism, decided it needed to clean up its act. Confraternita dei Neri - Fraternity of Blacks - was responsible for the welfare of orphans, widows and victims of shipwreck, and burial of the destitute, and "black" refers to the color of attire they wore in religious processions. The Fraternity is still somewhat active but their services are not in the same demand they once were - which probably accounts for the somewhat "frayed" state of the Church that Gayle and I observed. Entrance is free but donations for restoration are gratefully accepted.

The Abbey and the Church of St Francis are found on the hill of San Cristoforo next to the ruins of…read morethe Castle of Monterosso. Gayle and I walked up here from our Hotel on the morning of our last day here. We were immediately put into the right spiritual mood walking into a small and peaceful sanctuary and the sound of piped in Gregorian-like chants.

This is a cool sight to see! I wandered down a path and followed a sign while walking around on my…read moreown. There are a lot of steps but it is worth it! If you take the route from the seaside, the first thing you will come across is a giant statue of st Francis asisi feeding a dog/wolf, which is pretty cool. And has some great views. Then you will come across a small church, which is cute but nothing too special. There are little information brochures that you can buy in there, by where you light the candles. Attached to the church is where the real monks still live, from what I gathered. You can't go in there. If you keep climbing upwards, you will reach a cemetery. This was my favourite part. You might think it's creepy, but it's so beautiful! On almost every gravestone, there's a photo of the person who is buried there, which is neat. In the corners, there are some family crypts. I found this interesting, there's a lot of people who died in the 1940s, particularly 1942. If you keep going up wherever you can, you will eventually reach the top. In this section, the priests are buried and there are a few more traditional style graves. The whole thing is very well tended to and the gardens around it are lovely. Once you are here you can see an absolutely magnificent view of the ocean and the coast on one side and the towns on the other. It is panoramic and incredible.

This distinctive church was built in 1318 in the Ligurian Gothic style on the site of a former 11th…read morecentury building. It was built on a cliff overlooking the sea and has an impressive 40 meter high bell tower with an octagonal dome. Gayle and I briefly stopped by after our first stage Cinque Terre hike from Monterosso to Vernazza. Inside the church is a nave and two aisles and the church was widened in the 16th and 17th centuries. Legend says that the church was built because a wooden box containing the bones of St Margaret was found on the beach. The villagers built a church elsewhere to house the relics, but after damaging storms the church was destroyed and the relics were lost. The wooden box then reappeared in the same spot where it was first found. At that point, the current church was built.

Chiesa di San Pietro looks like something straight out of a dramatic amenity movie: black-and-white…read morestripes, jagged cliffs nearby, and the sea exploding around it. It's tiny, ancient, and perched in the most unreal spot. Step inside for two minutes, soak in the stone arches and quiet, then walk out to the terrace for that jaw-drop view where the ocean basically slaps the rocks below. It's quick, it's iconic, and it's honestly one of the coolest little churches you'll ever stumble into.

I stopped into this empty church to gawk for a few minutes while waiting for something else. It's…read moreold and nice for what it is, but nothing struck me as exceptional. Across from the church, however, is a lookout stand, where one can get good views of the town.