July 5-7: Cinque Terre, Italy (By Jeff)

After a very long day of travel with a 1.5 hour plane, 1 hour bus, and 3.5 hour train we were very relieved to have finally made it to Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre is a set of 5 small towns that are connected by a gorgeous coastal walking route between each town. It’s popularity has made this region a national park as it is great to explore the towns and hike between them if it is not 95 degrees (which it was when we were there). Since neither of us have ever been to Italy, our first meal was quite a big deal for us as we have only heard stories and tasted what America considers Italian food. That first dinner was a gluttonous display with shellfish pasta, meat ravioli, stuffed mussels, grilled swordfish and a bottle of wine. We like to remind ourselves that we are backpacking not to overdo it (we had not eaten for like 8 hours prior to dinner).

The following morning we decided to start the hiking between the villages. We were at the southern-most village so the other 4 villages were along the trail to the North of us. The first couple villages are short walks like 20 and 40 minutes while the final 2 are 1.5 and 2 hours all increasing with difficulty. We hiked to Corniglia (3rd town) and realized it was too hot to do a difficult 2 hour hike and took the 10 minute train to the next town Vernassa. We hung out here for a while and eventually rented a Kayak to go explore some of the cliffs that surround this beautiful area and take a swim away from the tourist swarms. The ocean appeared a lot calmer within the dock area than it was when out there a ways and Liz began to feel her seasickness kick in. It was a quick but very gorgeous way to see the towns. We went for dinner in the final town Monterosso at a restaurant right on the beach with a great view as the sun was setting. We agreed that the following day we would get up “early” and go hike between Vernassa and Monterosso (it is said to be the most beautiful hike) before it got too hot and before our train to Siena that evening.

Our later start to the day than expected allowed for the heat to set in more than we would have preferred before beginning the hike, but we were committed nonetheless. Within minutes sweat was pouring down our faces and we knew it was going to be a challenging and disgusting next 1.5 hours. Upon reaching the summit of the hike you get a complete view of Vernassa and how beautiful it looks tucked away between mountains and flush with the ocean. As we pushed on swatting away bees and other insects attracted to our sweat we finally began to go downhill where the hike gets easier and eventually made it to Monterosso…the hard way. We hung at the beach for a couple hours and relaxed before hopping back on the train and heading down to Siena for the next few nights.


Monterosso Beach


Vernassa