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Published: April 11th 2013
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Vernazza PanoramaToday we woke up to SUN! We had 2 days of walking to go but the best trail we wanted to do was Vernazza to Monterosso which is actually technically shut. So we decided to do it anyway as we have seen lots of people walking it! We had heard that it was very treacherous and 2 miles of steep steps but stunning views so we were excited about the views but I was not excited about the stairs after how my back coped slash didnt cope yesterday with all the uphill stair climbing! So I downed a 3 euro 50 red bull, did some stretches in the sun to prepare! And off we went!
It was such a gorgeous day! Perfect temperature and the sun was streaming through! We climbed for a bit and looked down on Vernazza sparking in the sunlight which looked so beautiful! We watched stupid tourists standing on top the rocks getting soaked by waves again even though they were barred off. Not that we could speak as we were hiking past many signs saying 'path closed' 'do not tresspass' 'falling rocks' etc! But there were still quite a few rebels doing it anyway and
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Red bull and stretch session before our big hike loads of people you wouldn't expect to rebel! So it was perfect, much less crowded than normal and we didnt have to pay! 😊 We walked uphill for prob about half an hour but it wasn't even bad! Very gradual. As we got to the top point it was just such an incredible view so we sat up there and made a lil picnic with our snacks we had prepared and took loads of pics and just soaked it all in! We got stopped at one point for about 10 mins by some men in hard hats telling us to wait as they were working on reinforcing the cliff to stop rocks from falling. Maybe this was why the trail was closed!!!
We got about half way and were enjoying it so much and were saying how weird it was that it was rated 'difficult' and we had only gone up stairs for about 30 mins max! Then we started descending and passed a lot of people coming from the other direction puffing and sweating and we assured them it was easy from here on for them and they said to us 'we wish we could say the same
for you!!' And about 30 mins later we realised why the reviews etc said it was so hard! The more common way of doing this trail is from Monterosso not from Vernazza, as this is where most people stay! So they had 2 miles literally directly up slippery, awkward stairs and thankfully for us we only had to go down them!!! We saw lots of people struggling up them and I was just so thankful we went the good way!! It took us about an hour 45 and was my fav part of the trip so far!
When we got into Monterosso we were starving so wandered around looking for somewhere to get our stock standard pizza meal and eat it in the sun. We stumbled across a lil place called Pizza e Focca, which we saw looked nice so went in and ordered a large pesto and salami pizza to share. It said 5 mins guaranteed and it literally was! The guy who owned and ran the place was lovely and so passionate again! He was flitting around getting everybody everything they needed, just whipped out a nutella pizza while he was at it! What the?!!! Just a
base smothered in nutella! We have taken to writing reviews on tripadvisor this week as we feel we need to give something back to the travelling community! haha 😊 So this guy will be getting a fantastic review! We are not sure if it was cos we had just hiked for an hour 45 ish but the pizza was sensational!!
We wandered around Monterosso's old and new town for a bit and got a gelato by the sea even though we were stuffed full - when in italy... 😊 and contemplated what to do for the arvo. Ben had decided he wanted to do another 3 hour hike back to Vernazza up in the hills which looked like it was going to be an hour and a half up steep steps which I wasnt too keen on! I initially wasnt going to go, then decided i didnt wanna miss out, then got about 15 mins up and realised actually my back is pretty sore and it'll be good 'ben time' for him to do it alone and not have to wait for me. So he went on without me and I went back down and consequently, after sitting on
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The beginning of the walk the beach for 20 mins, spent an hour 20 at the blimmin train station waiting for a train as our one didn't arrive! So ended up getting home 20 mins before Ben!
Ben enjoyed his hike but after about 2 hours took the wrong trail. He downplayed it initially to me just saying the trail was a lil tight and he got a few scratches and then he started getting ready for a shower and he was covered head to toe literally including a scratch on his forehead! On the way to dinner he then claims that he was climbing over olive groves and fences when he realised he was on the wrong track but could see where he was meant to be! He got some pretty cool pics and managed to get back here so all was good!
Meanwhile I had looked up trip advisor yet again for dinner options and found a restaurant (Le Torre) up on a hill overlooking Monterossa and Vernazza which sounded lovely! We hiked up there with our legs already pretty dead - especially Ben's. The view was absolutely stunning and we were lucky to see the sun set which was beautiful.
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House almost totally wiped out with the landslide Unfortunately the same could not be said for the food! Ben tried Pesto lasagne which sounded odd anyway and I had normal lasagne! Both were terrible! I only had a few mouthfuls of mine before hiding some under the left over bruschetta and tossing some off the side of the cliff cos I felt bad leaving so much! Other than the food, a beautiful end to a gorgeous day!
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Pete A
non-member comment
Travel blog and photos
Love the commentary great photos. Keep it up. Seems Ben has lost his sense of direction. Nothing like a long hike lost in the Olive Groves. Silly boy. Love Pete & Dy.