Looking back on Monterossa

Back to Monterrosa for a cool one!

Manarola

“It doesn’t matter how much heights bother you and that the guy said only one cross at a time we are not going back over all those steps!!

Looking towards Vernassa

We decided to start our hiking experience of the Cinque Terra with Monterrosa al Mare and head towards Vernassa. Monterossa has a population of approximately 1600 and is the only Cinque Terra town built on flat land. We took the four minute train ride from Levanto early in the morning as we were uncertain of all the details and how much we would accomplish on day one. We arrived to find very few tourists and slowly found our way towards the trail and for the first 20 minutes never met a soul.  Our guide book described  the hike as scenic, up and down, narrow trails and lots of steps……..and it did not disappoint!  It was challenging but very manageable as long as you don’t mind sweating a little, or a lot!   We met a few people on the trail but not many and were thankful that we didn’t have to share the tight spots.   Arrived in Vernassa, pop around 1,000, after almost two hours and decided to take a break, have lunch and of course find a bathroom.  We read up on the next hike fromVernassa to Corniglia, pop of 245, which was described as the wildest and greenest section of the coast, very hilly but very rewarding………..Oh legs don’t fail me now!   So we decided to trek on for the next hour and a half once again meeting very few people and enjoying fabulous scenery.   Both trails were in fabulous shape as it hadn’t rained in days but by now we were aware that the other two shorter and easier trails were still closed from damage caused a few years ago.   As a result we decided we would take the train into Manarola(450) and Riomaggiore which Jim was now calling rigamortis as we were all feeling pretty stiff!  What a shock we were in for when we arrived in Corniglia to find that in order to catch the train we had to walk another 10,000 steps!!!!  Hop along we did and caught the train into Manarola.  Once there we strolled around for a little while and waited for the train to Riomaggiore only to find out while standing there that they cancelled it for no apparent reason so everyone took the train back to Monterossa where we decided to have a beer and end our hiking for the day and even though I am not a beer drinker it sure tasted good!  The attached photos are not in order but you’ll get the flow, I’m sure and now now let’s see what tomorrow will bring!

Looking towards Corniglia