There's a trail that runs between them, about 13k. But, you traverse mountains. A bunch. All the way up, all the way down. Almost completely on the coast... yeah. It's amongst the most beautiful hikes in the world.
Janene and I arrived in the first village, Riomaggiore, on Saturday afternoon, and just happened to fall into a food festival, score! We grabbed a quick, cheap, adorable hotel room, dropped our bags, and headed back down for some grub.
We sampled cheese, wine, procuitto, and these magical sandwiches. The guy above is griddling little flatbreads, filled with a mix of mashed potatoes, cheese, and sundried tomatoes. They were better than they even sound. I am going to work on replicating this as soon as I get home.
Then we grabbed a couple of cold, frosty Peronis, and grabbed a cozy rock by the shore. The water is crystal clear, but a bit cold for my taste. Hanging by the water watching the boats dock is heaven.
Sunday morning, after an amazing, super fresh seafood feast (which we shared with the stray kitty that hung out on the terrace) we started the hike. The first leg is super easy, it's called "the Tunnel of Love." Above is part of its charm, travelers leave their locks on every available space along the walk, in a quaint symbolic tradition.
The other part of the charm (aside from the casual natural beauty) is the elaborate graffitti that adorns the tunnel. The entire length is marked, some of the art rivals museum quality. I personally liked the extensive seascape that covers this stretch.
Everyone passing through leaves thier mark, and so did I. Though, less impressive than some of the other works.
Manarola is the next village you come to, where we found fishermen with their fresh catch. These are giant cuttlefish, pulled from the boat minutes before, dripping with ink and scented like cool Ligurian breeze...
Manarola behind us, off to Corniglia.
This is the coastline your steps trace the entire way. The trail ends another bay or two past the distant one in this picture.
But if you want to get to Corniglia, you must ascend. Many, many steps. These are actually the easiest steps... and yeah, they go all the way down to the train tracks in the picture.
A brief stop for espresso and the bagno, then the difficult part begins. Well, the almost difficult part. Off to Vernazza!!
This area is known for its great foraging. These people were harvesting bags full of wild arugula. There's also asparagus, mushrooms, herbs, citrus, and ancient olive trees.
Vernazza, from above. It was about 12:30, so time for lunch.
In hindsight, a bad idea. Not that the fresh, wood-fired tomato flatbread or beer weren't perfectly tasty, but the most difficult leg was ahead of us. If you ever hike it, don't take the break. Grab some salumi and keep trekkin', because it's a real pain to start up that last, treacherous mountain after stopping, especially in the heat of the day.
Vernazza in the background. Ow. But, completely worth the searing pain in your calves.
Because of these. Honestly, these are some of the easiest stairs/ascent on this leg. It gets pretty hairy up there! And man, if you want a leg workout, climbing mountains high enough to make your ears pop through terraced vineyards is the way to go. Bring a bottle of water and comfy shoes...
There's Monterosso, the little white specks on the distant shore. Notice the mountain I'm on, and the fact that we have to get to the bottom of this one, then back up and over the one in the foreground, and the one after...
But it is dripping in plants, little lizards, and super picturesque scenes the whole, entire, arduous route.
It's a bit hard to tell from this picture, but aside from the tuft of grass there, the greenery is the tops of the trees... and my heel is pressed against the stone wall... it actually gets narrower than this in a few places. And steeper!
Still steep. Janene had to turn around to let that guy pass, because the drop... Is. Damn. Steep.
Almost there! The roughest spots behind us, the end and some gelato are in sight!
We made it! The entire journey, burning legs, sweatier than I've ever been before, and still completely enamoured by the veiw. I highly, highly reccomend this journey to any nature lovers who like a good thrill.
And the gelato at the end tastes all that much sweeter... I won't describe our, ahem, odor, but it was the most amazing hike I've ever done. We went back to our room in Riomaggiore, showered, passed out, and caught the train back this morning. First open weekend... a complete success. If anyone ever wants to come do this hike, I will volunteer to be your trail guide...La dolce vita!
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