The plan was to travel by boat from Monterosso (town #5) to Riomaggiore (town #1) and then hike back - stopping in each of the towns along the way. We intended to hike a bit, see the scenery and then take the boat or train to the next town when we could not hike or did not wish to hike. (The trail is actually out of order between town #2 - Manarola and town #3 - Corniglia.)
The boat ride was a nice start and we made it to the southernmost village, Riomaggiore. We enjoyed the city and struck out to hike to the next town. This part of the Cinque Terre National Park trail is named "Via dell'Amore" - the trail of love. The path was level and the hike to the next town was an easy twenty-minute stroll which we turned into forty minutes. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed imagining all the lovers who had hiked here before us. We enjoyed lunch in Manarola (town #2) and took the train to town three - Corniglia. We saw the town and here's where we made our mistake. That first hike was so easy. We imagined the hike from #3 - Corniglia to Vernazza (town #4) would be longer and maybe a bit of a challenge - but we'd be ok. Well...almost 2 hours later we finally made it to Vernazza - after navigating some of the very steepest, most narrow, rough and torturous paths I have seen. Needless to say, this hike bore no resemblance to Via dell'Amore! But - we did make it. We saw Vernazza. We took the train to Monterosso - our home base - and we were glad to get dinner and a shower.
Yes - counting all our steps today we logged ten miles. And along the way we saw one of the most beautiful places on earth! Enjoy some of the sights we saw....
Wow! How beautiful! Your ten mile trek reminded me of Russia when we all went to a national park and a 3 kilometer walk turned into a 20K! It's more fun to look back on when you've had the shower and dinner. Thank you for this great blog! Love you guys. Don and Susan
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