Minterosso al Mare
Trip Start
Unknown
1
16
Trip End
Ongoing
Monterosso al Mare, Liguria, Italy
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monterosso al Mare was an interesting excursion for us. At first our only intentions were to have some lunch at the beach, but after 45 minutes of driving through sharp turns to get us there, and then basking in the magnificence that was the coast, we couldn't get ourselves to leave! We decided it best to find a campsite for the night. At 3:30 in the afternoon, we gathered our things and headed back to the car which was parked hugging the mountain on the outskirts of town. The town itself I must say was also equaly as beautiful. Along our drive back up the moutnain, we followed the picture with a tent symbolizing campground to get us to where we wanted to go. This was somewhat tricky and required Marcus and I asking for directions to the campground, but we eventually found it. Twenty-seven euros a night! Score! We arrived in the nick of time too. Many people came a few hours after only to find there was nothing left. We chose the site with the most shade, pitched our tent, and made a spagetti dinner with what was left of Marcus' basil plant, two tomatoes, some olive oil and barrilla noodles. Mmmm! We decided that we had not seen enough of this quaint little town and so ventured with our car back down the moutain to the same area we had parked at before.
It was a warm night as I recall. Through out this trip I have discovered that my walk has been incredibly slow, taking in everthing as I went. Marcus on the other hand, I could see, was appearing pressed for time. For me, a sunset is all around you. It is in the way the sun hits the earth and sky. For Marcus on the other hand, the sun itself is the sunset, and so we better hurry! We reached the Mideval Tower in which I figured was the end to our hike and that there we could revel in the view, the colors of the sky changing and eachother, but when I turned around he was gone! Not sure where he went, I made my way back past the mideval tower peering over the ledge at the stairs that came before. No sign of Marcus. Then I went back after only a few minutes to find him waiting near a bench that overlooked the ocean. Confused, I had told him what had happened and that I had lost site of him somewhere along the way.
Not communicating at this point we both found ourselves walking on towards the stairs that led down to the second waterfront and then to where the beach met the water. This was not the same beach from which we had come from, and where we had spent our afternoon but an entirely different one, one in which we found to be privately owned by the local resorts that were there. Another idea of Marcus's was to have a second swim in the ocean, but Marcus later decided it was not worth it as the showers for this beach were closed to outside use. Still beautiful non the less, we walked back along the path and up the stairs towards the mideval tower. When we reached a certain point I looked up and discovered stairs that led to a point higher above from where we were standing. There was a ledge at the very top with what appeared to be people too standing and observing the view. ''How could I have missed these stairs?'' I thought to myself, having been so preoccupied with the mideval tower and ocean itself. Marcus then blurted out that that was where he wanted to go! I had no idea that the top of the stairs and beyond was what he meant with the words 'tower'. In my dismay, I looked up at him and said, ''Well then lets go there!'' We pressed on up the stairs with Marcus now leading the way. When we reached the top of one set of stairs Marcus looked out upon the ocean and sky. In moments though, he was leading the way once again. This turned out to be quite the hike! Darkness was falling fast too.
We quickly discovered that the top of the mountain was not mountain alone, but a church that appeared to be very sacred to the local villagers. We entered the arched gate to the church that led to some very steep and uneven stairs. At the top of the stairs and to the right we discovered walls and walls of tombs, with names and dates carved in stone across the face of each. Marcus slowly traced his fingers across the name and date of one of them. In silence, we walked along the path. At the end of the path was a more traditional looking cemetery with tomb stones. Surrounding it was a miniature stone wall and beyond that a view of the ocean and waterfront below. "I had no idea", I told Marcus who sat silently on the wall overlooking the sea, next to the now dark cemetary. I don't think he knew either.
