Monterosso, Italy - June 29th - Day 6

A little bit of background knowledge: Monterosso is the first in a series of five seaside towns collectively known as the “Cinque Terra”. For a long time, there could be no communication between the cities, due to a lack of trails between them. All of the towns are very small and perched on the hillside. Now, they are connected by a series of trails and trains. Today, after starting of with breakfast in the hotel, we hiked the Cinque Terra. First, we hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza, a distance of 3 kilometers. It is the most difficult hike out of the four, though not the longest, due to an overly large amount of stairs. Once we arrived in Vernazza, Brogan and Dad took a quick dip in the ocean before we all went and got gelato. Then, we left for Corniglia (pronounced “Cornelia”). The trail was 4 kilometers, but it was supposed to take a half an hour less than the first hike. It did, probably because there were slightly less stairs. When we got to Corniglia, we found a pizzeria and had some salad and pesto pizza, which was actually pizza with tomato sauce with pesto on top. From there to Manarola, the trail had been destroyed by a recent landslide, so we had to take the train. The road to the train station went down 400 stairs. Literally. Once we got to Manarola, we started on the trail d’ amore, or the trail of love. It was named such due to the fact that it was the first trail to be constructed between the towns, so it was the first time people could marry outside of their town. Couples would put locks along the trail, signifying their love. It was a fun, easy walk that ended in Riamaggiore, the last town. We never actually entered the town, instead staying by the train station. We went to a little cafe overlooking the Mediterranean Sea that sat right at the end of the trail. When my brother and I succeeded in irritating my parents half to death, we went to the train station and took a train back to Monterosso, where we slept until dinner, which we ate at a place called Via Venta. My mom and I both got amazing gniochi with crab sauce, and my parents talked with a couple from Australia who were sitting next to us. We went hat shopping, got nothing, and ate some gelato before heading back to the hotel and sleeping.