30.05
A morning finishing the blog and
preparing for Albane, Will, Hugo and Liam to arrive for dinner.
A great night, ignoring the camp
warden who insisted our guests leave by 8pm.
31.05
Away by 10.30 and decided to travel by
Autoroute to avoid Nice and Genoa. Our
first real foray into paid motorways.
All went well while we were in France but as we entered Italy and our
first toll booth we found no slots for our Euros. After a few minutes of mild panic I decided
to hit the help button and yelled that I only had coins, no credit card, the
machine yelled back “No Coins”... I felt the time was right to put on the
hazard warning lights as the queue behind us was about a kilometre long!!! Finally a lady in an orange reflective suit
came to our rescue and pushed the red button which of course dispensed the
ticket (pay later) and we were on our way.... lesson learnt.!!!!
An interesting drive along the
cliff tops with the sea to our right and the alps to our left, passing Monte
Carlo and its beautiful views. Over 150 tunnels and several viaducts to our
camp in Sestri Levante which will be our base for the Cinque Terre. Total fee for the motorway was 35 euros.
Danelo our camp owner moved us down a
level to a tree shaded site away from the bar and handy to the facilities. We biked into town and had an explore. A cute little town and a popular beach resort
with a colourful port. The local pebbly/sandy
beach is split into two and is in the Baia delle Favole. We took the bike path
along the promenade passed the local beach and walked 100m through an alleyway to
another sandy beach which was much nicer in the Baia del Silenzo. 
The beaches are more crowded than normal as
it’s a public holiday. We swam in the crystal clear water and enjoyed the
sun. Later we walked up the steep path
for a beautiful panorama and a closer view of some lovely hillside homes.
2.06
Today we’re off to the Cinque Terre,
very exciting! The Cinque Terre (‘five
lands’) is made up of five villages and is in the Parco Nazionale delle Cinque
Terre which was created in 1999 but not geared up for walkers until 2002. The villages are called Monterosso al Mare,
Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.
All villages are ‘postcard material’, beautiful, multicolouredand
perched on clifftops above the Med. Each village has it’s own special charm.
It is a Unesco World Heritage site and on the
World Monument List. It was built over a
thousand years by peasant farmers who transformed the steep cliffs into fertile
terraces to grow agricutural produce and create an extroadinary landscape.
Up early and a walk into town to the
train station where we purchased two train tickets to Monterosso al Mare, 7.80
euros. We brought a two day pass, 46
euros, which covers all trails and unlimited train and bus fare between each of
the five villages for the two day period.
We zipped between tunnels along the
coast for about 20 minutes to Monterosso al Mare, the first of the villages. Laid
back and beachy, we followed a great promenade along the pebbly beaches with
crystal clear water.
We trekked along a glorious coastal
path via a ticket check point climbing and descending through olive trees and
via vineyards and lemon groves for about 1 and a quarter hours to Vernazza
where we looked down at the pastel coloured houses around a gorgeous harbour
and 11th Century Castle. We descended
the many stairs into a cobbled town and up to the Castle. We had lunch on the beach and swam in the
beautiful harbour.
Onward for another hour or so
continuing to follow this spectacular trail to Corniglia, the only village with
no harbour access. After an explore we
continued our walk following a trail close to the sea, however about one kilometer from the forth
village, Manarola, we had to turn around as the trail was blocked off due to a
landslide.
We headed back to Corniglia
where we caught the train to Manarola. As it was getting late and we were
tired, we decided to stay the night here and continue the trail to the last
village tomorrow. We found ‘Davide’s
rooms' slightly off the main drag, quiet, clean and nice with a blissfully hot,
high pressure shower, 70 euros. We went
for an explore and had a beer overlooking the Med. We sampled the various anchovies and enjoyed
pizza and spaghetti with a mozzarella and
tomato salad for dinner. A small walk to work the dinner off and a beautiful
view of the town in the glow of a glorious sunset.
3.06
Coffee and biscuits at the little Cafe
then we looked for the signs to the ‘high road trail’ to Riomaggiore as the
lower trail (‘the Road of Love’) is closed due to falling rocks. We hiked up a steep narrow stone stepped path
for about forty minutes to the top then slowly descended via vineyards and
incredible views to the last village, Riomaggiore with it’s fishing boats
docked in the small harbour. 
A beautiful view from the harbour terrace and its gulley
of coloured houses forming the main street.
We explored the rocky bays then had a large paper cone of mixed calamari
for lunch. This little town is quaint
with a lovely port area and a great selection of eateries and accommodation. We
caught the train back to Vernazza for another swim in the harbour and a relax
in the sun before catching the train back to Sestri Levante and the walk
home. Tired but happy!
A difficult decision to make, but we decided Riomaggiore and Vernazza
are our favourites.
The Cinque Terre is one of the most
spectacular and stunning trails we have hiked and we enjoyed every moment. We were sorry when we’d finished and must
have picked a great time slot as the trails and towns were uncrowded and the
weather perfect. It reminds us so much
of the Greek Islands.
04.06
Rest and catchup day today, drinks with our Dutch neighbours Francois and Caroline
Brought back great memories. Vernazza was our favourite!
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