Day 13 - Vernazza - Corniglia - Manarola - Riomaggiore - Monterosso

            Today was our hiking day.  We started our day with a nice cup of hot chocolate and a pastry.

 We loaded up on some fruit and snacks for our trekking.  The cities of the Cinque Terra are all connected with footpaths.  Some are direct and flat and hug the ocean while others climb into the mountains and then fall back to the ocean.  We had planned to stick to mostly the flat, easier trails, but unfortunately all of those trails were damaged due to rockslides.  We started out our trek by heading straight up the mountain.  It was a great work out with a scenic view.  Imagine walking stairs for 90 minutes straight.  Our thighs were burning.  We visited Corniglia and walked through the town.  The towns were tiny.  You could see the entire town in about a 15 minutes walk.  Our next town was another straight up, then straight down adventure to Manarola.

 
            Our hope was to take a boat ride from Riomaggiore, the town furthest south, to Monterosso, the town furthest north, but the water was to choppy and no water taxis were running.  Instead we jumped on the train and headed north.  Our final walk/hike for the day was Monterosso to Vernazza.  We arrived in Vernazza just as the sun was setting and once again enjoyed the postcard sunset.

            For the first time of the entire trip we couldn’t come to a consensus for dinner so we split up.  We enjoyed pesto pasta and pizza with the Ludlow’s down on the Harbor outside.  While we were dinning we could hear the 2 couples next to us speaking in English.  Then we started hearing things like ward, missionary, church, and realized they probably were LDS.  Sure enough, next to us was a missionary couple serving in southern Italy with their friends who had come for a visit.  Small world.  We went to bed that night exhausted.  Since we had to switch apartments, we moved our stuff up to an apartment near the top of town and the train station.  Trains can be very noisy!

Day 12 - Florence - Vernazza

            Our first stop this morning was the Medici Chapel, only minutes from our hotel.  We had already passed this building several times in the past couple of days.   We especially enjoyed the carvings of dawn and dusk by Michelangelo.  Then we went to the Bargello Museum, which was first an old fortress and then the civic center of Florence.  It houses statues and artifacts, among which are famous statues from Michelangelo and Donatello.

Michelangelo's Dawn and Dusk

Bargello Courtyard

Dontallo's David

            We gave ourselves a few minutes longer to shop and linger in Florence and Eric and I returned to the Mercato Centrale to get our prosciutto sandwich. 

At 1:00 we met at the hotel and headed out of town.  I’m sure our group looked a bit funny as we rolled our suitcases down the street to the main train station.  We’ve been lucky enough that in every place we’ve stayed we can walk from the train station to our hotel.  Walking is the best way to get around these Italian cities.  We took a longish ride to La Spezia on our way to Vernazza.  In La Spezia, I’m ashamed to admit, we had McDonalds for an afternoon snack. 

            We finally arrived in Vernazza around 6:00.  This is a 1 stop, 1 street, coastal down on the hills falling into the Mediterranean.  Our guidebook said that’s is easiest to just find a room to rent when you arrive in town.  What the guidebook didn’t say was that finding 4 rooms is a bit trickier and that one should arrive before 6:00 p.m.  Needless to say it was a scramble to find 4 rooms. 

Leaning out the window of the Real Estate Office trying to find rooms

Our first night in Vernazza

Lara started at the top of town talking to store owners and such working her way down to the end of town.  By the time she headed back up the street the store-owners were helping her look as well.  People were coming out of the woodwork and letting her know that their friend might have a room.  With the help of Francesa, the owner of the Gelateria, and a local travel agency she managed to get 3 rooms for 2 nights and then another 2 rooms for us for the 2 nights.  We would have to switch.  It was a bit of a panic, but something we laughed about the next day.

            We managed to get in a quick walk to the top of the city over looking the ocean.  The lights, in combination with the colors of the buildings, were amazing and just like a postcard.  Our dinner that night was an adventure that proved to be really good.  The specialty of the area is anchovies, which ended up being really tasty and milder than one would think.  We also had a seafood risotto that was really good.

            Our room for the night was a small room, tucked away up a narrow ally, that’s more like a walkway than a street.  You walked right into the 1 bedroom area directly from the alley.  It was quaint and fun.

We got the perfect night lighting for these pictures.