Cinque Terre

On Friday, July 26th we took on Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is comprised of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We walked/hiked through all five towns throughout the day with a total of thirteen miles, twenty five thousand steps and over a hundred flights of stairs (a flight of stairs is about 30 steps). It was an exhausting yet breathtakingly beautiful day full of the most amazing views I've ever seen in my entire life. Along our walk of Cinque Terre we met people from all over the world (Norwegians, Spaniards, Australians, etc.) doing the same thing as us. It was neat to think that a famou hike with incredible views could bring this many people from different backgrounds together. Monterosso, the first town of Cinque Terre, is the best town to go to for the beach. Vernazza was one of the smallest of the five as we walked straight off the train and it took us less than ten minutes to reach the water which was the end. We stopped here for lunch where I ate at The Lunch Box and created my own sandwich of turkey, lettuce, mozzarella and artichoke! The next town of Corniglia was anticlimactic. We walked up a ton of stairs to get the Centro Corniglia which turned out to be three stores and a hostel. There wasn't much of a view or anything to do in this town so we continued onto the next one of Manarola which was my personal favorite! Manarola is the most recognizable town of Cinque Terre because it has the buildings of the town built into the side of the mountain. Absolutely amazing to see in person! The last town of Riomaggiore was the last one we hiked up which was brutal! We hiked ALL the way up the top of the hill on these stone step things that looked like they would break. Once we reached the top there was a small overlook at the top and then the rest of the hike was a straight shot back down the hill. Along the hike we saw many plants and trees that all hung over the trails for shade or resided nearby. It was wonderful to have shade from plants on such a hot day. The last stretch of our hike over the hill of Riomaggiore was through multiple vineyards. The trail down Riomaggiore on the opposite side of the hill literally went through someone's personal vineyard where grapes were growing.

After a very exhausting day yesterday we decided to take it easy by being a bunch of beach bums! With our sights set on being beachside all day we headed back to the Monterosso. We spent the entire day there and recoverd from our hike by enjoying the crystal clear waters and sandy beach. There were even vendors selling fresh coconuts to snack on! Today was exactly what I needed to recuperate. All in all, Cinque Terre was incredible and I would definitely come back if given the opportunity!

-T.O.