I had a plan for Cinque Terre to walk between some of the towns, see one by boat and take the train. My guidebook said that the 2nd town had luggage storage so that is where I got off the train. I bought my trailpass and asked about storage and they said the none of the five towns had storage. My backpack was really heavy already, but I was going to tough it out. I headed back via the cliff trail to the first city.
Riamaggiore-built into the cliffs of a little cove the little houses are almost stacked on top of each other and the town's road is a hill climb.
After a little time here, I headed back onto the trail to the second town.Manarola--a little bigger than the first and colorful houses and terraced vineyards, lemon groves, and private gardens. I walked to the church and around the town to the vineyard road. I thought I was lost and I thought a bug flew in my ear--maybe I was paranoid. I heard something rustling with the breeze so I started walking faster, wondering if I was going to run into a dead end or something more scary. A minute later I hear more rustling and two little lizards run over the rocks and across the path in front of me. I was startled at first and then realized what they were and tried to get a closeup with my camera. I made my way back to civilization and enjoyed the picturesque views. It was utterly breathtaking. I noticed a sign for a WC (restroom) and so I walked in...there was no toilet, just a hole and places to put my feet. I figure I had just gone into the wrong stall. I went into the next one after a guy came out and there wasn't a toilet in there either...then I thought I went into the mens room, but there were not any other bathrooms and the door had both a girl and guy on the door. I decided to wait--I did not think I could handle squatting over a hole with my backpack on and I was definitely not putting it on the ground. I started walking to the next town. I was told it was about a 45 minute walk. The amount of people here now made me not want to come during peak season (later I was told it was a holiday weekend so lots of people were there because it was a long weekend).
Corniglia-the walk to here was much more strenuous than the first walk. There were times that I thought I was going to fall backward with my backpack. Luckily it was crowded and slow moving so I did not look like a slacker. The cliff views were tremendous and the water was clear or turquoise. After what felt like an eternity, Corniglia came into sight. This town was mainly on a high cliff. By the time I got to the train station (which was on the water) I decided I was going to admire the town without the zig zap up the steep hill. I took the train to the next town and rested my back a bit--the train ride was only about five minutes and then the pack went back on my back--I thought my colarbone was going to break before I finished the five towns.
Vernazza- This town was extremely busy with tourists. I was a wide load with my pack and kept bumping into people. I made it into a gelato shop and got some water and a couple scoops of gelato. Hit the spot on this very hot day. I reapplied sunscreen to my face and continued toward the water. I took a boat to the last town and the view from the boat was awesome. We could see the people walking (like an ant superhighway Mike but not quite the same). After seeing that trail, I am glad I was in the boat.
Monterosso - There was a beach here and an old city/new city set up. I spent most of my time in the old city and checked email so I would know where my hostel was for the evening. I walked through the non-touristy streets and made my way to the new city. I got my train ticket to Genoa and waited for it to arrive. I stood in line to get my ticket validated and actually missed my train because the machine was malfunctioning. I had an hour to wait as the next train was running late. I sat at the restaurant by the tracks and had a slice of pizza and a soda. I finally got on a packed train headed to Savona via Genoa. I took off my pack and relaxed for a bit.
Genoa
I got to Genoa later than I had anticipated and had to find my way to the hostel in the dark. I finally found my bus and asked the driver to call out my stop. He called it out, but I could not see where my connecting bus was on the list of other busses that stopped there. A lady told me it would be okay to get off there and she would help me find my bus. I got to the top of the hill and the hostel after 9pm and crashed. I woke up the next day with no real plans. One of my roomies woke up and immediately started talking to me. She was from Spain, had been a foreign exchange student in Rhode Island and was now studying in Rome. We had breakfast together along with her bf and then I packed my things and checked out of the hostel. They saw me outside and said I could spend the day with them. I was up for an adventure. We took the bus down the hill and I got just as carsick as I did on the way up the night before. We headed for the beach--I had my backpack on and it was already heavy. We walked through streets and watched the sailboats. We saw some beach and made our way toward it. We had to walk across these huge rocks..I almost fell over getting onto them and lost my shoes which were tied to my pack. The guy that was with us climbed down to retrieve them for me so I would not fall. It took some time to climb across the rocks and there were a few times where I almost fell over...wearing flip flops was not the best choice that day. We finally made it to the beach and we laid on the rocks and got some sun. I left them so I could get to Venice and I told the Spanish girl I would call her when I got to Rome.
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