The first thing we did this morning was video ourselves singing happy birthday to Emilia. Today is her first birthday as well as my sister Sharon’s birthday. Then we walked up the main street of Vernazza, under the train station and up around a couple of bends to Il Pirata Belle 5 Terre, a small café with a big personality (the owner) for breakfast. They have pretty good Wi-Fi so we sent the video off to Pete and Meghan to play for Emilia.
After finishing our breakfast, we started up the trail to Monterosso. The trail is steep – both up and down – and rugged or really rugged. Gates at both ends had signs saying the trail was closed because of unsafe conditions (it had rained 3 days ago), but that didn’t stop a lot of people from making the trek. Like many other hikers, we stopped to take pictures along the way. Every new view of Vernazza as we ascended the path was worth a photo. As we rounded the first point we were treated to longer views of the coast. Eventually we would be able to see Vernazza and two of the towns to the south. The path wound around the hills between the two towns as high as 650’ above the water below and often with a shear drop off on the seaward side. And finally, thank god, we began seeing Monterosso.
We also often stepped aside to let others pass. We’re slow. But, in doing so, we engaged several couples or groups in conversation. It was interesting how many of them spoke English as their first language. The supposedly 2-hour hike took us a little over 3. And, the promised rain had begun to fall, though lightly, by the time we entered Monterosso. Both of us agreed that the walk was one of the best things we had done on this vacation.
We stopped for lunch and a coffee at the first café we saw. I have been hopping to order a plate of anchovies since we got to Cinque Terre and there was an anchovy sandwich on the menu. But rather than freshly grilled, they were out of a can. Oh, well.
Refreshed, we set out to explore. Monterosso is the northern most of the five towns. It is the most like a beach resort and would be great in sunny weather. I packed my swimsuit and goggles anticipating finally getting the opportunity to swim in the Mediterranean. Not today. Oh, well. After checking out most of the old town where we ate, we passed through the tunnel to the new part of town. More of the same, though newer. The train station is on that side of town, so we bought tickets and rode the rails for the five minutes it takes to get back to Vernazza.
Before going back to our room, we walked through town again to pick up some cheese, bread and wine, thinking we’d dine in tonight. We also walked back up to and stood outside the Pirate Café to send a couple of messages, an email and post a note to Facebook.