Cinque Terre

First off - I have been whistled at. Well I as with my room mate who I admit is more into the dress thing than me, but I can claim an Italian man attack. This occured in Verona.

Getting to Cinque Terre was an adventure on its own, granted small adventure compared to what I expect is coming up next, but an adventure nonetheless.

We got to the train station in Verona where they said the train would be delayed 50 minutes so some in our group went for some food. Then they changed saying only 1 minute late so our tour guide was running around desperately trying to get people to catch the train. We all boarded in time to sit around for 50 minutes since the train was still late, just sitting on the tracks. We just made our connection in Milan because fortunately that train was late as well. Here's a view of us on the Milan station platform.

After we crossed through some mountains (pouring rain) we descended down to the coast. We would spend a lot of time in tunnels and then emerge at a town. In the distance you could see the highway bridge.

Finally we made it to Corniglia. Lucky for laundry it is very hot here and we have a rooftop patio that also has clotheslines.

Cinque Terre is a national park and also a UNESCO world heritage site. There are five villages built above the cliffs, surrounded by grapes and olive groves. They used to be connected by only small pathways among the terraces.

The five villages from west to east are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We are staying in the smallest village in two hotels.


I have no idea what this funky plant is.

This is the advantage of the tour, Corniglia is a small village and one girl on the trip said she was trying to find a place to stay here on her own but if they had a webpage it was only a phone number and she knew she'd be stuck trying to speak Italian to some little old lady who inherited the place and rents out rooms. The Hotel we are staying at has rooms with fantastic views to the ocean (my room is on the other side but oh well, it's cooler). The disadvantage to Corniglia is to get to the village is 382 steps up from the train station. However, there is a local shuttle bus but he was not impressed as we all squeezed in with our luggage.
The next day we used our park passes to walk the trails. Since Cinque Terre is a national park you need to buy a park pass ($5). I also paid for train and bus transit (+ $2.50). First thing in the morning (8am...) we started out from Corniglia west to Monterossa. This was the best part of the trail, it wound through olive groves and grape terraces but it was a lot of up and down and the trail was relatively rough. It was 7km and probably reached ~100m between the villages. Once in Vernazza we stopped for snacks and looked around.



When I reached Monterossa I went for a swim. It was so refreshing and at the public beaches they even had showers. Public toilets however are much harder to find. They are available for free at the train stations but next time I go I will remember toilet paper. When we did the hike it was cloudy and early but still incredibly hot. I believe the earlier you can do the trail, the happier you will be. Again in all the villages you could get drinking water from public fountains. This has been great about Italy so far, lots of water.

Italian women all wear bikini's, it doesn't matter how old. Lots of girls wearing bikini's younger and more attractive than me. No, to the interested parties I did not take any photos. There are lots of beaches in all the towns and between the towns, however in the bigger towns the majority of the beach was $10.

After the swim I caught the train East from Monterosso to the last village Riomaggiore. I could have paid about $15 for the boat but I like the train better, even though most of the time it was in tunnels.

In Riomaggiore I ran into more group members and we walked back. The trail between Riomaggiore and Manarola was ok but not near as scenic as the western end. It was much much easier to walk as it was paved with flagstone and probably wheelchair accessible. There was also a few cafes. The trail just wound along the cliff side.

From Manarola to Corniglia the trail was slightly rougher and had some up and down but again very easy and not near as impressive as the mornings hikes. At the end we hiked up the 382 steps to Corniglia. If I wasn't interested in being able to say I walked the five villages (and that the eastern side was so undemanding) I wouldn't bother walking Riomaggiore to Corniglia. But getting up really early for the hike from Corniglia to Monterossa is a must.

Now at the end of the day the tour group is sitting with our takeout pizza on the roof patio of our hotel. We have been drinking a lot of wine, watching the sun set and enjoying our dinner after a long day of walking around. what a lovely evening, the temperature is perfect but that might be all the the wine that is talking...

Probably the best way to see Cinque Terre is to find a lover and visit. My trip plan so far would include flying into Venice to see the Doge's palace and Basillica again and then taking the train to Corniglia. If you come in the shoulder season (May, Sept) apparently you can just show up and find a room. You would stay in the small village, in the heat of the day wander down to the beach for a swim, have lovely dinners with lots of wine and spend the evenings watching the sun set from your lovely balcony giving each other those looks that makes any company around roll their eyes. Next up, find the lover. Maybe I should hold auditions.