I am not an outdoorsman. Let’s make that clear. I enjoy sleeping in a warm bed and taking a hot shower about as much as anything. That said, I do enjoy the occasional hike or “nature experience”. Cinque Terre, meaning five lands, sits on the northwestern coast of Italy, an area known as the Italian Riviera. It consists of five hill towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare) all within hiking distance of one another. The trail goes right along the coast, occasionally turning up into the mountains. Although it’s not the easiest of hikes, it’s just easy enough to enjoy the views without having to strain yourself. After an evening train, my group arrived in Riomaggiore, the first town. Despite some trouble finding our hostel (the town all but shuts down after dark), we hopped into bed, in hopes of having a fully charged battery for the hike the following day. After an early wakeup and the closest thing to an American breakfast I’ve had in months, we were off. Although the round trip train ticket was a bit pricey, I was surprised at how cheap the area was; the cost to hike the entire trail was only €5.
The second town, Manarola, is the most picturesque. Every one of the towns was beautiful and each offered their own unique characteristics. We stopped at the third town, Configlia, for a beer and a snack. The town sat at the very top of the hill, unlike the others.
The hike to the fourth town, Vernazza, was considerably longer and more strenuous. We rested by getting a nice lunch and laying at the beach. The area is known for it’s seafood, but I elected to get a local Vernazza dish called Trofie (pasta with a special pesto sauce). Every region of Italy has a unique selection of food, all of which are excellent. Cinque Terre was no different! The final town, Monterosso al Mare, is a two hour trek from Vernazza, half of which is straight up hill. After an already long day of hiking, we were all tired and relieved to see the town in the distance. It is the most resort-like of the five, with large beaches and lots of restaurants. Too spent to do much else, we sat on a rock that juts into the sea. The group had been planning this trip since the beginning of the semester in hopes that it would be a good way to wrap up our time together. We were not dissapointed.
