Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre was the perfect weekend trip! After a three-hour train ride from Roma to La Spezia, and then a twenty-minute train to Monterosso, we were in Cinque Terre. Of the five towns, we stayed in the farthest one called Monterosso. 

 After a quiet Friday evening, we got up early Saturday and were on the trails (with fresh croissants in hand) before ten a.m. From there we hiked the hour and a half to the second town of Vernazza. Climbing roughly cut staircase after staircase, we scaled the hillside and were met with unbelievable views the entire climb. Along the way, we took a little detour in deciding to scale one of the waterfalls that crossed the path. Going up was easy, but coming down… well that was a different story leading to a few bruises and some wet shoes. Deciding to take a break, we stopped for lunch when we arrived in Vernanzza. This town had been heavily hit in the mudslide last fall, but was still operating and very quaint. From there we started the hour hike to the following town of Corniglia. Because of the mudslides, the trail was closed between the third and forth town. At that point we hopped on the train and watched as the fourth town’s station came into view… and then quickly passed by our windows without any slowing of the train…. Apparently we caught the wrong train, so we ended up in Riomaggiore, the final town, instead. We had a lot of fun exploring the harbor town and relaxing on the rocky beach. After having skipping stones and watching fishermen, we backtracked on the trail to the fourth (and final) town. The last trail was more of an easy stroll because it was along a paved path. After hiking and doing stairs all morning, our legs definitely appreciated the rest!

Start of the hike!

Monterosso

View of the coast towards the other towns

Me, Melissa, Marj and Kelly

Vernanzza

Heading out of Vernanzza towards Corniglia

Corniglia- view from about forty minutes hike away

Riomaggiore harbor

Fisherman along the rocks

Riomaggiore from above

countless lemon trees terraced the hills above each town

Manarola

The weather called for rain all weekend, but we lucked out and only had a light cooling drizzle for the first day. If the sun had been out full force, the hiking would have been pretty miserable in the humidity and heat.   

The second day we took the ferry to Porta Venere, which was probably my favorite town of the trip. It is not part of the five towns of Cinque Terre, but nearby along the coast. We only had about two and a half hours in town between the hour-long ferry ride each way and our return train trip scheduled for that evening. I absolutely loved the church that literally looked like it was built up out of the cliffside. Despite a rainstorm that blew through the town, we had a great time exploring the church, hilltop castle, and harbor stores. The ferry ride was also a hilarious time! The seas were really rough (unfortunately for Kelly), but it made it a lot of fun for the rest of us to try and keep our balance. Walking a straight line was absolutely impossible as the boat rocked side to side and up and down!  

Ferry top deck

Melissa and I failing to take a picture together because we couldn't keep our balance!

Marj and I

Porta Venere

All in all it was a great last weekend trip for the seven of us. It was the perfect break from the busy weeks at the end of the semester, and a time to unwind. Also a break from the sightseeing of cities, it was a lot of fun to do something different and hike the coast.