5 towns

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Boy was finding our hostel in Cinque Terre (Which wasnt even in Cinque Terre) a bitch. Cinque Terre translates into 5 towns. The towns starting from the north are Monterrosso, Vernazzo, Corniglia, Manorola and Riomiggiore. The website where we booked our hostel from made it seem like our hostel was in the town of Monterrosso. When entering Monterrosso we passed by and information center and asked where our hostel was. The women not speaking any english pulls out a Monterrosso map and circles a spot at the top of the town. So Laura and I throw our 40 pound backpacks on in 90 degree heat and start treking up to what was suppose to be our hostel. When we arrived at the place that was not our hostel a women who had been coming to Cinque Terre every year said she did not know of any hostel in Monterrosso. So Laura and I head to the nearest internet cafe where the man working there tells us our hostel is not only not in Monterrosso but its not even in Cinque Terre. The hostel was in fact up in the hills not far from the most southern town of Riomiggiore. So Laura and I had to take a train all the way back to La Spezia the town just before Riomiggiore and take the bus to our hostel but we missed the last bus so we had to walk another 30 minutes to another bus stop that would finally get us to our destination. So after the 4 hours task of finding our hostel we ate dinner and then got a good night sleep for our 9 kilometer hike through the towns.

The hike

Most people that come to Cinque Terre usually end up taking on the task of walking from one end of Cinque Terre to the other end. We were told that the hardest part of the hike was from Monterrosso to Vernazzo and that the rest was cake so we decided to start there to get the hard part out of the way first. This wasn't totally true. The hike wasnt cake until after we got past Corniglia. The stretch from Monterrosso to Corniglia is about 3 - 4 hours of steady incline with only a few declines. I was either singing Eye of the Tiger or humming the Chariots of Fire theme trying to motivate myself. The best costal views are from Manorola to Riomiggiore and this part of the hike is relaxing so its quite I nice walk.

During our hike we did explore of the towns. Monterrrosso where we spent our second day is the most tourist of the bunch and def. has the biggest beach. If you want a beach but with less crowds then Vernazzo is a good place to go to. We spent a couple hours there our first day and it was quite nice. Corniglia is the only town that doesnt have access to the water and is probably the least visited. Manorola was our favorite of the towns. There is many large rocks in Manorola that you could watch the brave jump off into the water. There was also a great spot to catch the sunset where Laura and I spent our to evenings in Cinque Terre. Riomiggiore was probably our least favorite town but like all the other towns its still beautiful. Maybe someday with my future husband I will head back to Cinque Terre and actually stay in a Cinque Terre.

Next up Venice

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Comments

[Krista]

Wow!!
Again, great pictures! Have fun your last couple weeks! BTW Plattsburgh SUCKS in the summer...and we miss you!