Cinque Terre.. to sum it up... WOW.
This place is absolutely amazing and is now one of my favourite places in the world.
We arrived to cinque terre late in the afternoon after a 6 hour train ride from Naples. The train ride itself was an adventure.. the train was old and we had pre-booked tickets and reserved seats.. except mitchs seat did not exist so he spent the entire train ride moving from seat to seat when one was available..not a highlight for him.
Mitch and I met up with Claire at La Spezia station and we headed out to Cinque Terre together. We stayed in Vernazza which was definitely my favourite of the 5 towns. Its the second largest town (we had one main street and a few little ones coming off that) and a stunning view to the ocean of crystal clear water.
The 5 towns of Cinque Terre are linked by rail and also hiking trails. Our first full day we decided to do the hike. Starting in Riomaggiore (or Rio-town as we had come to call it) we headed off. The first walk was very easy, it was flat, along a concrete path and only took about 20 minutes. We passed the hundred of padlocks that people lock to the railings as a symbol of love and then throw the key into the ocean, had pictures taken on the lovers chair and took many many photos.
The second walk from Manorola to Corniglia was tough... the easy route had been closed due to a landslide and most people took the train to the next town.. however we decided to the 2 and a half hour detour hike to get there. To say it was painful is an understatement. For an hour and a half we walked so high up into the mountains, climbing uneven steps. The sun was at its finest and belting out over 30 degrees of heat making it almost unbareable. Once reaching the top the views were definitely worth it as we looked out to the ocean. The next hour was spent walking through vineyards and making our way down the rocky terrain to Corniglia. we finally arrived and had a small lunch. Claire and I were exhausted and incredibly hot so we decided we would go back to our town by train, have a swim and relax for the rest of the afternoon. Mitch decided he wanted to do the whole walk in one day so he set off. He was so exhausted by the end of it but pretty pleased he done it all.
I had decided I would finish the walk 2 days later and Im so glad I did as the walks from Corniglia to Vernazaa and then to Monterosso were worth it. They were tough but the views are just so incredible you cant pass up the opportunity. I also roped mitch into doing the walks with me too so he hiked the whole thing one and a half times!
As a reward Mitch said he would take me to jump off the high rock in Vernazza into the ocean. It was completely safe as the water is ridiculously deep but I was so scared. Being petrified of heights I had to cling to Mitch and could barely get my legs to stop feeling like jelly so I could actually stand up there. It wasnt even that high I dont think, but any height is petrifing to me. A crowd was building watching and waiting for me to jump.. I had a moment of adrenalin and I knew in that second if i didnt jump I never would. So i quickly let go off mitchs hand which I had been squeezing and jumped into the turquoise water. The crowd cheered as I jumped, plunged into the water and came up to the surface being happy with myself that I had done it.
I am so glad we had gone to Cinque Terre.. after Mitch and I saw an episode of Getaway on it we made sure it was high on our bucket list and we would be going. So now thats ticked off and its also made its way to the top of my favourite places list. I would most definitely recommend Cinque Terre.. we were there for 4 nights and it wasnt enough. You could never get sick of the views, the lifestyle of swimming and jumping off rocks, snorkelling, eating amazing italian pasta, seafood, gelati... all of it, it's amazing.
Its my heaven on earth!!
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