9/8 – Day 10: Riomaggiore
Today was mostly a travel day, as we prepped for at least 4 days with a lighter load.
We only packed Norina’s bag and our day bag for however long we would wind up touring through other Italian cities…and left everything else in my backpacking bag. Mel’s mother was nice enough to allow us to keep our bag there while we were gone…so after a tasty croissant breakfast from the cafe downstairs, we made our way out to her place later in the morning.
It took a bit to get out there, but we eventually made it…walked and talked a bit, and then had lunch at a spot nearby, before continuing on for our 5+hour train rides out to the small village of Riomaggiore, in the Cinque Terre area.
When we finally arrived, we were greeted with a parade! Apparently, we were coming in on the one day of the year where they celebrate their local winemakers for a celebration they call, Simaatera.
After we got all checked into our place, we explored the small village for a couple hours. The pastel colors of the buildings made for beautiful views of both the village and beyond…I was already happy that we made the decision to come down this way.
For dinner, we shared a fried calamari and sardine box and a bottle of red wine to experience the local grapes. A nice way to cap off a day of travel and prepare for our long hike tomorrow!
9/9 – Day 11: Cinque Terre
Today, we are hiking the Azure trail from village to village. It is a beautiful hike along the coast and through the vineyards of the area, with a stop through each of the villages.
We woke up early to get a good jump on the day. The first village we needed to get to was Manarola. It would have been about a 25 minute hike to here, but unfortunately, the trail was closed and under repair until 2021, so we actually needed to take the 2 min train out there instead.
We ate our breakfast in Manarola to prep us for the journey ahead of us…and then made our way to the first part of our hike to Corniglia, which should have been about 2 hrs.
But again, unfortunately, it looked like the trail along the coast was closed, so we needed to take a detour route, which actually took us to another small village, Volastra, first. On the way there, while climbing up through the grape vineyards (and picking a couple along the way), we missed a turn and kept on climbing up until we finally hit a dead end. We actually weren’t the only people to do this though, as a few other groups behind us wound up doing the same. We finally made it into Volastra in probably 2 hours after some more climbing and olive vineyards. We got a small sandwich for a snack while there, before continuing on.
It took us almost another 1.5 hrs to get Corniglia – It was pretty though…and a good sign of how the rest of the hike would pretty much be – start with a climb and a nice view of the village…flatten out some…then downhill with a nice view of the next village. We explored Corniglia for about 20 minutes…it was nice, but I liked Riomaggiore better.
The next phase of our hike was out to Vernazza. This was about 2.25 miles, and advised to be about 1.5-2 hrs. We wound up finishing right in the middle of that…but we were pretty worn out by now….but the view of the village right at the end was amazing!
We stayed in Vernazza for 1.5 hrs… eating lunch…and walking around the village a little. Lunch was really yummy, as well got some takeout lasagna pesto and cannelloni, and ate by the water. We wound up going up to the castle, which wound up being pretty lame…decent views…but we’d seen them for the most part while hiking in. The village itself was a bit too touristy for me, as it was jam-packed with people everywhere we went.
So now, we were ready for the last part of our hike…which was another 2.25 miles, and hopefully under 2 hrs. Up-flat-down. After about a half hour of straight climbing, things eased up, and we were getting excited to finish up. We were treated to more nice views, and as we descended upon Monterosso, we were so happy!
Overall, it took us 8.5 hrs, and garmin says for 10.7 miles. After visiting the church in Monterosso, we went to the beach and let our feet soak in the sea water for a bit…soooo nice!! Then we just relaxed out there for awhile, before making our way back to Riomaggiore by train. With Monterosso being the northernmost village of the area, this was also a popular spot filled with people…also probably because it seemed to have the biggest beach area. So in the end, Riomaggiore was probably my favorite.
After we made it back and got all cleaned up, we treated ourselves to some farinata, pizza and white wine. The farinata was delicious, but unfortunately, the pizza was just ok…definitely had better. But satisfied us enough to sleep well for the night!
Jump to:
Switzerland
Zurich > Lucerne > Zermatt > Thun > Lauterbrunnen
Italy
Milan > Cinque Terre > Florence > Bologna > Venice
The Dating Life of Norina and Jonathan 