Who's Idea Was This Again??

The hills of Cinque Terre are famous for hiking.  There are paths that connect each town to the other.  Some of the paths are pretty simple, straight, even, paved.  Then there are some paths that are not simple, straight, even or paved.  Since we were staying in Monterosso, we decided to hike the path from Monterosso to Vernazza.  This is one of those paths that was not simple, straight, even or paved.  This was actually the hardest path to hike as it was some how up hill both ways!  How is that even possible??

 The morning of the hike, Jamie thought it would be a good idea to get a picture of Kelly getting ready to hike as he would probably never see this again.  Kelly's idea of hiking is walking the mall.

We chose to hike on the "cooler" of the two days.  It was only supposed to be around 80 that day.  We started with a relaxing breakfast on the patio of the hotel.

The path to hike started down by the beach, so we made our way through the old town to the hiking entrance.  The walk is a pretty one, many balconies have large pots of flowers or flowers that are growing down from the balconies.

  

Time to Hike!

Like I mentioned, the hike begins down by the beach.  Cinque Terre actually has a fee that you are supposed to pay to hike the trails.  It is 9 Euro a person and you pay at a little shack about 1/3 of the way into your hike.  To get to the shack, we had to walk almost straight up the hill.

Here is where it all started, you can tell we are at the beginning because we are all still smiling and not sweaty and dusty as hell.  Let the "fun" begin!

These green hills seemed to never end.  It was amazing the lives that people led on these hills.  Wine grapes were being grown, farms were nestled in ledges.  It was unbelievable how the cities of Cinque Terre adapted to live in these hills.

As you can see, some of the trail was very nicely kept up.  It was dusty, but clear of rocks and had handy fencing to hold on to when high up in the hills.

You can also see some of the trail was not always that nice.  Some of the "steps" were 3 to 4 foot stone that you had to climb to get from one level to another.

Adapt and Overcome!

As I mentioned earlier, it was amazing how the people of Cinque Terre lived in the hills and how they learned to farm, make wine, etc in these steep hills.  One of the more famous items of hill life is the Trenino.  The Trenino is a an adapted farm tractor that is made to go up and down the hills on a track.  Similar to a railroad, but instead of trains it is a farm tractor.  You will see many of these as you hike the hills of Cinque Terrre

Along with farming and wine making, the people also spend quite a bit of time working on the rock walls that keep the terraces in place.  Through out the trail, you would fine field sheds like the one below were supplies were stored to keep the walls repaired,  Normally they were in a shady spot with a blanket on the ground to use for sitting and eating lunch and a shelf on the wall to hold the sciacchetra and glasses. Schicchetra is the local port like wine that many farmers made with the grapes from these hills.

Are We There Yet?!

Supposedly the hike from Monterosso to Vernazza was only a 45 minute hike.  For our group is took more like 90 minutes to 2 hours... although if you ask Kelly she would tell you it was much more than that.  From one of the top spots we took a break to catch our breath and for Kelly to swear at Duane one more time for picking this as his "must do" on the vacation.  

This is Kelly's "You've got to be kidding me!" expression when she realized we were only about half way through the hike.

Looking back to our right, you could still see where we started from, Monterosso.

Looking to our left, Vernazza was supposedly around the cliff.

        

Wait!  What, could that be it?  Does Kelly really see Vernazza down below???

Vernazza - It Does Exist!

After hiking what seemed like forever, and being covered in more dust than you thought imaginable, we finally made it!  We made it to the top of the hill outside of Vernazza!  Looking down on the beautiful bay, it was the image everyone sees when looking up pictures of Italy online or in books.  The bright buildings bounced off the sparkling blue water and made for wonderful pictures.  As Kelly said, it almost made this hike thing bearable....almost.

  

Making it to the bottom of the trail, the walkway leading into Vernazza was beautiful and well maintained. It looked similar to our starting point in Monterosso, a lot of flowers and smiling tourists.

Yeah, we are not following that sign. We will train it back, thank you very much.

Time for Lunch - Ristorante Gambero Rosso Bar!

After that hike, we earned a good lunch. We found a great little place on the bay that had indoor and outdoor seating and more importantly, a bathroom!
(Little side note for everyone, make sure to use the facilities before going on your hike and don't drink so much that nature starts calling in the middle of the hike, because there is no place to stop and the city of Vernazza does not really have public restrooms.)

After spending the morning in the sun, sitting inside sounded like a wonderful idea.  We actually even got a place somewhat close to a fan.   That first bottle of wine went down pretty quickly! 

Eating in Cinque Terre is out of this world if you are a seafood fan.  Everything is fresh caught right outside. This restaurant was no exception.  Octopus is a common item found on most menus.

An Afternoon by the Sea

After a delicious lunch, we wandered the bay area of Vernazza.  Kelly, of course, found a place for gelato while Jamie, Duane, and Tari took in the local scenery.  Many people, both tourist and local alike, were hanging out at the sea wall and playing in the water.

Time to Head Back

After spending some time in Vernazza, it was time to head back to our hotel.  Instead of taking the trail and hiking back, we took the train.  One of the nice things about Cinque Terre is that all the towns are easily connected by train and a ferry boat, so skipping from town to another is not a problem.

The train station in Monterosso actually stops in the "new" town area, so you walk from the station along the beach front to the tunnel that will take you back to "old town".

Quite a few people were out enjoying the sun and sand as we made our way back to our hotel.  Of course, we stopped for gelato as well.... it had been a good 30 minutes since Kelly had finished hers in Vernazza.

Dinner Time - Ristorante Belvedere

After making it back to our hotel, we all took a bit of time to relax, clean up, and for some of us, take a nap, so that we were ready to go again for dinner that night.  The hotel we stayed in was great in helping us with dinner reservations and recommending some great places.  Tonight, was Ristorante Belvedere.  It was just off the beach in old town, so it was a great place to people watch while you ate.

Fresh and Local! 

One of the common things among the restaurants of the Cinque Terre was alot of them did "dinner for two".  This meant that most options on the menu were served to share with another person.  Tonight Jamie and Tari shared the Cioppino.  It was unlike any Cioppino either one of them had ever had!  It was brought out in a terra cotta vase and dumped into a very large serving bowl.  Talk about fresh and local, it had a full lobster and octopus in it!

I am pretty sure we saw this guy swimming in the ocean earlier today!

They did a pretty good job of cleaning their plates!

Two of the best appetizers!  Fresh octopus and sardines.  The sardines surprisingly became everyone's favorite dish over the course of our stay in Cinque Terre.  Many times we would order two plates of them, they were that good!

  

Tari and Duane enjoying the evening and relaxing with a very good local white wine.

More fresh ingredients!  Yes, the tomatoes are really that fresh and vibrant.  Every time we are in Italy I am always amazed at how their vegetables look.  They are always bigger, brighter, and fresher than anything we get back in the states!

Like anything but seafood was an option for dinner!  Kelly had the seafood medley and Duane was in the mood for scampi.  Kel's dish contained shrimp, swordfish, calamari, and turbot fish.

No dinner is complete without desert!  We had tiramisu, coffees, and of course, Sciacchetra.

For a night cap we shared a bottle of Nozzole's Il Pareto back on our patio.  We found a hidden gem at one of the local wine stores, a 1994 for 50 euro!  What a way to end the day!

Go to 6/8/17