The Cinque Terre is nothing short of breathtaking. While endlessly browsing Pinterest, the Cinque Terre has comes up in the travel section more than a few times. Not to my surprise, just today when walking to my terminal in the DFW airport I saw that American Airlines used a vividly depicted Cinque Terre in one of their advertisements. It's beauty is the essence of a snapshot getaway. Every time I see these pictures I'm only reminded about how insanely beautiful this place (or five places) is.
Cinque Terre is translated in English as "Five Lands." Along the Italian Riviera are five villages that each posses a different shine. Hiking trails, small local vineyards, and stone carved pathways link the villages to one another. The hiking trial my friends and I took was called the Sentiero Azzurro or "Light Blue Trail." There are two routes you can go, one only connects a few villages and the other longer one is double the length. Both trails have pleasantly overwhelming views. Unfortunately about six months prior to my visit to the Cinque, a major flood hit the five villages and damaged Vernazza and Monterosso. Even though it was April and most had been cleaned up, the bulldozers and rubble were proof of the destruction. Since much of the lower trail was damaged we took the only option, 11 miles. On a bright sunny day this would have been our pick but the weather wasn't on our side so we knew it was going to be tough.
The first of the five villages is Riomaggiore. This town is known for its artistic culture and cave tunnel that connects to the next town, Maranola. This cave tunnel parades love inscriptions all over the walls, sealing their promises with locks that are dangling from every available surface. These love notes are written in different languages signed with different initials, which adds to the luminosity of the fishing village. This walkway is called Via dell' Amore (walkway of love) and you can't help but wish you had that special someone beside you. Then the trail breaks into the hillside. As you walk between gorgeous lush hillside and aquamarine seas you can't complain. Once it started to rain I thought,
okay this isn't too bad. Luckily I brought a light rain coat with me on my way out the door. Gradually I started to feel the light tatter on my arms and back, a muffled sound on vinyl. Then all of the sudden came downpour. These were large drops. Then as we hiked up the 360 steps top of Cornigilia. By this time the water was flowing down the steps and we were going upstream. The view was five million times more worth it, pictures to prove. The rest of the hike was even more narrow and treacherous, so I would suggest to do it on a sunny day.
Unfortunately we had to skip over one of the inner villages, Corniglia, but the view from the hike was gorgeous! The next village, Maranola is the oldest of the five villages. Although it doesn't have a beach you can lounge around on, after seeing it's cliffside pastel multicolored houses you don't mind at all. This little village had so much culture in it! There were pastel greens, purples, and pink houses that all held various garments and blankets out to dry. There were also bathrooms which by this time we knew were hard to come by. After perusing around and snapping some photos we headed onwards. We were definitely starting to get hungry but couldn't wait to see more. By the time we got through with the downpour and onto the grub, the sun was out. We weren't afraid to accept the inner 90's kid in us and tie our jackets around our waist. I was most excited about this town, Vernazza, because their pesto was supposed to be the best (the area that the Cinque Terre is situated in, Genoa, is world renowned for everything and anything pesto). Yes, I said it. It wasn't the buildings, or beach, or shop but the deliciously rich pesto. My mouth waters just thinking about it. So, eager to rest our feet, we caught some of the sunshine and ate out under a bright orange umbrella. We ate pesto pizza to our hearts content, beachside, and were ready to work it off on the second part of the hike.
As sprinkles from the sky pushed us along the trail from Vernazza to Monterosso, this part was determined to be by far the most challenging. It's not that it's incredibly exhausting, the trails are just very skinny. As I walked I was always watching my footing, but it added to the exhilaration of the hike. I'm not someone who is afraid of heights and at times I was even a little worried. After we passed the narrow parts, we dipped down into a freshly dewed forest. The colors of the trees were some of the most verdant shades I have ever seen. It was so quiet you could hear dripping all around you and the crunching underneath your soggy shoes. After feeling plunged out of the Riviera you come to the most amazing far off view of the shoreline of Monterosso. The gradually progressing indigo waves meet the dark stone sand. Since it isn't warm enough out to swim the brightly striped beach umbrellas are cooped up near the boardwalk. The shops are, for the most part open, yet the shades of these buildings are much lighter than all the other villages. We ventured down to the beach in our tennis shoes (something I always vow to
never do). All of us wanting to get closer to the clear water, we hopped from rock to rock, a few friends falling in!
This place is just magical. How can it not be? For anyone who has an adventurous tinge in their body this place will put them at their utmost bliss. This post doesn't cover a mere slice of what you can experience in such a genuine place. So take a gander at the Italian Riveria!
And please don't take the wrong train home like we did...at 11 pm...on a Sunday.
