"It was a long hard road, but we got there"

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It was a long, hard road, but I did eventually get there. To Cinque Terre, that is.

Let me explain... As I've come to learn about the Italian train system, it can be very unreliable. This is the case especially when taking the Regional train, the slow train that stops in every single small village. This said, Cinque Terre is not at all easy to get to considering its rural geographical location on towering seaside cliffs, making arrival possible only by car or by Regional (as opposed to intercity and eurostar which travel mainly to big cities) train.

Also, as I've come to learn about Northern Italy, the weather can be very unreliable. February and March graced us with sunshine and 20+ degree weather while April is giving nothing but cold rain. Knowing this and having seen a pretty depressing forecast for the dates of my trip, I was actually sort of dreading the trip I had been yearning for since my arrival in Italy.

On thursday morning I woke up at 5am to the sound of heavy rain. Off to a good start. Equipped with rain jacket and borrowed hiking boots (more on this to come), I set out into the storm to catch my early train. With the 6 hour train journey ahead of me, I was thrilled to be soaking wet from the very beginning. I caught my first train from Biella to Santhia with no problem. Due to the rain, however, my train to Turin from Santhia was delayed by a mere 15 minutes. Just enough, though, to make me miss my train from Turin to Genova. When you have 4 connections to make, it is vital that each train be on time. I missed my train in Turin by 2 minutes and had to wait 3 hours until the next train. The good news is that in Turin the rain had stopped which allowed me to take a small walk and eat breakfast. 3 hours passed and I got on the train to Genova. I knew I would have missed my train from Genova to Riomaggiore by then, so I went directly to the ticket office in Genova to find out when the next train was. I only had to wait 30 minutes which was great, I'd still get to Riomaggiore before the hostel reception closed at 5. I headed straight for my platform and got on my train. Only it wasn't my train at all which I knew as soon as it started to drive away 15 minutes before it was supposed to: "Hello passengers and welcome aboard train #3232 to Acqua Terne". WHERE THE HECK IS THAT? The old man beside me must have seen my expression and asked me if there was a problem. I told him where I wanted to go and he confirmed what I already knew. I was DEFINITELY on the wrong train. This is one of the few occasions where being on a regional train works in your favour. I was instructed to get off at the next stop, only a few minutes away, and take the next train back to the original station. This would have been only a slight bump in the road except for the fact that by then I had just missed my train to Riomaggiore. Back to the ticket office to change yet another train ticket. The next train would leave in 1 hour. You can imagine that by now I'm used to waiting around for trains so the wait didn't bother me, UNTIL I realized I wouldn't make the hostel reception on time. Luckily I've had experiences like this in the past and had written the hostel phone number down JUST INCASE of an occurence such as this. I called and they said they would wait until 5:30..I arrived at 5 on the dot. I was not homeless on my first night in Cinque Terre 😊

What should have been a 6 hour trip turned into an 11 hour trip in the end but it was all worth it as soon as I saw what Riomaggiore and the rest of Cinque Terre had to offer.

For those of you who don't know (or haven't googled it yet), Cinque Terre is a sequence of 5 small fishing villages along the west coast of Italy known for its unique style of farming (farmland is steep and rugged rather than flat). It is a famous locaton for hiking as there are foot paths that go between all of the 5 villages. For those who aren't into walking, you can also take a train.

Since I arrived too late to do any hiking, I decided to spend my first night exploring Riomaggiore. It's such a neat place and a map would do you no good here as each street leads to a narrow staircase which leads to another staircase which eventually leads to right to the sea. It's a small village so it didn't take long to explore so I spent a few hours sitting on some rocks watching some local boys fish. I stayed until the sun set and then made my way back to the hostel.

