Sept. 15; # 1 – Hiking the Cinque Terre
Today was a long day filled with arduous stair climbing, hot sticky weather and breathtaking, magnificent, fabulous views! We determined to hike the remaining portions of the Coast Route, known as “sentiero azzurro” (“blue path”) to the other villages. It was such a long day it will have to be recounted in several posts! Here is a map to give you an idea of the area. The longest sections of the coast route are from Monterosso to Vernazza, and Vernazza to Corniglia (which we completed last night).
Monterosso to Vernazza
We started out the morning slow, looking for breakfast in town. We ended up getting foccacia bread, cheese, sausage, yogurt and orange juice from the small grocery and eating on our veranda. We then caught the train to Monterosso, the northernmost village, to hike back to Vernazza.
Monterosso has the biggest beach and it looked so inviting, but we had some hiking to do first!
As we started our southward trek we came upon a local artist.
She was capturing the vibrant colors of the water and beach.
A vase as public art maybe?
Around the next corner was a relic of WWII. We wondered if it saw use.
The blue, blue Mediterranean
Panorama of the 2nd beach of Monterosso.
The vineyards on the terraces above town.
The rock walls of the terraces, some laid with only sand as mortar!
The stairs, and there were lots of them!
Looking back at Monterosso.
Monterosso farther away to the north.
Looking south towards Vernazza. The path is getting crowded with tourists from all over the world!
Approaching Vernazza!
Vernazza! Notice the ferry to the right, off loading passengers from the bow.