Cinque Terre

I woke up in Nice around 4:45 am, packed up my bag, and caught the 5:52 train to Monaco. From there, it was on to Ventimiglia, Italy, and there I boarded the train to Cinque Terre. This was probably the most amazing train ride of my life. For about five hours, the train made its way south down the west coast of Italy. After every tunnel, we were greeted with another amazing view of this dramatic coastline. Finally, the train pulled into my stop, Vernazza, the second of the five towns of Cinque Terre (going from north to south). (Cinque Terre photos here.)

Cinque Terre is the stuff of Disney movies and Tolkien books. It's that place I didn't think existed in the world anymore--five small, beautiful little towns, practically inaccessible by road, nestled into the steep hillsides on a beautiful stretch of coastline. Italy in general is an amazing place, possessing the rare combination where the landscapes, the food and wine, and the language are all beautiful. And Cinque Terre is special even within Italy. The five towns have been there for over 800 years, and they are connected by a railroad track (since 1847) and by a trail that winds along the hillsides above the Mediterranean. Today, it is an Italian national park as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

CT was pretty unknown to Americans until bespectacled travel writer Rick Steves featured it on his television show, and it is safe to say that the secret is out. It was on practically every post-bar itinerary that I heard about this year. Actually, this morning, as we were leaving to board our train to Milan, I was thinking that at times, Vernazza was a bit like entering "Italy" in Disneyland--everything is Italian, but everyone is American. Nevertheless, it was not so touristy that the effect was lost.

This was one of the stops that I had looked forward to the most on my entire trip, and in two days I was able to experience two of the best hikes of my life. During the many hours of studying for the bar, I had often looked forward to August 27, because that was the day we were planning to hike the trail between the five towns. It did not disappoint.

When I left Nice early on Aug. 26, Nate stayed behind to sleep in a little. I wanted to come early so that I could spend an extra day in Vernazza. After checking in for our guest room and dropping my pack, I got a slice of pesto pizza (the local specialty--pesto came from this region of Italy) for lunch, followed by real Italian gelato (tiramisu and fior di latte--sweet cream). Then I decided to go see what the trail was like, and I hiked south most of the way to the next town, Corniglia. That got me quite excited about what the next day would hold. When I was hiking back, however, I remembered a NYT article about CT in which the author discussed the other trails higher up in the mountains--the ones rarely traveled. So with about 0.25L of water left, I decided to get off the main trail and climb the mountain above Vernazza.

Getting off the main trail was a great experience. The main trail does take you through many groves of olive trees and several vineyards, but on the secondary trails, you hike up through the terraced vineyards, and I literally did not see another hiker during this hour-long portion of my hike. I was surrounded by wine grapes and clusters of delicious, sweet, wild blackberries as the towns below faded farther and farther away. Eventually, I reached the little house on the top of the hill, and a sweet old Italian woman gave me some water despite her dog's fervent protest. The views from the top of the hill were truly expansive, and the hike was a pretty special experience for me. I'm a big believer in "mountaintop" experiences, and I enjoyed this one a great deal.

I hiked down and arrived back in Vernazza at around 4:30 pm, and by then Nate had arrived. I swam by the rocks, and then we ate dinner in two stages: pizza at around 5, and then "secondi" at about 8:30. One thing I love about France and Italy is that in each region, the wine and food have been made over hundreds of years to complement each other. Accordingly, in CT, the white wine made from the terraced vineyards is the perfect complement to the villages' pesto and fish dishes. For secondi, I got a plate with about 30 mussels that only cost 9€. The local white wine was perfect for both the pesto and the mussels. Anticipating the next day's hike, we went to sleep fairly early and slept until the church bells woke us up at 7 and 8 am.

Our hostess brought us coffee and breakfast at 8:30, and then we were off around 9. The first section of our hike, from Vernazza to Corniglia, was probably my favorite. Corniglia sits up on its own small peninsula high above the rocky coast below, so it makes for a dramatic scene while you approach it. I was told to seek out the town's fig and walnut pastries (hat tip, Sonia), so I happily complied. Very good. Then we made our way down to the rocks and I cooled off in the bay for a few minutes before we loaded up and went on to Manarola.

In Manarola, we had lunch, which for me consisted of some type of thin, sponge-like bread that was soaked in olive oil and then covered in pesto. Sounds delicious, but it was a bit over-the-top in that I think I could have squeezed about a cup of olive oil from the bread. This was followed by a regional dessert: chestnut flour bread with pine nuts and raisins.

After lunch, it was on to the southernmost town of Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore, and then we took the Regionale train north through the tunnels to Monterosso, the northernmost town on the trail. Here, I had a granite, which is essentially crushed ice with straight lemon juice from the town's sweet lemons--tart but very refreshing.

Finally, we hiked the longest leg of the trail, which connects Monterosso to Vernazza. If you have ever done the Dipsea Trail from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach, you probably recall that the Dipsea begins with about 700 stairs. This hike had stages that were quite similar (this morning some girls from Seattle complained that it was the most difficult hike they had ever done). It was definitely rewarding, though. In parts, you could see all four towns south of Monterosso, and the vistas were incredible. Eventually we were treated to a great view down into Vernazza, and then we made our way back into the narrow streets of town.

Back in Vernazza after about ten miles of hiking, I jumped into the Med and then laid in the sun for a while. I had a slice of pesto lasagna for dinner (picking up on a theme yet?), and then I checked in with Jen to make sure her flights to Italy were working out all right. And as I am writing this, I am heading to Milan and then Venice to meet up with her. It has been a great 2.5 weeks, but I cannot wait to see her and explore more of Italy with her. It's going to be a great two weeks for us.

Again, you can view my CT photos here. Photos cannot do justice to the towering hillsides of olive groves, terraced vineyards, wild blackberries, and bright wildflowers, but perhaps they can give you some sense of this stretch of Italian coastline. Thanks for reading!

- R