Hiking. in Cinque Terre

 We have had two great days in Cinque Terre but today it is raining so we are taking it easy.

Our first day - Saturday the 21st- was the big hike from Monterosso to Vernazza.  Basically you climb up a series of steep and uneven steps up about 600 feet with beautiful views looking down on the villages below.  The trail was very busy in both directions with a wide range of people.  You needed to have a ticket to get past the starting point of the hike to high keeps the number of people down a little but not much.  The trail gets a ton of use and they were rebuilding a section closer to Vernazza.  They hillsides are terraced and they grow lemons and grapes and vegetables.  People love all the way up the slope to the top of the hills.  

There was a man playing an accordion half way thru with  two dogs.  Obviously looking to make a little money.  

The day was sunny and hot and humid and we all suffered a little as we went up and up and up then across the hill for more than a mile and then down and down and down. 

We did not hike back - we took the 3 minute train ride.  

We had lunch in Vernazza at a nice little place in the square.  Food here had been very good but it’s a challenge for Dianne with her fish allergy.  

We took some time off in the afternoon before training down to the last village - Riomaggiore - to walk the ‘trail of love.’  It’s a short walk along the coast with a perfect view of the sunset.  They say that lovers took this trail to assert their devotion to their partner.  We saw a beautiful sunset then headed back to Monterosso.  It was a great first day.

For our second day we took the train to Corniglia and took a short hike in the town.  We found a lovely restaurant on the hillside  for lunch with a great view of the sea.  

We walked back to the village and then trained to the next village which was Manarola.  We toured that beautiful village and got to see a winch that only went down and not back up.  There was a small boat with a catch of fish that needed to be hauled up to the village:  they used a winch to drop a line to the boat but then the winch failed and would not come back up.  After a lot of shouting the boat left and headed around to find another way up to the village.  It was fun to watch. 

We came back to Monterosso and took a break.  Jim and Jack finally hit the Mediterranean Sea.  Jim did the plunge while Jack slowly inched into the water.  It was 72 degrees so not that bad.

We had a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant with everything cooked to perfection.  We also had 3 bottles of wine so that made the meal even better.  Then back home for sleep.

Today is a rainy day and the skies have opened up with pouring rain and thunder:  the rain will continue all day so we are taking it easy.  


























Comments

  1. Janet ZimSeptember 24, 2024 at 10:53 PM

    Fabulous photos! Don’t leave there until you order their fresh pasta Trofie with the Clinique Terri’s famous Pesto. Best I ever tasted. You all look wonderfully happy!

    ReplyDelete

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