We started off the day early, as we met the group we were traveling with (called "Florence For Fun") at the Santa Maria Novella Train Station at 8:15 in the morning. There we checked in, and some of us had a quick McDonald's breakfast, which was delightfully greasy. As a side note, it was nice to have it, but personally I'm ready to be done with McDonald's food for another 2.5 months.
 | Also, we met a group of other ISU students there! They were apparel and merchandise majors, who are also studying in Florence. |
| From Cinque Terre |
Around 9:00 we boarded the train, and began a three-hour train ride towards Riomaggiore, the first town in Cinque Terre. Along the way we stopped for lunch, and I fell asleep long enough for the others to take some embarrassing photos of me with my mouth open. Ugh.
So finally we arrived, got our tickets, and started along. The first leg from Riomaggiore to Manarola was supposed to be easy, and boy was it ever. It was basically like walking on a sidewalk. That, of course, didn't make the sights any less beautiful, however. The weather was very good, although a bit warm, as the sky was about as clear as it could be.
| Also, the first walk is along "Via Dell'Amore", or "The Street of Love" as a loose translation. As a story goes, it got it's name from someone discovering a couple in love who wrote their names on the wall along the way. So, in the spirit of tradition, the wall is completely covered with the names of couples who have gone by. |  |
| From Cinque Terre |
We continued through Manarola without much of a stop, and started the second leg. At this point, the sidewalk was no more, however the ground was still pretty even. As we got close to Corniglia, there was an option for people to take a train and skip the third leg of the hike. A good number of people choose to do that, however we decided to continue hiking. Soon we came upon a big staircase, which apparently contains 365 steps which lead up to Corniglia, the third town. That staircase was a bit brutal.
Once in Corniglia we stopped for a while and recouped a bit. We were told about a wine shop that sold some wine specific to Cinque Terre, in particular some white wine which apparently is very, very good. They also had "limoncino", which is the cousin of "limoncello", a lemon mixed drink. I didn't get any, however. A few of us went to a gelateria and got some fruity gelato, which was incredibly refreshing..
 | Around 45 minutes later, we headed out again for the 3rd leg of the hike to Vernazza. This one became a lot more difficult than the others VERY quickly. Granted, the views were that much more beautiful, but it was nonetheless tough. Now we spent most of the hike climbing up and walking down rocky and uneven earth stairs. It was very tiring. |
| From Cinque Terre |
Finally we arrived to Vernazza just after 5:00, and we were happy to be done for a while. This was a chance to get some food, look around, and decide whether or not we wanted to hike the last trail to Monterosso. That particular trail is known as, by far, the hardest one, and at a normal pace is estimated to take a solid 2 hours. We had the choice of doing that, however we needed to make sure we arrived to Monterosso before 7:20 so we could catch the last train back to Florence! We decided we would take a ferry they were providing for us, which gave us more time in Vernazza. For food, we grabbed some pizza, and personally I had some which was just tomato sauce, garlic, oil, and some sort of finely ground peppers. It was really good!
We caught the ferry just after 6:00, and took the 10 minute ride to Monterosso. Once there, we went and spent the rest of our time sitting on the beach, taking pictures, and just enjoying the sound of the waves (along with having a couple distance contests throwing rocks into the sea). Finally, we hopped onto the train back to Florence (and switched once in Pisa), and made it back to our apartment by around 11:00. We were all exhausted, but it was a very fun day!
See all of our Cinque Terre Photos!
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