Hiking Cinque Terre

Today's plan was to spend the entire day, hiking through all of the villages that make up Cinque Terre. We'd take the train from Riomaggiore to Monterosso, and hike back the 10km, passing Vernazza and Corniglia. Should be a full day activity. Although the hike itself is supposed to take only about 5 hours, considering our fitness levels and our wanting to explore each of the villages on foot, might take more than 2x that amount.

Monterosso

Surprising. In contrast to the 2 villages we saw yesterday, Monterosso is huge and alive - bunch of big hotels, restaurants, stores, and beaches. I'm glad we didn't decide to stay here, as I prefer the more quaint, quiet places. Just look at this ultra-touristy beach!!!

It's not my type of place, but I certainly loved the artistic aspect of this scenery - the colorful spirals, the curvy line of parasols. Visually entertaining.

Now that I think about it, it's quite odd that none of us thought to bring a swimsuit. The Mediterranean Ocean has absolutely gorgeous, emerald waters (from my southern Italy and Greek experiences). But none of us thought about swimming here. Huh. Strange.

Stranger still, I suppose, was the human-sized chess board we found along the beach. And we couldn't resist having some kiddie fun here:

Judging by my pose and location, I think I intended to be the pawn. Smeagy (right) is definitely a knight. Sorry, Joey (left), I have no clue which piece you are…

(Yes, we are all fully-grown, mature, in-our-30s adults. Sigh.)

Marking the entry to the trail was a music station : ) Where we were all MEGA tourists:

(OK, so I was the tourist taking pictures of my fellow tourists…)

Then, onto the first part of the trail, commonly referred to as the "Blue Trail". This is supposed to be the longest, and toughest terrain, with lots of ups and downs. With the sun blaring down, it was definitely a bit tiring.
But the view of the ocean was stunning. Also, unlike the path we took yesterday, this one also goes through some hills that reminded me of terraced farms in Asia:

The highlight was definitely the last portion, leading to the town of Vernazza. Not because it was a primarily downhill section, but for the wonderful views it provided. Probably the most photogenic of the 5 villages:

Vernazza

Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty town.
Unfortunately, a little happening here.
After our slightly strenuous exercise, we needed to get some drinks (alcohol-free) and a bite to eat. Which was all fine. Until…..

It got cloudy, cold, and finally started to rain like craaaaaazy!!! Hard to imagine after the sunny weather we had in the morning. But mother nature wanted to cry, I guess. For quite some time, too - we ended up having to sit around and kill time by jumping into the nearby souvenir stores for over 2 hours. There's a really cool jewelry store that shouldn't be missed!

When the sun finally came back out, we debated…should we continue with the hike????? It was already a bit late in the afternoon, we were a bit chilly (although we did have a gelato), and we weren't up for walking through the now muddy trails. Excuses, excuses.

I admit…we're total BUMS. We headed to the train station, for a one-stop ride to Corniglia.

Corniglia
The station is near sea level, whereas the town is on top of a hill. 2 choices - take the bus or walk up the stairs. Guess which one we chose?!?!?!
BUS.I realized that using the local transportation system to see Cinque Terre can be a time consuming task. The trains and buses don't run that often. Hence, a lot of waiting time : ( It might actually be more practical to walk!
Anyways, we took the short ride up the hill to the tiny town. And found the cutest gelato shop, making me wonder how many I've consumed today...
One of the highlights here is the charming central church:And viewpoint, from where you can see the clear waters and the next town over (Manarola) in the far distance. Can you see???:Overall, after the remarkable beauty of Vernazza, Corniglia felt a little bland.

From here, we hopped onto the train, and headed back to Riomaggiore. Can we get ANY lazier?!?!?! Seriously, we only managed to walk one leg of the trail today. And we had wholeheartedly intended to do the whole 10km! If only it hadn't rained….

A quick R&R at the guesthouse, and we were back on the train to Monterosso, as another friend had made reservations at a restaurant there for us to all meet up.
Great food @ Al Pozzo Ristorante!!! So much yummy seafood. I love Italian food : )
2 major announcements from our friends: 1. They just got engaged at Como (Congrats!) and 2. They did the entire Blue Trail hike today (Congrats!).

As much as I love to travel on my own, backpack-style, this short trip reminded me of how enjoyable traveling with a group of good friends can be as well.
But I know that these moments will be rare going forwards…the older we get, it just gets more difficult for friends to find the time for such adventures. Sad.