Day 2: Cinque Terre - The Hike

Sat: This highly anticipated day started off wonderful from the first minute. We opened our bedroom door to warm smiles from our Italian host who treated us to bread and cappuccinos. This older woman defined every stereotype of an Italian mother to me. She never stopped smiling, talked more with her hands, sang and laughed. Andy did a great job mixing English, Spanish and butchered Italian together to have a fun conversation since she spoke zero english. At about 9:30 We finished up and headed out into the warm sun toward the trail. Cinque terre, or 5 lands, is five small, separate towns stretched across 10 miles of western coastline. A famous attraction is to hike to each town starting either from the bottom or the top. Our room was the most northern town so we planned to hike down the 5 towns and catch the train back in the afternoon. We enthusiastically headed onto the trail that was hidden between two buildings off to the side of town. The hike immediately shot up drastically over the coastal hills. In a matter of minutes we were sweating and shedding clothing. The difficulty of the trail shocked me for such a famously known path. It was rough, steep and felt almost untouched. As we rounded the first peak we looked back to capture a stunning view of Montorroso far below us, a view that was quickly overshadowed as we curved the next bend and were able to see straight down the coast for a glimpse of our entire hike and the five towns. We continued on the two-foot wide trail bordering the bright blue coastline a few hundred feet above until we reached Vernassa. We relaxed, took pictures and enjoyed the different characteristics of this town. Within an hour we proceeded out of the town and the day carried on in this fashion until the end. We met two South Carolina girls that we had a great time talking too. It was wonderful to hear a southern accent again and made me excited to get back to southern girls back in South Carolina. The day ended with a bottle of wine on the beach and a new lesson in night photography (post on that later). Saturday was certainly a success. A theme that continued for the rest of our trip.