Europe Trip 2003

Cinque Terre

After crossing into Italy our initial plan was to spend a day in Milan. We found the city to be too dirty and industrial for our tastes so we hopped back on a train to La Spezia. It took a bit of time to find a hotel room. We had arrived just in time for a Italian national holiday, but we found a nice place to stay. Though the seaside town had some charm, we used it mainly as a base for a hike through five seaside cliff towns, or Cinque Terre, to the north. The five towns are connected by a trail that hugs the cliffs and affords great views of the Mediterranean. The sight of the brightly colored buildings in each of the towns was even more impressive. The buildings are built into the hills and are surrounded by terraced vineyards, olive groves and other crops.

We started in the southernmost town of Riomaggiore and hiked along the short Via del Amore trail to the next town, Manarola. We didn't find much love on this trail as it was packed with tourists. The hike from Manarola to Corniglia was less crowded. Corniglia is nestled high atop a cliff. It was here we stopped to enjoy the yummies we had bought at the La Spezia mercato for lunch. The next leg of the hike was to Vernazza and was a little more challenging, but the hike was worth it as the town resting on the Mediterranean was the most scenic from every angle. After resting in Vernazza, and enjoying Jamie's favorite gelato, we hiked along the steep section of the trail to Monterosso. This section had the fewest people which gave us the opportunity to truly take in the scenery. Jamie celebrated her accomplishment by wading in the Mediterranean. We were a bit tired from our hike, so after taking a look around Monterosso, we caught the train back to La Spezia.