Italy - Day 8 - Cinque Terre

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After leaving Gwosh at the little beer cafe last night, I decided I just wanted to get some sleep and went back to my hostel. I couldn't figure out the door, so someone opened it and there were three people sitting at the dining table chatting. Oliver was a german who lived there 4 or 5 months of the year and helped out the hostel for room and board. Phoebe was my one roommate, a girl from San Francisco who seemed pretty cool. And there was a french guy who seemed nice, but a bit quiet and aloof and he was there visiting for a couple days to go hiking. They invited me to sit and have a drink. I had water in my hands and was satisfied, but figured I may as well get to know my roommates and meet new people - that is what you do in a hostel. Oliver asked if I was hungry, and after our large meal at the restaurant plus dessert - heck NO. Oh, come on - have some bread with cheese and pesto. Then they offered me wine again. How could I resist?

Unfortunately, I woke up a few times in the night with a sore throat - not good. Then when I was up for the day I was very stuffy and felt run down. Great... But I got up and prepared to meet Gwosh for our 8:30am breakfast. Josh had asked the night before what time the place opened for breakfast and they said 8:30, but apparently that was more of an 8:30 ish. So, we got capuccinos and waited around. Breakfast was okay; I got a milkshake to soothe my sore throat.

Then we headed towards Via dell Amore. This was a path from our town to the next, Manorola. It is an easy 20 minute walk and along the way you see declarations of love - locks, ribbons, and (of course) graffitti. For once though, I didn't mind the graffitti as much.

When we arrived at Manorola we were amazed by the number of tourists, and almost all of them were seniors. It was jampacked full of people, so as it turned out, we were easily pushed aside by these older folks and missed our ferry. They were pretty ruthless! I am sure it was a nice and fun vacation, but we were kind of ready to throw down at one point as they showed no mercy. So, while we waited another hour for the next ferry, we took some photos, got some beer and then some more gelato. I think I got caffe this time and hoped it would help soothe my throat which was on fire.

We got on the second ferry by not giving way and made our way to Vernazza. Along the route, you could see the third town of Cinque Terre, Corniglia, which is tucked up on an outcrop and has no access via the sea. I think that was the town that could have been my favorite. I would not have minded hiking there, but I could feel the cold coming on and was already run down. Bummer. We pulled into Vernazza and it was breathtaking... or would have been if you could see through the masses of people. We must have come at the senior summer special or something. We made our way to some rocks and found a place to put our stuff down and sunbathe. The water was pretty cold but somewhat refreshing. And it was just very peaceful to sit and observe the beauty of the entire area. We stayed here for a couple of hours until we decided to get some lunch. We wound up getting pizza which was ok, then shopping for souvenirs. I got a couple of little things and an artistic print of Vernazza. Then we took the train back to Riomaggiore. I was actually a little worried about getting accidentally knocked onto the tracks - seriously, holy tourists!!!

We met for the sunset, which was just gorgeous and took lots of photos. Then we were able to get a table at the restaurant that overlooked the ocean. As usual, the waiter offered the first taste of wine to the man of the table, Josh, but this time Josh let Gwen determine if it was adequate. Of course it was - unless it is really bad, wine is all good. Food was bleh and service was bleh, but it was a great atmosphere. It was so bleh though, that we decided to stick with what we knew was good and we returned to our restaurant from the night before for dessert. Same old guy was there and we got our same desserts. It was totally worth it.

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Photos

Mosquito bites
never been so attacked by those little suckers. teehee

Via Columbo
main street in Riomaggiore

Via dell Amore
pathway to the next town of Manorola

Via dell Amore
entry

Via dell Amore
locks on the pathway

Via dell Amore
more locks

View from up top
back towards Riomaggiore

Via del Amore
see the graffiti even here? But I guess this was all love stuff, so a little better.

Comments

[Steve]

What a great vacation! I'm so jealous! Thanks for sharing!

[lexispence10]

Great vacation!
It was a fantastic time and much need free time! We did a LOT and a lot of walking, but it was all fun. Thanks for continuing to read... :)