This mornings adventure began later than anticipated, entirely due to my inability to wake up (my mother is nodding her head right now as she knows from years of experience how tough it is to try to wake me up when I don’t HAVE to be awake). But it all came for what I believe to be anointed reason, as we met two wonderful Australians while in the shop outside of the train station. Carl noticed my Livestrong bracelet that I’ve worn since junior high and showed me his, then continued to tell me about his biking adventures, a photo and autograph with Lance Armstrong, and his business within the industry. Minutes later, we were talking about all of our adventures so far and plans for the next few weeks. He and his wife were here to do some biking, exploring, and then moving on with a trip to New York City coming up. We ended up hopping on the train and walked around Monterosso, the northmost city of Cinque Terre. Their day was planned on the beach, but we were prepared for hiking, so we parted ways (although we’re staying in the same hotel) and took off for the trails. Our first trail was certainly the toughest, with some pretty intense uphill climbs and seemingly endless natural stairs. The French diet of paninis, crepes, and wine certainly did not prepare me for this journey, but we made it to the second city, Vernazza, by early afternoon to sit and enjoy a glass of wine and explore the area. The trails of Cinque Terre range in difficulty, length, altitude, and even beauty.

Monterosso and Vernazza both fell victim to huge storms back in 2011 that destroyed their towns. The construction continues today, and there is a huge cry out for tourists and travelers to head to these cities in order to help restore it to the beauty that it once was. Some of the trails were still down because of the storms combined with current rains, so we were unable to hike from start to finish. Throughout our hike, I couldn’t help but wonder what sort of thing I could be a part of that would encourage more visits and adventure in Cinque Terre. I haven’t seen any coast quite as beautiful, the closest being Big Sur, California.  The local people were all lovely, the scenery is everything a traveler could ask for, and there is plenty of activities to do.

Our trails led us from Vernazza to Corniglia (which is quite the hike to reach from the train), then to Manarola. The final length of the trip was short and very easy, as the path along the coast was paved and included the Via Dell’ Amore “the Love Walk”. There is a long tunnel with thousands of locks with names on them, symbolizing eternal love between couples. A local boy was running around reminding people, “the locks mean love forever, but not the locks with numbers. That’s just temporary love because they can be figured out! Those couples won’t last”. Graffiti and name covered the walls of the walk, however we fell short with the absence of a marker.

Along the way we enjoyed gelato, granita di limoni locali (fresh lemons in slushy form), focaccia, red wine, and more. We sat along the coast and ate dinner at a small restaurant that didn’t seem meant for tourists (the entire menu was in Italian, which seemed to be a good sign) I had a delicious potato gnocchi with pesto. This area is known for its pesto, made up of basil leaves, garlic, salt, olive oil, pine nuts, and pecorino cheese. Bethany tried out another local item, limoncello, a lemon liqueur that was a bit strong for both of our tastes.

Tomorrow we plan to hit the beach, do some kayaking, and attempt some cliff jumping, a personal favorite.