April 26th
We said goodbye to Dan and Ta and drove to Levanto. There we would leave the car and catch a train to Monterosso, the northern most town in Cinque Terre (5 Lands). Monterosso is the beachiest of the five towns and is where we started our hiking adventures.
Side Note: Originially we were going to go up to the Dolomites and do a Via Ferrata trail, however when we checked the trail info, there was still 2-3 meters of snow on parts of the trail. We decided we didn't want frostbite. Hiking Cinque Terre was plan B.
The plan was to hike the coastal trail from Monterosso to Vernazza as it was the only part of the coastal trail that wasn't washed out. Or so we thought.
These were the first of MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY steps.
Monterosso.
Well, the area outside the train station any least.
Pretty flower.
It looks like a bird!
Not a bad place for a pool, huh?
I had looked into the trails and knew we had to pay to access some of them. We had been walking for a little bit and saw no where to pay the park fees. We finally came across a bored man in a little shack who sold the passes and gave out maps. Short after this we saw a sign pointing for Vernazza to the right. So we followed it. We saw several blue flare marks indicating we were on the coastal trail.
What we ultimately found was a steep, overgrown loose shale hill. Some hikers before us decided to bail. We decided to explore further. Michael went off on final exploratory adventures and decided it wasn't safe. FYI if Michael thinks something isn't safe, you REALLY don't want to be doing it.
Sort of, but not really, what the shale hill of death was like.
It was probably a 70% incline or so.
We dissuaded several other hikers from trying to go up the "trail" as well. We ended up going back towards the shack to ask the bored guy what the deal was. On the way we ran into some other people coming down steps to the left of where we originally went right. They told us they had come from Vernazza. So we headed off up the steps.
Sam is not happy about all the steps (I wasn't either),
but is pleased she isn't going to potentially die in a shale slide.
Vineyards and views.
Sad little fluff.
This critter wasn't doing to well unfortunately.
Look! We're hiking! And not dead!
Ciao Ciao Monterosso!
First glimpse of Vernazza.
Northern Cinque Terre coast.
Amusing gate/sign.
Michael & Sam on the stone bridge.
There was little river and waterfall that flowed beneath the bridge.
Oh thank goodness! We're finally starting to go DOWN.
I am confused about the stray cat sanctuary.
You were supposed to fill the bowls if they were empty, but there wasn't any food in the containers.
Mini rollercoaster?
It's a little cart used for farming and tending to the vineyards on the hillsides.
We made it to Vernazza!
We had a rocky start (teehee! See what I did there?)
and climbed a lot of steps but 3 or so hours later we made it to Vernazza.
At this point my camera battery died. Someone left it on...*coughmichaelcough*
All the rest of the Cinque Terre adventure photos are Michael's.
I am so done with steps at this point. Little did I know.
Photos around Vernazza:
You had to walk through a cave to get to the Vernazza beach. It's pretty neat really.
The beach was rocky and not sandy though.
Said beach.
This concludes our adventure for today.
