Wednesday, October 9, 2013 @ 4:55 PM in 2013 Europe
Day 105
It was overcast when I woke up which I was fine with. It meant that I wouldn't be burning up like I would have been yesterday in the full sun. The train I was waiting on to take me to the next town of Manarola didn't leave until around 10:20am so I wasn't really in a rush.
When I got to Manarola I walked to the start of the coastal trail but saw that it was closed for whatever reason. Since that trail was closed I had to take the much more elevation intense #6 trail up to Volastra and then cut over to Corniglia. What should have been a 30 minute hike had the coastal trail been open turned into a 2 hour adventure to go to the same place.
It was a pretty intense hike up the steep side of vineyards but awarded me with some spectacular views that I wouldn't have seen if I was closer to the coast. I passed through the small town of Volastra and then cut down to Corniglia.
During this part of the hike I started to run into a lot of other hikers. There were huge groups of people slowly hiking and trying to pass them on the extremely narrow trails was a challenge. It also made for slow going when you came across people going the other direction because you had to find a spot wide enough for both groups to pass. At one point I ended up getting stuck behind a group of about 30-40 french people who weren't the fastest hikers. Of course it was also on one of the steepest parts of the hike so I really upped my heart rate jogging past them when I had the opportunity.
Eventually I got down to Corniglia which is situated at the top of a cliff and is the one town that doesn't really connect directly to the water. I had a pressed sandwich here for lunch and took a little break before continuing on.
When I got to the start of the next part of the trail there were a bunch of people all lined up. It was a bit frustrating being stuck behind these huge groups or chunks of groups because all you feel like you're doing is passing slow people or moving over for oncoming hikers. The weather was also turning a bit for the worse here and some light rain started to come in and out the rest of the hike.
After Corniglia was Vernazza. This is where I spent some time yesterday and seeing the town from the south side was really nice. The town was packed with tour groups from cruises who take up the entirety of the tiny streets when the tour guide stops to say something. It's a bit frustrating when all you want to do is get around them and they seem to have complete disregard for anyone other than themselves or the group.
The views around Vernazza were the best of the whole hike though in my opinion. The town is very picturesque and there are some great viewing areas on the hiking trails around the city. All of the towns sell these little spice mixtures that are great for pasta, fish, meat, bruscetta, etc so I bought a couple packets and I'll try to recreate them when I'm back home. I'm going to try one of them with my pasta tonight.
Continuing on, next up was the final town in the Cinque Terre of Monterosso. It took about an hour to get between the towns, mostly because of the huge amount of people also on the trail and the trail being at its narrowest and least passing-friendly. Monterosso is definitely the most resorty of the five towns. It's the only one with a true beach and everything built up around it is geared more toward vacationers it seemed like.
I was planning on hanging out at the beach with a beer but didn't really want to deal with all the tourists. I saw there was a train due to arrive in about 10 minutes so I went to the train station and waited for it. While waiting, two giant tour groups also came up and were waiting to board which is a pain since the age demographic of the tour groups means it takes each person a bit of a struggle to get on the train.
I was also overhearing a group of ladies talking about similar experiences to mine hiking today. Very few people at the beginning but the farther north you got the more people were out.
I'm back at the hostel now and I'll probably have a beer before showering and having dinner. The hike was good but didn't really wear me out the same way hiking in Snowdonia or Breckon Beacons did. That being said, I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight.
Unfortunately for my last day in the Cinque Terre tomorrow it's supposed to rain all day. Depending on what the weather forecast says in the morning I might try to get out for some more hiking. If not, I'll just hang out here and enjoy Riomaggiore.
All in all aside from the massive amounts of people on the trails, the views of the cities and coastline were fantastic. This is one of the most beautiful areas I've been to the entire trip (tossed up between the Cliffs of Moher, Snowdonia and the Breckon Beacons). The photos for today are amazing and once I have a true wifi signal again I'll upload them all for everyone to see.
Teaser photos:
Tags: daily journal, cinque terre, italy
Posted from: Italy