Trekking day two

What another full day in Cinque Terre, albeit not as troublesome as the last two. We got up in time to meet Stefano in order to complete the registration form (passport info) and pay for our stay. Stefano was a really nice guy, very friendly and easy-going. He said we could check-out anytime tomorrow because there wasn't anyone coming until Thursday, and after Thursday they'd be closing the place for the winter (it costs too much to heat it for people only staying a night or two).

We wanted to figure out how to access our cash so we headed back to La Spezia after breakfast. The machines still didn't work but we, thankfully, came across the Deutsches (sp?) Bank and were able to get some money. We still don't understand the problem with the other banks and hope that we don't have too much trouble in Rome!

We then bought our train tickets to Rome for tomorrow morning; it should be a four hour ride directly there, which is a nice change from having to constantly change trains.

After buying our ticket in La Spezia we hopped back on the train to Riomaggiore, the most southern of the five villages. We didn't immediately see the sign for the trail so ended up walking the large hill into town before heading back to the train station (we weren't the only ones lost!). The trail from Riomaggiore to Manorola was a breeze, hardly even a trail at all. It was practically a boardwalk along the sea and it was gorgeous! The stretch is known as the lovers walk and there are many locks people have brought and locked to railings, nets, and really anything they can find, symbolizing eternal love. It was really sweet.

The walk only took twenty minutes or so and then we reached Manorola. Because the sea path has been closed due to a rock slide we had to take the other trail. We started at sea level and walked uphill for about half an hour, and I mean seriously uphill. I was huffing before we even left the town! Not to mention the other hundreds of steps we took before leveling out!

The view was incredible once we were up there, our whole panoramic view was of the sea on a brilliantly sunny day. Jeff was in shorts and I was in a tank top for the walk, thankfully there was a beautiful breeze that kept us cool.

The walk took just over two hours, covering vineyards, brush, rocky areas, very narrow ledges, fallen trees, everything you could really think of! :) It was a really nice hike (after I caught my breath from the gruesome uphill fiasco) even if we were looking at our feet the majority of the time to ensure we didn't trip on something.  Every now and again we made a point to stop and take in the beautiful view (and I took lots of pictures of course, although they probably won't do it justice). 

People along the way were friendly and we stopped to chat a couple of times with other travelers, all of us sympathizing and encouraging each other to keep going (something about mutual pain and beauty bring people together, lol). I kept telling Jeff that the sights of the villages from so high up was the motivation we needed along the way to keep trekking.

The way down the mountain/giant hill was awful; my knee and hip hurt like nothing else and we had a LONG way down to Corniglia. It was painful and rather unpleasant to say the least, but we did make it.

I stopped for the most delicious gelato ever, (two flavours) coconut and chocolate-mint and Jeff grabbed a couple of beers. We had planned to go down to the beach to check it out but after a couple of flights of stairs and many more to go, we decided against it.  We went to a lookout point instead and enjoyed the warm sun with our cool treats.

Afterward, we headed to the local shop and picked up breakfast items for tomorrow and some snacks. We then went to the internet cafe and spent a quick half hour checking emails, the weather forecast, the flooding and rioting in Rome (hopefully both have settled down for now), and to get directions to our last (gasp!) place tomorrow.

We showered and changed into clean clothes (the last we have) before heading out just after six with one small tetra pack of white wine to sit on someone's stairs to watch a gorgeous sunset. We had one of the best views in the whole place. It was lovely.

We grabbed a couple of pizzas for dinner (one pesto and one mushroom and ham) and ate happily at home (even though I burnt my tongue... There is a downside to having the pizza place right next door, no cooling time, lol).

We're now in bed, Jeff is reading a book he found and I'm just about to settle into mine for a bit.

Tomorrow is another adventure :)

Chat soon,

Amanda