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Published: September 11th 2009
August 31, 2009 - Cinque Terre, Italy
What a difference a day makes. We go from crowded and dirty Viareggio up the Italian coast to the most beautiful part of the Riviera, The Cinque Terre. She is made up of 5 little villages overlooking the clear blue waters of the Mediterranean.
We took the first bus we could from the campground to the train station at around 9:30 am, which was late for us as we wanted to walk the 9 miles trail that goes through each town. The train was only 4 euro and you can ride it from town to town as much as you want the entire day. This is the only way to get to the Cinque Terre as cars are not allowed.
The Cinque Terre is not as well known as Genova, San Remo and the more elite Riverea towns such as Portofino. This is a plus. The train was not as full and the town was filled with more local people enjoying their local bathing spot created in the huge cliffs rising from the water.
Since we planned to hike the 5 towns, we took the train to the furthest town
away of Rigomaggiore. The guide book says the entire hike of the 9 miles will take about 5 hours. This is the time for just the hike, not counting stopping for our daily gelato , visiting the village and filling up with water. Our neighbors at camp the day before said they were going to do it in 2 day...maybe 3. Andrew and I are pretty fit and hiked those monster hills in Austria so we were sure it wouldn’t take that long.
Rigomaggiore was a beautiful old town looking over the sea. We took off on the trail called dell’ Amore which was a pretty flat path jetting out over the ocean. Great views and a bridge with some restaurants attached. This first part of the trail which led to the next town of Manarola was said, in the guide, to take 20 min. We did it in about 15 min., as it was very flat.
Manarola was another great little fishing village with boats everywhere, even in the middle of town. The views from every angle were superb. The cove at the bottom of town was filled with local seniors. They had even attached a handicap
rail to a big rock so they could easily get in and out of the water.
We took off to the path to the next town which was Corniglia. The signage was poor to the trail, I think they want you to just stay in the town and spend all of your money there. We came to a set up stairs that kept going up as far as we could see. Ah, the guide says it’s 382 steps up. We were up for the task and treated it like a challenge from the “Biggest Loser”. We climbed like troopers and was passed up by a big, red and sweaty American. He was huffing hard. We saw him at about step 150 sitting panting with his head between his knees. It’s not how you start...it’s how you finish! We ended out of breath but did well. According to the guide, the path to Corniglia was suppose to take about 1hr. and 10min. In Italy, they don’t measure things by distance, they measure by how long it will take (I guess the average person) to get there. It took us just under an hour so we were feeling above average by
this time.
Corniglia had gorgeous views so we stopped for a nourishing gelato at a place made famous by Rick Steves. He is like the Oprah of traveling - whatever he talks about, becomes a tourist hot spot. After my delicious Grapefruit and Strawberry gelato, we gorged ahead to the next trail which would lead us to the 4th town of Vernazza.
The trail was getting rocky, steep and much more challenging. We were needing to take a little break in any shade we could find by now. We we gulp tons of water and savor the view behind us, now you could see all three island teetering on cliffs overlooking the aqua blue water. We stopped once by a couple who was also gasping for breath. They were from Pacific Beach Birdrock area. Small world. The small talk let us take back out lungs and cool down so we could charge ahead of them. The vegetation reminded me of Torrey Pines but the trail was very steep and rocky and the few to die for. We finally made it, blistering hot and tired but before the 1 hr. and 30 min. “average” time by a couple of
minutes.
We wanted to stop for some food and water in Vernazza so we headed to the beach part of the tiny village. This was our favorite town as the quaint beach area was lined with cafes all with great view of the tiny beach and harbor. We could hang here for a while. We saw a a lot of cats just hanging around in window seals and taking naps in cool areas like they were posing for tourists to take photos of.
We sat at a shady cafe by the water and ordered lots of cold water and a snack. I noticed when I sat down that my ankles, legs and thighs had bright red blotches all over them. I took my shoes and socks off and and dunked them in the water. When I say it’s hot, it is sweltering. A woman at the cafe started to feel ill next to us. This was the second time I had someone pass out next to me. I had to revive a girl at the campground also with cold water to the face as she collapsed from the heat. I saw this woman had been drinking coffee, champagne
and smoking so I knew she was dehydrated. I jumped up to the rescue and started wiping her down with cold water. I tried to get her to drink some but she wouldn’t. None of them spoke English so I think they thought I was crazy so I left her alone and they called an ambulance. It always seems that someone is passing out or choking around me.
After an hour rest, we were ready to take on the trail to the last village which the guide said would take 2 hrs., the longest yet. It was a shorter distance than the last so we knew it would be steep. It was more like rock climbing through vineyards during the first part. We kept stopping to breath but pretended to check out the view with another couple who was keeping up. We started chatting and they were from Switzerland. We hiked with them the rest of the way talking and trying to breath which made the second part much more tolerable. We finally arrived in Monterosse which did take the 2 hrs. the guide said it would. I guess I’m average after all. Now, my red blotches on my legs turned into red welts. I was pretty sure it was heat rash. The tanned Italians stared at my legs on the train and probably thought I had some flesh eating virus.
Back at camp I took a 1 hour cold shower clothes and all. The heat rash lasted for days but the memories will be forever. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I’m glad I did the whole trail and would recommend it but on a cool October day.
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gaylene & matt
non-member comment
this is my favorite so far it looks so pretty wish i was there but when you live in galesburg wish you were anywhere