Tags
blue, cinque terre, corniglia, manarola, path, rain, Riomaggiore, trail
It’s raining today in Cinque Terre, but there is no way we are staying in the appartment all day. We still hadn’t seen 3 of the 5 villages. So we put on our hiking boots, rain jackets and backpack rain convers and headed south toward Corniglia. The rain made most inclined rocks very slippery. We had to be careful but we made it down to Corniglia in one piece. It was still raining on and off. We were running for cover, waiting a few minutes for the rain to stop before contiuning our way.
Since the coastal trail to the next village is closed until next year (for real!), we opted to take the trail up the mountain to Volastra and then down to Manarola. A 5km hike with 500 meters climb. The highest section of the trail was in the cloud, we didn’t have a view on the village below. It was still very beautiful. The trail was navigating through the vineyards, which are growing on layers of terrasses each supported by stone walls.
We finally arrived in Manarola: wet, tired, but satisfied. Tina had a cappuccino as we relaxed in a cafe.
To reach the next village, Riomaggiore, we opted for the train. We got there in no time.
We went down to the coast and then up on all sides of the village. It’s amazing, all the different house colors and how some of the houses are hanging to the cliff, nearly one on top of the other.
We took the train to go back. We were planning to stop in Corniglia, but for some reason, that train skipped 2 stations and only stopped in Vernazza. So we decided to reach our appartment with a 1.5km hike from there, instead of a same distance from Corniglia.
I’m writing this as I’m listening to the sounds of waves crashing against the cliff, 250m below our appartment’s window. So great to finally be on vacation!
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