Cinque Terre
Trip Start
Feb 07, 2008
1
34
35
Trip End
May 03, 2008
Cinque Terre,
Italy
Saturday, April 19, 2008
A lot of my classmates have been in the last couple of weekends and have told me I shouldn't miss it if possible. I took their advice and found out that Chris wanted to go so we bought our train tickets on Thursday and got really excited for what lie ahead. The tour book said it is renowned for its beauty and had recently been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List (excitement now at level 7). Our hostess's daughter Karin said it was beautiful and she would go with us if she could (excitement now an 8). When we arrived the excitement quickly escalated to 12 - gorgeous!
A short background on Cinque Terre, the name means "five lands" because this area is comprised of five villages - Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. They rest on the Ligurian Coast, mountainous and stunning. Tourists are able to visit the towns a few ways: a local train connects them all and takes about 3min between each town; a local bus is another option and takes about 5 or 10 minutes to reach each town, the final option - and how we had decided to travel - was to traverse to entire stretch on foot.
View from Riomaggiore train station
It would take about 5.5 hrs and is recommended for those interested/able to hike because the trails could be difficult (this was also the cheapest option, and we had time so why not?) Once we saw the coast line we were sort of blissfully ignorant of the trek that lay in front of us.*note: traveling to Riomaggiore meant we had to make a connection in Pisa, a connection we failed to make (only ½ our fault), so we re-routed ourselves to La Spezia where we caught another train to Riomaggiore (only put us 30 min behind "schedule")
The weather was perfect; it was the first sun we had seen in a couple of weeks so both of us were ready to go. We bought our trail tickets from the tourist stand - the ticket allows you access to all the trails and not just a few vista points. I had read earlier that trail number 2 went along the coast and ran the length of Cinque Terre increasing in difficulty between each town. From Riomaggiore hikers began in the Via dell'Amore a stretch of graffiti covered tunnel dedicated to lovers, murals of the seaside are quickly covered in signatures of hikers form all over the world expressing their love for one another - the windows cut into the tunnel wall looking out over the ocean aren't bad either. After this the trail wraps around the mountain offering brilliant views of the coast and the next two towns in the distance. I'll say that this part of the trail was a level 3, climbing but ultimately just a nice walk along a nice wide path lined with benches and railings.
The Tunnel of Love
Reaching the town of Manarola takes about half an hour, upon entering I felt accomplished and was looking forward to the next part of the trail. We walked down the main street and off to all sides were small winding streets ("streets" all of 20 ft long), above us were clothes lines full of crisp white linens hanging out in the warm sun - these were probably the only white objects in the town, everything was brightly colored and reflected the sun and made me feel so welcome. The streets were also lined with boats, I almost ran into a few of them because I was looking around so much; I've heard of running into a parked car (hard to do) but how in the world do you begin to explain running into a boat?We started the next part of the hike with high hopes for more of the same ocean views and easygoing inclines. It turned out to be a little more beautiful - although I don't know how - and slightly more difficult. The inclines were no big deal we just noticed every so often there were small sets of three or four stairs and the trail zigzagged a bit more and at some point we went over a fun wobbly bridge that reminded me of the one I used to love in the playground when I was little; I'll say this part of the trail was a level 4, nothing we couldn't handle. We made it to Corniglia in about one hour and were greeted by an even smaller population and even brighter buildings. We ate lunch at one of the restaurants around the small square and then enjoyed the vista of hillside terraces and the ocean in the distance.
Manorola
After I bought some water we started on the next part of our hike, with three towns down in about two hours we thought we were doing quite well and were looking forward to the rest...oh how naïve we were! The trek into Vernazza was easily a level 7, we could see the town from Corniglia and it was at the top of the next mountain so we knew what we were in for. There were stairs, followed by steep trail that was narrower than we had had to deal with yet, followed by stairs, and stairs, and even more stairs - we were climbing a mountain after all.
*note: when I say stairs - in this instance - I mean deep, shallow stairs nobody likes, that take you two awkward steps in-between to ready yourself for the next one, and right at the end we had to endure about 15 switchbacks of these things to get to the top.
Vernazza turned out to be my favorite town, impossibly brighter than the last and even more picturesque. There were boats parked in the central square and each had a cat curled up inside soaking up the sun. Locals watched the flow of foot traffic below or hung out their laundry to dry. There was a small cove - explaining all the boats in the square - and an even smaller beach with a few children playing. It was busy and peaceful at the same time. We took loads of pictures and I took a break to drink all the water I could - the next part of the trip would be even harder and I didn't know what that meant - then we started on the next part of the hike.
Chris + Me + the Sea
The trail connecting Vernazza and Monterrosso was a level 9 - veering into level 10 at times - hike. The "stairs" were boulders and required me to step up about a foot and a half to reach the next. Other stairs were so shallow I had to walk sideways as the back of my shoes hit the preceding stairs if I wasn't careful. Streams became one with the trail at times so we had to walk on slick rocks and at one point the width of the trail became someone's garden wall - about a foot wide. If I was at all scared of heights this would have been where I tapped out. For some stretches I was dripping in sweat and yet having the time of my life, others I was dripping in sweat and cursing the ground I walked on. Some parts I had to remind myself that other students - some of which I wouldn't think would do this - had completed this very trail so I had to do it too. Other parts I found the strength to bound up a set of boulder-stairs (no telling where that came from), I quickly paid for my glee at being able to find a little more energy by having to climb about 50 more stairs, each one more difficult than the last. Imagine doing 50 sets of 20 lunges uphill and then doing it again, and again; I think you get the picture.
*note: I don't know if it was better or worse that I had run about 3mi the previous day because I was "bored"...like I said, oh how naïve I was. By the end my knees were doing the shakes - my muscles, or what was left of them had had enough.
Even through the worst of it all, we were surrounded by some of the most beautiful vineyards, olive trees, lemon trees, and forest imaginable. There were ivy covered bridges and waterfalls and puddles of mud and stairs leading to private homes, and cats, and friendly locals and tourists, and views of the turquoise ocean crashing below around every corner. All of those elements, plus so many more it will take me days to remember, made up one of the most challenging situations I have ever voluntarily put myself through. I loathed it at times but loved it the entire way.
The last town, Monterosso, was beautiful like the rest but I think it was made even more beautiful because it meant I had accomplished something. We made it in about five and a half hours - allowing for lunch and numerous photo breaks - and as the sun was beginning its descent we took a train back to Riomaggiore so we could catch our other train for Florence. The whole experience was outstanding.
*note: when we got back to Florence Chris and I bought Kebabs from the shop around the corner - they are delicious wraps made with a yogurt sauce, red peppers, lettuce, cabbage, onions, another pepper variety, tomatoes, and kebab meat. I was also surprised to find my legs still worked after everything I had put them through!
