Listen up. If you ever even think you’re going to travel to Italy one day, you MUST make sure that you visit Cinque Terra. The culture is awesome and the scenery and landscape are some of the most beautiful on the planet. There are many phrases and words to describe the beauty and awesomeness but some of my catch phrases were, “holy crap,” “Is this real life,” and “Are you kidding me.”
Cinque Terre is a string of five towns on the coast of northern Italy that are all connected by trains and trails. It is a popular place for tourists but you still feel like your totally submerged in the culture and it is totally worth every minute you spend there.
We arrived in Riomaggiore early in the morning, found our little local hotel, grabbed some lunch and beer at a locally recommended restaurant (La Lampara), then got some local delicacies of fried calamari, fried anchovies and a Nutella crepe. After all the food, and with a few prayers for our digestive systems, we set off for our first hike. We were staying in Riomaggiore which is the most southern town of the five, so we took the train back up north to Monterosso al Mare, the most northern town of the five (to train from the bottom town to the top is only about a t 15-20 minute train ride).
There is a popular coastal trail that when open runs along the coast from town to town. (Need to purchase a hiking ticket) However, most of the time, due to landslide and rain, a portion of the trail will be closed. From past experiences and blogs, we heard the first coastal trail from Monterosso to Vernazza was the most beautiful and popular, and as that was the only portion of the coastal trail that was open, we had no choice. Man, oh man was it worth it. Be forwarded though, on a hiking difficulty level I would give it about 7 or an 8. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do a few weeks of conditioning before your trip to prepare… But for real, it’s a great workout. Also, hydrate before each leg and chug a bottle of water because you don’t want to hold one while you’re hiking, and you’ll end up sweating it all out on the hike anyway so don’t even worry about trying to find a restroom. We had a blast and some great bonding time on the trail and some ridiculously awesome pictures along the way.
After this hike, we rewarded ourselves with a dip in the Mediterranean. The water was so clear and turquoise and we were so exhausted and hot from the hike that it was just calling our names. We went swimming in our clothes, but decided after the fact that we could have stripped down to just our undies after seeing some of the people (and body parts) that we were surrounded by.
After the swim, we grabbed a drink and dried off for a bit and then took the train to Manorola, the fourth town and decided to try one of the footpath hikes to the town we were staying in (is it clear that we love hiking?). I think it’s safe to say that this was the best decision of our day.
For those interested, the hike was trail 531 (Before you embark on any trail in Cinque Terre, make sure you have a trail map… Very helpful). Let me just say, this hike is now my most favorite hike that I have ever been on… And I have been on some pretty awesome hikes. The difficulty level of this hike (8-9), the weather (65-70F), the time of day (sunset), the company (Bill, Tyler, Em and I were the ONLY people on this trail the whole time), and the views made this hike complete perfection.
After arriving back in Riomaggiore, and feeling all kinds of levels of joy and accomplishment (and hunger) that I haven’t felt before, we took a new route around the town and settled at a sweet restaurant on he main road for some Italian dinner and wine. The food was great, we laughed at some Americans that stuck out waaaaaay more than we did, had some kick-butt gelato and decided to call it a night.
We had a grand time in our tiny 4 person room that night laughing about the day, reveling in our adventurousness and spontaneity and looking back over pictures of each event. All in all we agreed it had been the perfect day and we went to sleep exhausted, full of good food and with satisfied smiles on each of our faces.
brandonmicah 