Cinqueterre

We just spent the past day in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. We stayed in Vernazza, the 2nd town(of 5) from the north. We got in yesterday around 130, put our bags in our room + set out for the 5 hour hike (which took us only 3 and a half hours thank you very much). We started in the southern most town, Riomaggio, which was the easiest(20 minutes) + most beautiful part of the hike, which took us to Manarola. Well it was all pretty beautiful, but maybe the best place for pictures.

To our left

To our right
Manarola

The best part of the hike is that you can stop in each town + see them! Which is great for us, because we only had the day + the trains come about every 20-30 minutes. The next trek was about an hour + ended going up steps to Corniglia. I had read that this was pretty hard as there were a lot of steps, so Scott + I ran up them.

Corngilia

From Corniglia to Vernazza took about an hour and the terrain started to pick up. Lots of tiny paths that we squeezed through + uphill climbs. My favorite part of this trek was seeing a cross country team running up the hills. Definitely different than my high school experience running through the streets of Riveria. We stopped in Vernazza for some water + to put my bag down (ya don't hike with a Longchamp) + then continued on. Funny thing is, the only time I tripped the whole day, was running up the stairs in our apartment.

View of Vernazza, where we were staying

From Vernazza to Monterosso, it was supposed to take 2 hrs, but it only took us 50 minutes. We did have a power walk going on + there were lots of crazy tiny paths that we flew through, but really? We followed the path, we swear. So this part started off with this killer steep climb. We literally went from the very bottom of the hills (where Vernazza is) to practically the top in 12 minutes. Made running the stadiums at UF seem like a flat road. We sped through the rest of the trail.

Monterosso

So once we got to the next town, we had to ask and make sure this was Monterosso because it had only been 50 minutes. We got some powerade + shopped around + then sat down for pizza, a pina collado, + a blue something for scott. We made some friends with kids from Portland (thanks to the Blazers jersey scott was rocking) + then took the train back to Vernazza. And while we were waiting 20 minutes for the train, we entertained ourselves with the scale waiting to weigh tourists (weird ya). And guess what, we have both lost weight! Ha, it might have been the power workout we just had, but hey I'll go to Europe for 2 wks + eat everything in sight if I lose weight!

We then showered + got ready for dinner 2. On the trail we had seen a restaurant overlooking the water but really high up that we wanted to go to. While walking through, we saw a sign for a restaurant up a path, so we took our chances. And guess what, we found it (so what if Vernazza is really tiny). We had a very yummy dinner of veal + tomato/pesto pasta goodness + a big salad + a bottle of wine overlooking the Mediterranean. It was beautiful.

We then had dessert + fell soundly asleep in our comfortable + clean bed. We even had a little terrace + stairs to the roof! The shower was interesting. The nozzle was a hand nozzle. New experiences are always fun.

We woke up in the morning + had eggs. I got mine with yummy veggies + scott got sasuage (which was actually hot dogs). We had our bathing suits on + went down to the beach for a couple hours, before boarding the train back to La spezia + then to Pisa. We will be in Cinqueterre (Vernazza), Pisa, + Rome within 12 hours. Living the life!

Side note:
So if you are planning to powerwalk/run this hike, plan on 3 and a half hours. Leisurely pace of 5-6.