Take a hike!
Trip Start
Jun 15, 2007
1
23
36
Trip End
Aug 13, 2007
Riomaggiore, Italy
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The first leg, from Riomaggiore to Manarola, was a cinch - it was short and on level terrain the whole way - giving us a false sense of confidence. The next leg, to Corniglia, wasn't too difficult at first, but as we approached Corneglia, we had to climb a huge set of stairs - practically from sea level to the top of a cliff where Corniglia is situated. Not fun. But we made it, and stopped for lunch here (...pizza... what else?). When we felt recharged we set out for the next town, Vernazza. This proved to be the hardest leg. It took us almost an hour and a half, the first half requiring us to climb huge rock steps to the top of the mini-mountain that separates Corneglia and Vernazza. In the heat of the day (probably up in the mid-thirties and pure sun - exactly the kind of weather that you'd want for the beach, but not the greatest for a long hike!) this proved to be quite difficult. There are a few perks to this however... once you reach the top, the scenery is stunning, and you remember why you did it. Also, there is nowhere to go but down - even though this isn't always easy, it's much better than going up! We were both exhausted when Vernazza came into sight, but not too tired to marvel at the view and take pictures of the cute little town. A lot of the towns bear resemblance to Santorini, and hit a soft spot with us. Sitting on the rocky coast, their houses and buildings seem to cling vicariously to the cliffs that rise vertically from the sea. While the colours are different, the essence is the same.
Here, in Vernazza, we stopped for water and gelato, and relaxed a little before taking on the last part of what was turning into a gruelling hike. We tossed around the idea of catching a ferry to Monterosso instead, but both decided we had come this far and had to finish what we'd started - if only for bragging rights! We then set out on what we thought would be the hardest leg, but to our pleasant surprise, it was slightly easier than the previous one had been. It was just as long, but the ascent wasn't as steep, and after climbing down a few hundred steps at the end, Monterosso's beach came into sight... we were finally home free!
Upon our arrival, we immediately jumped into the water - a nice refreshment after a six hour hike! We relaxed for a little while on the beach then caught a train back to Riomaggiore to shower and fill up on pasta.
After dinner, we met up with a new friend from California, and went down to one of the rocky beaches of Riomaggiore, where we happened to come across a local guy sitting by himself, playing guitar by tealight. We sat there for the rest of the evening, drinking wine and watching for shooting stars (we saw several!), all the while being serenaded by some true Italian music. One neat thing about this beach at night is that the water is filled with miniscule bioluminescent organisms, so when you glide your hand through the water, you can see tiny flashes of light where you've disturbed the water. It's a really strange and interesting sight!
This morning we checked out of out hostel and boarded a train to Nice. We are both excited about our re-entry into France!
