We had good intentions of getting an early start on the most challenging part of the Cinque Terre hike today, but it didn’t happen. We decided that no matter what time of day we did the hike, it would be hot. We’ve pretty much given up on wearing clean clothes/we’re running out of them, so we’ve gotten pretty good at recycling gross sweat shirts.
Took the train to Monterosso al Mare today. This is probably the biggest of the Cinque Terre towns, and it’s the only town with an official beach. After a quick stroll on the streets, we started the hike towards Vernazza. I generally consider myself in decently fit, but the unending stone stairs leading up into the cliffs above town really kicked my butt! We were both soaking wet by the time the trail flattened out. We walked for a while along narrow stone walls through vineyards until the trail wound down towards Vernazza. The views from high above the water were stunning!
In Vernazza, we rewarded ourselves with a refreshing fresh lemon-strawberry granita and delicious canoli at a Sicilian shop. We rarely like to sit at or pay for expensive lunches on vacations. Instead, we try to grab quick sandwiches or snacks like this at recommended places. Although we contemplated hiking from Verazza to Corniglia so we could say we hiked all parts of the Cinque Terre, we decided to take the train instead so we would have time to swim and enjoy some of the towns.
We loved Manarola yesterday so we went there next. Grabbed some foccacia then headed to the rocks to swim. For the second day in a row, I went swimming in the Mediterranean ! The water was just as refreshing today, but not as calm or clear as yesterday (a lot of little pieces of seaweed). Regardless, we stayed for a while before taking the train to Monterosso. We had scouted out a spot to swim at one end of the beach earlier and jumped in for another swim. The cove was great except for the rocks getting out. Ouch! (There’s not much sand on the Cinque Terre.)
The sun was getting low when we got out so we decided we better catch the next train back to Levanto. Tonight we wanted to try a different restaurant so we went to La Loggia. Once again I ordered trofie with pesto. Tonight’s dish was served with sugarsnap peas (I think) and without extra cheese. It was still good, although I think I liked last night’s better. Joe ordered the mixed seafood with spaghetti and got the biggest portion of fresh seafood either of us had ever seen. The dish was very inexpensive compared to the ridiculous price you would pay at home for this dish. We decided to splurge for tiramisu and café tonight to finish the night…excellent decision! Afterwards, we returned to our farmhouse for one more night.
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