Cinque Terre: July 22-24

I suppose I should first mention that leaving Florence, we made a 1 night stop in Pisa. It was worth it, and I realized that there is plenty of shopping to be done there, and there is SOMETHING other than the leaning tower. But not enough to require more than one night.

So from here.. Cinque Terre! Cinque Terre is a chain of 5 Italian towns along the Ligurian coast, and it is beautiful. The area makes up a national park and is recognized and protected for its beauty, which also makes it a popular tourist destination.

Our experience: Exhaustion and anchovies.

We went into our 2 days in Cinque Terre knowing that we wanted to hike the trails between the towns. Due to damage from storms and heavy rain, 2 of the trails are currently closed. We got lucky in that we were able to book a hotel in Monterosso al Mare - the more populated and “touristy” of the towns with the largest beach area. The luck for us, was that it is also the Northern-most town and we could complete our hike by arriving back here.

So our hike began in Corniglia, where we could access the first open trail. Now I had even hiked between these towns previously, but I will say during this trip it was HOT. In our first week, every day the weather alerted us to “danger from extreme high temperatures” - so that was fun.

I’m sure we were sweating before we even got started. But climbing up and down stairs made into the ground, sometimes with rocks, sometimes with wood and sometimes just grooves in the dirt, and peeking in and out (mostly out) of shady spots was rough for sure. But the glimpses of the sea and the view of the towns in the distance as we strolled the hour and a half to our next stop in Vernazza…. incredible.

Before reaching Vernazza, we stopped in a little trail-side restaurant and picked up an extra bottle of water for good measure. I’m embarrassed to admit how much we were sweating. We needed it. And while enjoying the beauty in Vernazza (and cheering silently for the temporary rest) we refilled our shared bottle and ate a few oranges. But then we started back on the longest portion of the trail toward our final destination and hotel in Monterosso.

This is the toughest part of the hike among the towns of Cinque Terre. It’s the easier walks that are currently closed due to damage (of course.) I have to admit that I was struggling. And that water bottle we filled in Vernazza had to be rationed during the last 2 hours because of how quickly we were sucking it down, but how badly we needed it to last. This was a rough stretch, especially for the 95-100 degree heat, but also because this trail is not easy. There are a lot of ups and downs, and still the pathway and landscape are not even. So I’m tiptoeing at each downward step and hoping by some miracle we will turn the corner to see Monterosso in front of us an hour ahead of schedule. We did beat the schedule by about 10 minutes (!!!), and we greeted Monterosso with a lot of excitement, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at us because of the exhaustion, and a bottle of water and gatorade at our first opportunity. Immediately following were naps on the beach.

Through all the sweat and tears (just kidding, only sweat this time) the experience was worth the effort. The views of the colorful cliffside towns and the way the land drops off into the pure blue water is some unparalleled beauty.

 

Again, the Italian experience is so heavily impacted by food and our Cinque Terre time was dominated by anchovies. It sounds weird… kinda gross even, and I never would have guessed that I’d be writing about how much I couldn’t get enough of anchovies. But it’s true.

Anchovies are very popular in this area, a staple in the kitchen. And at our very first meal the waiter talked us right into ordering stuffed anchovies as an appetizer. This may have been the perfect way to ease into them; anything stuffed with cheese, breaded and fried can’t be too bad. But then the next day we ordered them atop focaccia bruschetta (one of my favorite things, no matter how unappetizing it looks) and in pasta.

This is another one of these “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” food items. And I may not eat another anchovy until I’m back on the Italian coast, but I’m still vouching for it! Cause you know… “When in Rome…” or close enough :)