We arrived in Cinque Terre yesterday. We were both real tired, but managed to make it to the hostel without any serious incidents. Taking trains across Italy is nice, but it can get a little tedious, especially when you have to take a regional train as the last leg.
Our hostel is near the top of Via Columbo in Riomaggiore, but instead of walking the easy way through the tunnel, Lauren and I decided to cirumnavigate the entire town, which consists a never ending steep grade. The walk would have been nice if we werent tired, hungry, mad at Italy, or carrying all of our stuff. To make things even more fun, our hostel room was pretty much at the top of the building. If you look at pictures of Cinque Terre, the towns are all built on the slopes of mountains, so everything is built extremely narrow and vertical.
The area is really nice. when you walk down to the water the layers of rock that at one point were horizontal and flat have been pushed up out of the sea and are almost vertical with some bends. The sight is really magnificent. You can really appreciate the force the Earth exerts to push these mountains right out of the ocean. Lauren had pasta with pesto for dinner. I had anchovie pizza. Of course we finished the evening with a night time stroll and a gelato.
This morning we woke up early and headed out to walk the 9km to monterrosso which is the furthest of the 5 towns. There is a lower path and a higher path with a couple zigzagging in between to connect them. The first trail from Riomaggiore to Manrola is short and flat along the ocean. It was a beautiful way to enjoy a brioche and cappuccino to go as well as an unassuming beginning to long difficult journey. The next lower trail was closed so we decided to walk up to the upper trail. Hopefully when I have a computer and connection that allows for uploads I will put the pictures. The view from the upper trail is unbelievable. To the south the ocean crashes into the coast and the towns slope upward along the mountains. Above the mountains there are ridges of walled gardens growing everything from cherries to olives.
The walk took about an hour and a half and added an extra 3 km to the trip, but it was well worth it. The trails are pretty steep and dangerous in some spots, but if you have the energy it is well worth the trip. Once we reached Corniglia we got back on the main trail. We kept getting passed by this shirtless old man with walking sticks who was practically running up the trail and then waiting for his wife, who was slightly less enthused. a couple hours later we made it to Vernazza where we had lunch (consisting of cherries, apricots, and cookies) out on the breakers. There were lots of people laying out on the rocks so we decided to join them for our feast. Not a few moments later a huge wave crashes into the rocks and drenches Lauren and me, only Lauren and me. We laughed it off and continued our regional snack. After that we walked the rest of the way and reached monterrosso by 3. 6 hours in total seems pretty good considering the detour.
I would definitely suggest coming to the Cinque Terre for a couple of days and hiking about. Maybe not all of it in one day, but it was certainly worth it for us. Tonight we are going to cook ourselves some dinner. Maybe pasta with pesto or a tomato and mozzerella sandwich. Lauren spotted some really interesting striped pasta so we may have to try it.
Here is Lauren washing her hands. A moment of zen.
Tomorrow to Florence.
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