Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre is not to be believed. Nothing this precious could possibly exist. I did not see cliff sides terraced with Italian gardens like green risers for angels to perch upon and sing. I could not possibly have heard opera’s melodic wailing bouncing across limestone faces, floating up into a piercing blue sky. Or the ocean’s deep base booms as it pounded the shore below. This place cannot be real. Is it not a dream where both hiking boots and velvet slippers wander to capture panoramas to put into pockets and carry home? Where bells call out across the sea and declare love has been made holy again today? Where is this place that drips rich lemon sweets upon the tongue and snatches souls who stand too close to the sea?

Riomaggiore
Corniglia
Manarola
Vernazza
Montorosso

Five sisters. Five fairy tales. Five monuments to wonder in the world.
I was there. It is real.

Translation for sign on rainbow bench:
”MUNICIPALITY OF RIOMAGGIORE
Homophobia and transphobia violate human dignity, damage the principle of equality and compromise people’s freedom and affections. No one can escape that any form of persecution based on sexual orientation constitutes, anytime and anywhere takes place, an unacceptable violation of universal rights.

—Sergio Mattarella (President of the Italian Republic)”