The next morning I took the boat that goes from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. This way, I got to see all of the villages from the perspective of the water. When I arrived in Monterosso I explored a little bit before I headed off on the first leg of the hike: Monerosso-Vernazza. I had been warned ahead of time that this would not be an easy hike. It should only take 2 hours, but the terrain is very rugged and it is almost all uphill. I was up for the challenge, though. Afterall doing this hike was the whole reason I came to Cinque Terre. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to borrow boots to go hiking. Usually you have to work shoes in before taking them on a journey like that, and I stupidly opted for the ones that were just "slightly too small". I got through the first half of the hike with relative ease (despite my sweaty red face which numerous fellow hikers commented on). However, when it came time to go back downhill the "slightly too small" shoes showed how too small they really were. I had to slow down my pace quite a bit as each step felt like needles in my toes. OUCH! Learned a lesson there for sure.

Besides the small shoe mishappe, the hike was breathtakingly beautiful, not to mention worth the sweat, and the pain. The views were magnificent and it was also very cool to see lemon trees randomly planted on the sides of mountains.

Unfortunately for the tourists, but even more so for the inhabitants, there were a series of mudslides last fall which caused significant damage to Monterosso, but more seriously to Vernazza. After countless days of non stop rain, over 4 metres of mud swept into the village kiling 3 residents, injuring many more and destotoying all the homes and shopfronts at sea level. Vernazza is now almost entirely under construction and the footpaths beween the middle 3 villages are closed. Since my toes felt like they were slowly being sawed off and I couldn't hike to the next town even if I wanted to, I took the train back to the hostel to change my shoes.

With the relief I felt from putting on some shoes that actually fit, I decided to tackle the walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola. This wasn't so much a hike as a 20 minute stroll along flat ground. This foot path is called the "strada dell'amore" or "lover's lane" in English. Almost the entirety of the path is a tunnel in which the walls are covered in poems and hearts and people declaring their love for each other in all different languages. It's so neat! People got quite creative, some couples going as far as carving their names into a cactus 😊 I made a contribution as well, as you'll see in the photos.

Once in Manarola, I spent a few hours just wondering around, climbing up old, rocky, viney staircases until I finally got to a sign that said I could go no further. This place was perfect for an aimless wanderer such as myself as you can't get too far before you have to turn back, but there are so many hidden gems!

By the end of day 2 the only town I had not seen was Corniglia. Good thing I still had one more full day to see everything I missed. On the morning of day 3 we woke up to a booming thunderstorm. I sure was glad I got most of the hiking done the previous day. I decided I'd venture out into the storm anyways. You're only in Cinque terre once, why waste your time in an ugly hostel? I wish I could have said that to the boring people I shared a dorm with. They were always there when I left and there when I came back playing on their I phones and being antisocial with their heaphones in. To each is own I guess...

By the time I got outside, the rain just stopped. Since the sun was coming out and it was still quite early I decided to hike up the mountain to a small church which itself wasn't supposed to be quite as impressive as the view. I climbed the 300 steps, never saw the church, but saw the view! From there you could see Riomaggiore and Manarola and I probably shed a pound or two in sweat in the process. Worth it? yes!

By the time I got back down to the village it was still only 10:30 so I had all day to slowly make my way (by train) to each of the villages to spend more time exploring. Corniglia was my favourite. The highest up and the fewest tourists!

Cinque Terre is a magical place. It is flooded with tourists as are many places in Italy, but the tourists are all tucked away in the mountains somewhere, hiking, and out of sight for the most part. In the towns you mostly see locals, and a few unintrustive tourists who for the most part blend in with everyone else. Unlike venice, you don't see the sea of fanny packs and baseball caps.

Despite some delayed trains and a small pair of shoes, even the occasional rain drop, I'd say it was a VERY successful trip. "It was a long hard road, but (I) got there!" and it was well worth it 😊

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Photos

The beginning of the hike monterosso-Vernazza
As I learned pretty fast, the whole hike is not this easy...

Vernazza in sight
More than half way through the hike your realize there IS an end!

Vernazza
The big pile of mud is the result of the mud slides

my contribution to the lover's lane
Who says love has to be reserved for people?

Comments

[Rowan]

Great story, but the pictures say it all. What a beautiful place.