Two-Step To The Next Step: Five Lands

Tuesday morning was an early start in order to meet our tour bus by 715. We were headed to the Cinque Terre with a group of about 40 people led by the Walkabout Tour group. We passed a place called the Manhattan Cafe on the walk to the bus and figured we had to stop. It was complete with pictures of yellow cabs and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The tour started with a two hour and 45 minute bus ride the dropped us off just outside of Manarola for our first hike of the day. As with all of our trips so far the road to our destination was beautiful. We headed through Tuscany where fields of sunflowers lined the roads with massive mountains in the distance. Our guides described points of interest along the way like where they quarry for Carrera marble (can actual see the cuts in the mountains) or the town of La Spezia (something like 80% of the structures were bombed in WWII).

Upon arrival we immediately set off on the trail and walked into town before taking a big loop into the hills for a birds eye view

It was then quickly back down to the train station to head to the next town of the Cinque Terre... Corniglia.

We arrived in Corniglia and had to walk 386 steps up to the town (each step requires about 3-4 actual steps). We of course did this with a train full of people so there was quite a large amount of foot traffic on the steps and the chatter began to die down the higher we went. This was the first test for the group to make sure we could handle the hikes to come. We continued to walk through town and further up the hill until we arrived at lunch destination, Ristorante Camere. There we were all served an assortment of seafood tapas for a starter and then a nice pasta with pesto (in this area they add sliced potatoes and snap beans). We also loaded up on water because we had quite a hike in front of us. We were off to Vernaza.

The hike to Vernaza took about one hour and ten minutes but was beautiful all the way. The trail winds its way up, down and through the terraced farm plots where locals grow grapes, olives and nature provides asparagus, thyme, etc. One side of the trail is the dry wall technique used to hold terraced plots in place and the other side is anywhere from a 6-10 foot drop the next terrace. Railings are used when the trail gets closer to the water and it hard not to marvel at what the locales have created in an area (and by that I mean the Cinque Terre) that was once only accessible by boat or on foot. It is said that these fishing towns were settled by pirates because they could live life as they wanted and not worry about authorities coming to bother them. The people who inhabit these hills still carry that my way fortitude in their farming.

As we made the final turn on the trail, the brush opened up to a beautiful view of the Vernaza "port". We continued down the trail that winds through narrow walk ways, past front doors, down plenty of steps before opening up onto the main street. We had some extra time in town so Ashley and I grabbed a drink at one of the waterside cafes (Ananasso Bar) before strolling through the tiny town.

We met up with the group after about an hour to catch the train to our next stop, Monterrosso al Mare. The train was quick and in no time we were walking along the first real "beach" we had seen in the Cinque Terre. This was considered "new town" and we continued our stroll walking past cabanas, private areas, public spots, a few small shops and through a tunnel to get to "old town". Monterrosso had the feeling as the largest town we had been so far so we walked a bit more before settling in for a flight of wine (one for each of the Cinque Terre). The area specializes in Whites and each glass was great in its own way. There was also a shop close by that made great cheese balls, but it was closed due to the fact the owner was harvesting grapes for wine. After the flight it was off to grab the ferry to Riomaggiorre for our last stop in the Cinque Terre.

The boat ride was spectacular and were able to see our entire trek through the Cinque Terre from the water... what a view. The only negative was that it was too short of a ride. While in Riomaggiorre we waited to watch some kids cliff jump (never actually saw it happen) and then headed into to town to sample some fried seafood before catching the train to La Spezia and eventually the bus back to Florence.