The conquer of Cinque Terre
Trip Start
Jul 02, 2005
1
11
12
Trip End
Jul 23, 2005
La Spezia/Cinque Terre, Italy
Monday, July 18, 2005
I will post some pictures from our hike, but I have so many because the hike was just so beautiful! The train ride to La Spezia from Rome was about 4 hours. Our hotel was in La Spezia, right outside of Riomaggiore. It was cute, had a lot of shopping, but the people could have been a little more friendly. Friday night was pretty uneventful. We had dinner, gelato, and headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep. We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to catch an 8:30 train to the first town, Riomaggiore, but read the time table wrong (which are madly confusing) and had to wait until 10am for the next train. We started the walk around 10:30 am and the hike between the first two towns was pretty simple. Walking into Corniglia was our first encounter with many steps...320 steps to be exact! We stopped in the fourth town of Vernazza, for a bite to eat and then continued on for the last leg of the hike. The hike between Vernazza and Monterosso was by far the most difficult. There were many stairs, both up and down not to mention it was 2:30/3:00 at this point. The sun was hot! As soon as we made it into Monterosso we showered off and laid on the beach! Overall, the whole hike took about 5 hours. We took a boat back to La Spezia, showered, and then headed to dinner. The dinner was great, but our beds were sounding much better!
This morning we went back into Riomaggiore for lunch and some shopping before heading back to Rome. We are now back at the Rome center, pretty exhausted, ready for the week ahead, but also pretty ready for our flight home on Saturday!!! :)
There is a website for Cinque Terre, which has more information on the towns if you are interested: www.cinqueterre.it
Comments
Wow!!!
Sounds like you girls are having a great time. It was so much fun to read about your trip! It sure did keep me laughing. I love the picture of St Peter at night, how awesome! Becky- I am sorry to hear about Rosa Lampo, really it was sad to read you lost her. Beth- I am anxiouly awaiting your return, for some sanity :)
Hope your trip continues to be great!
LisaE
well that was fast!
it feels like you're in another world (i'm sure, even more so to you guys) and time is passing at a different rate. i can't believe you'll be home by saturday, but i've missed you like crazy- weird since we used to go pretty much easter to thanksgiving without really seeing each other...how things have changed! we'll have to have a welcome back party! :) i know you're both having a fabulous time- can't wait to see you two!
love, rach