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| The town of Monterosso |
tel and then head to dinner. We ate dinner overlooking the Mediterranean sea. This trip was actually my first time seeing the Mediterranean sea, and it was everything I could have imagined. The water was so blue and gorgeous and the cliffsides were magnificent. For dinner I had salmon, and obviously it was the most fresh fish I have ever eaten and we drank white wine. That night we brought Emily for her first ever gelato as well :) Coming from London, they fell in love with the food.
On Friday we woke up early and packed up our things for our journey to Vernazza. Originally we weren't exactly sure how we were going to get to Vernazza, since we didn't really have any specific plans. So we asked the owner of the hotel who looked at us and said "you're young, you can do the walk." We thought that sounded lovely and strapped on our backpacks and headed in the direction she sent us. As we approached the trail we realized people were using hiking poles and had on some serious hiking boots, but we decided to take on the trail anyway. Well, I now understand the hiking poles and boots. We weren't prepared for this trek at all, but it was still absolutely amazing. I would do it again in a heart beat. This hike was the most incredible thing
I have ever done. "Rustic" would be an understatement. There are hundreds of stairs that are really just rocks carved into the side of the mountain as you literally hike up these coastal cliffs. And the foliage was breathtaking. Every time we came around another corner we had to stop just to take pictures because everything was so beautiful. Between the waterfalls, flowers, grape vines, and ocean views, there aren't words to describe the experience. Even though my legs were on fire and I was trying not to fall off the side of some of the more narrow parts of the trail, I was in complete bliss. Finally, we came around one turn and saw that typical "Cinque Terre" picture of the colorful buildings around the harbor. I couldn't believe that this picture actually exists. In fact, pictures don't do it justice.
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| A house completely split in half by the mudslides. |
As we got closer to the town of Vernazza, we saw where the mudslide and flooding of October 2011 devastated homes and building. While most of the town has been put back together, it was incredible to see the power of nature while walking along these paths.
When we finally arrived in the town of Vernazza, we were starving. We had hiked for about 3 hours, and it was definitely the most physically tiring thing I have done in months. Almost none of it was flat ground and the rock and stairs made it tough. So we found a waterfront restaurant and took my host moms advice: order the pesto. Oh my God, it was amazing. I have never had pesto this delicious in my life. I don't even know how to explain how wonderful it was. When I get back to the US, I am on a mission to make pesto that can even be compared to the pesto I ate in Vernazza. Afterwards we wandered the town until we found a little tunnel/cave. We decided to explore and went in, and that's where we found the beautiful Vernazza beach. It was all rocks and pebbles, and there were giant boulders that Christian and I decided to climb and explore. They were right over the turquoise water and were so much fun to navigate around. We finally found a flat rock and sat down to admire the beauty of the Mediterranean before taking on the climb down. After our climb, the three of us decided to go into the water. The sun was beautiful and warm, and the water was perfect. We climbed over the stones and ran into the cold water. I swam in the Mediterranean.Finally, it was time for us to head to Florence. Christian and Emily would be visiting Florence for Saturday and Sunday, with me as their tour guide. Unfortunately we missed our first train (oops!), and had to figure out plan B, which included getting back to Florence around 9:30PM. Pizza for dinner :)
Love this blog post! What an amazing experience
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