Travel-Manarola TB02

Please drop this item in rural OR Premium Member Only caches.  Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and prevents tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take the travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission is needed to leave the U.S.

Photos in the travel bug logs are appreciated.  I will be re-post them here, where they can be seen by other cachers.

The Cinque Terre (Five Lands) is a rugged portion of coast on the northwestern Italy.   The region is wholly within the province of Liguria, on the Ligurian Sea.  The five lands are actually five villages, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.   Over the centuries, people have carefully built terraces on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea.   Olives and grapes are grown on the terraces and modest fishing support the local economies.  Tourism is a growing industry.

Footpaths (some very steep), trains (many tunnels) and boats connect the villages.  Cars cannot reach the communities from the outside.  This travel bug shows Manarola from the boat that connects the villages to more populated areas to the south.  Attached to the train station by a 200-yard tunnel, the town spills down a ravine to the rugged coastline at the Ligurian sea.   

If you want to venture up the steep slope to the top of Manarola, make sure you check out the church. Today it serves as a religious and community meeting place, but in more ancient times, the bell tower was used as a post to watch for potential pirate raids.