Day 337: Cinque Terre

We got the luck we were hoping for, and the day dawned bright, clear and sunny. Time to get out and get filming! Did some stuff around Manarola (which was still completely dead), then grabbed a train north to Vernazza, the second town.

For reference, the five towns are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.

Vernazza was a bit bigger than Manarola and more was happening. Had a good look around, and watched in awe as the huge waves pounded the cliffs. Normally it's very sedate, as people putter around in little boats and tourists sun on the rocky beaches, but not today! Waves 10 metres high were crashing into the breakwaters and churning the entire bay.

A common activity here in 5T is hiking the length of it. People start at Monterosso up the western end, then walk the full 11 miles to Riomaggiore at the eastern end. Unfortunately it's not possible at the moment since a huge landslide in 2012 damaged a lot of the paths, but regardless a lot of the paths close in winter anyway. So no walking for us!

But we climbed up into the hills alongside Vernazza and headed off along the path. Some fantastic views up and down the coast, and it was tough going in places with lots of ups and downs. Eventually we got about 40 minutes out of town and decided to double-back, since it was about 2.5 hours to the next town and we weren't planning on going the whole way (especially not while carrying Schnitzel!).

Back to Vernazza where we grabbed some sandwiches for lunch and wandered a bit more. Afterwards we hopped on the train for one stop to Monterosso where the terrain was much flatter and there was a long wide beach. Surprising! And the sea wasn't as rough here, though still probably not swimmable. Wandered up and down the (very quiet) beachfront, had a gelato naturally, then eventually headed back to Manarola.

Spent the rest of the evening relaxing in our apartment and enjoying the sunset view. More home-cooked pasta for dinner!Read more