Cinque Terre II

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Vernazza to Riomaggiore was a bigger day than before. It is a twisty but wonderful path thru Corniglia and Manarola. It was pretty easy, but the closer we got to Riomaggiore the more day trippers we encountered. By the time we took our first steps on the Via della Amore it was like peak hour in Pitt Street.
We hit Rio & headed straight for our hhotel. We walked up the hill to the very top of town, where our hotel, the only hotel in town, is located, and had a cool shower. Redressed in clean clothes we headed for our ristorante for the evening, & you guessed it, it is the last caffe at the bottom of the town. The food & wine were great, & so was the walk back to the top of town afterwards. The good news is that's where the walk started the next day.
Dennis opted for the ferry ride to Portovenere, leaving the 14km walk to Louise, John, Dot & I. We climbed to over 500 m from Riomaggiore before descending into Portovenere. The days walk took us firstly up an incredibly steep climb to Telegrapho, thru farms & then thru pine forests to the small town of Campiglia, where we stopped for refreshments before traversing the high exposed hillsides above Portovenere. Just outside of Porto, as the old fort came into view, who should appear from behind a bush on the side of the track, but Gazza from Vernazza ( as Dennis had named himself a couple of nights earlier in a ristorante). He thought he should meet & welcome us after our jouney. You can understand why Portovenere is called the Port of Venus, the view on the way down the mountain is simply spectacular! We weren't disappointed with the view from out room either, looking out over the harbour & Islo Palmaria. We had two nights here, and also trekked around the Islo the next day after a short ferry ride across the strait.
Looking across to the mainland we watched a procession of brides (5 or 6 over the day) as they made their way up to the Chapel of Love to be married. The churchbells chimed "Here comes the bride" for each and every one of them to announce the happy occasssion to the whole village.
The gulf of poets is a crazy combination of opposites. Ferraris & backpackers. Diamonds & daytrippers. Ducatis & Vespas. Ocean liners & wooden dory boats. And all beside the crystal clear Meditereanean water that is so unbelievably blue.
Saddly, the next day we had to bid farwell to our trio of fellow trekkers (John, Louise & Dennis) as they were starting their homeward journey.
We have picked up our hire car ( and a parking ticket already). Wow, driving in Italy is a real experience for Dot, and she is only the passenger !!! Oh, and after the first day on the road for yours truley, i'm never driving in Italy again. I must have been crazy to sign up for this !!

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Photos

Hash run in Verazza
The Vernazza RE HHH runners.

on the way to Riomaggiore
This is the veiw from our lunch stop

Manarola
The trekkers nearing Manarola

at the entrance to the port
This is where the brides were headed to the Chapel of Love.

side street in Portovenere
Dot shopping again......