Cinque Terre

We don't know if there are words to describe today. We got up early and took the train the the bottom town(Riomaggiore) in Cinque Terre. It was about an hour train ride. The little fishing village is carved into the steep mountainside. What a sight. We bought a pass that enabled us to hike the trails between all the villages. The first section was an easy, flat kilometer that bought us to Manarola. Another fishing village high up on the mountain. Many tourists sunbathing on hard rocks and concrete surfaces! No soft sandy beaches here. We witnessed a small boat being hoisted from the small inlet up to the village by a crane. Pretty interesting. Then onto the next village, which was another three kilometers away. This was pretty flat as well. This little town was called Corriglia. We stopped for a look around and a bite to eat. Many narrow streets. We had to climb 365 steps up to the village. We decided to go down to the marina to look so we went down as many steps again. We found that this took us nowhere, except the marina so we had to climb back up again. This was the equivalent of a step class! The next leg of the journey was the longest trek. It was 4 kilometers and also a lot more challenging. Lots of steep inclines, steep declines and narrow paths. But it was worth it as the views were spectacular. Lots of steep cliffs, mediterrean views, grapes and olives. This took us well over an hour and a half to walk, but the end result was well worth it. Vernazza was the destination and probably the most spectacular of all. In actual fact the background of our blog is this particular scene. Lots of sun tan lotion, muscles, speedos, its bitsy bikinis ( and some not so its bitsy) plus fishing boats, cafes, umbrellas and the list goes on. Truly gorgeous. We took a break for a well deserved gelato, which didn't disappoint. Then onto our final destination of Monterosso. This was another 3 kilometers, but the hardest trek of all. Truly spectacular scenery, but very steep climbs and inclines. You certainly had to be very careful as at times as the paths were so narrow that only one lane could go through and there were no guard rails. Not for the faint at heart! Monterosso was another spectacular place dotted in the Mediterranean. We stopped for a well deserved break and had a nice cold wine and beer. Our reward. Then onto the train back to St. Margherita, totally exhausted. We started our trek at 10am and finally finished the last leg at 4:30pm. We were totally exhausted, but exhilarated. We thought it would take two days to cover the five villages,and are delighted to have done the whole trek in one day. Tomorrow we plan a walk down to Portofino. Bounesera!