Day Nine -- Exploring Cinque Terre

When we woke up this morning it was not raining. The weather prediction for the day was that it won't begin raining until 1 p.m. We were among the first to breakfast. Our plan was to take a shuttle up out of town and then walk down. In talking with Lisa we decided instead to go to Riomaggiore, the town on the south end of Cinque Terre. At the train station we bought day passes for the train, validated them and got on the next train towards Riomaggiore. Once off the train we followed Rick Steve's recommendation on how to experience this town. The sun was out, the sea was a beautiful turquoise color and around every corner was another gorgeous view.  The citrus trees were blooming and the sweet smell filled the air.
 

We stopped in the San Giovanni Church. Traveling with me includes stops in every available church. Gayle has been most patient with me. I was especially intrigued by the statue of our Lady of Sorrows.

 

Outside the church is a nice view of the town, which is devoid of antennae. The residents got cable in the eighties.

 

On the main thoroughfare in town is a tiny little church with the most welcoming statue of the Virgin Mary I have ever seen. So different from Our Lady of Sorrows.

 

We climbed the steps to the Via dell'Amore, where lovers place locks on the rails with their names and the date. A landslide washed out the trail and there were hopes that it would open in 2017. Alas, it was closed but the view was excellent.

 

We decided that the day still had sunshine and so we went seeking more adventure. We boarded the train to the next town, Manarola. We headed down to the harbor and then up the hill to the north. What a picturesque little town.

 

We hiked up to their cemetery. Being the granddaughters of a sociologist/anthropologist our summer vacations often included cemeteries.

 

We were going to hike up further and do a vineyard hike but decided to be gentler with ourselves. We went back down the way we came up and found a restaurant near the harbor. We ate cheeseburgers and fries. It tasted like home. Back on the train to the next town, Corniglia. We read that there are 385 steps to get to Corniglia from the train station. We have no intention of taking them but we did want to see them.

 

Back on the train we decided that even though it was after 1 p.m. and rain was imminent, once in for a penny we were in for a pound. We took the train to Monterosso al Mare, the northernmost town in the Cinque Terre. It was raining when we got off the train. I had brought my umbrella and Gayle had her raincoat. We prepared ourselves and set out to find the Zii di Frati (the switchback of the friars). We made our way past a very old section of the town. Then up the switchback between two groups of high school students on a field trip.

 

Our destination was this view, in which you can see the four other cities of the Cinque Terre.

 

By then it was pouring rain and my umbrella kept turning inside from the wind. We headed down the slick, mossy switchback very slowly, aware that one misstep could ruin the rest of the trip. Back to the train station we made a run for the next train heading south but when it bypassed our station without slowing down we knew we had made a mistake. Gayle and I have a saying when we make a mistake on this trip: "It's a learning day." The train stopped at Riomaggiore, the town where we started our adventure today. We got off and picked our train home more carefully. Back in Vernazza we found our room a welcome sight. We spent the evening packing for tomorrow, eating our leftover groceries from yesterday and watching the pouring rain from the safety of our room.