Long Awaited Arrival in the Cinque Terre

We arrived in the Cinque Terre with no hostel reservation whatsoever. So, with our bags in tow, we wandered from agency to agency on the towns steep, winding streets. The Cinque Terre is composed of five towns along an Italian Coastline : The first, which we stayed at our whole time, was Riomaggiore, then Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. The area is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We found an Agency that took us to a great location, although poor quality accomodation. Our room was shared by two students from Massachusetts studying abroad, and two New Zealanders. We seem to be seeing a lot of people from New Zealand on this trip!

The area is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We had a full five days in the Cinque Terre, so we crossed our fingers for good weather so we could relax, swim, and sunbathe. Our first day we spent exploring our own town, Riomaggiore. We happened to arrive on a Bank Holiday weekend (Again! So many in Italy) so the place was packed with Italian Tourists.

By day two it got a big quieter, and we took the train into Vernazza, the most popular town, with a beach and harbour. The first thing we noticed was the cats - there are tons of strays here, although they all seem to be in great condition. We grabbed a bite to eat and ate by the water, and walked around the town a bit more before heading back to Riomaggiore. There is a trail that connects all the towns on the coast, so we thought we'd check out the first stretch of it before we attempted tomorrow. It seemed pretty easy, we even grabbed a coffee while we were up there at this great Illy Cafe that had a patio that extended over the coastline.

That night we experienced a really awesome storm. The entire cliffside house we were staying in shook, and the Lightning literally had a one second delay from the Thunder - right above us. It lasted a couple hours, and by morning it was a bit clearer, but still overcast. We decided to put off the hike one more day so the trails could dry off, and instead took the train to each of the towns. The next day we headed up the trail. While the first one was easy, the rest became steadily more and more difficult. By the end of it we were completely exhausted, but it was deffinatly worth it - the views were spectacular. We stopped for lunch at Vernazza. We bought a whole cooked chicken and a loaf of bread, it was fabulous. We were very full and still had some chicken left, so we fed it to the cats that had been begging since we started.

Four days into it we had been getting sick of our accomodation - the place had no power, sometimes no bathroom, the beds were broken, and a host of other problems. So we left early and booked into a slightly more expensive place up the street. It was worth it. That night we had another storm that shook the house, and the Next day was just rain. We decided to spend a day in reading, playing cards, and sleeping - we didn't get much of it in the last place. After that it was time to bid goodbye and head off to the Canal City - Venice! Pictures to come when we find a Computer that allows it!