Lucca into Cinque Terra

Lucca to Cinque Terre

So the type of Eurorail pass that we bought allowed us to travel any ten days in the duration of our stay in Italy.  As soon as we validated our ticket on any given day we were allowed to get on and off trains as many times as we wanted for the day.  This allowed us to plan and execute what was one of our most exciting days in Italy.  We got up early in the morning and had breakfast in our hotel in Lucca, immediately took a 40 minute train ride to Pisa, where we spent the morning site seeing.  We ate lunch in Pisa and then jumped on another train for the one hour trip to La Spezia.  It only took 10 minutes on a local train to get from La Spezia to Riomaggiore.

  We were checked in approximately 3 pm and still had a day and a half in Cinque Terre. 

The main attraction for most people visiting Cinque Terre (including us) is the prospect of hiking the trails between the five villages.  We very quickly learned that the trail between the second and third villages was washed out from a recent storm, but this was okay because it was one of the lesser hikes.  So the plan for this day was to take the trail "Via Dell'Amore" (Lovers' Lane)

which is approximately a half hour trek between Riomaggiore and Manarola.  This was a beautiful, very easy, stroll in the park which led us to wonder why our research had warned us how tough it would be to do the five-village hike.  We spent two enjoyable hours exploring Manarola,

headed back to our hotel having already covered one section of the trail and two towns, ready for dinner and feeling enthusiastic about the next day.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and knowing that the trail between towns two and three was washed out, decided the best plan of action was to take the train to the fifth town, hike back from five, to four and four to three, which would allow us to see all five towns and hike three of the four portions of the trail.  The first part of our hike was from Monteresso, The beach town.

to Vernazza.  According to the internet this first trail was the toughest hike, but we were still feeling flush from the easy section we had hiked yesterday, and started off feeling extremely confident.

Just like this guy, who hung out just outside of town.

According to what we read, we could do this hike in an hour and a half, and being as we were both runners we thought we wouldn't take much longer than that.  Have you ever heard the phrase "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread"?  Call us fools if you will.  By the time we were a quarter of the way into the trail we were already hot, sweaty, scratched, and feeling completely betrayed by our own enthusiasm.  The elevation changes were more than we imagined and the rocks and sand we were hiking on were continually shifting and sliding from under our feet.

 Although most of the trail had a fence between us and the drop off to the water, occasionally we would come upon portions high or low where the fence was washed or eroded away.

  And I can tell you, when you look down to your right and your looking at a drop anywhere from 100 to 200 feet, to waves crashing over jagged rocks, it's quite unnerving.  At one point, we encountered a woman coming in the opposite direction who was clearly as nervous as we were.  We had to pass each other in a very narrow section, and it was clear that the other woman could not bring herself to leave the mountain side of the path. So we had to pass along the drop-off side of the path.  Joani asked me if I could take her hand while she stepped around the other woman.  The woman, hearing, "Please take my hand", offered her hand to Joani - two shaking sweaty hands grasping each other in hopes of not falling.
With relief we reached the next town safely and stopped for lunch.

  I knew how tough that had been for Joani so after lunch I told her "I know that was tough, hot, sweaty, and scary, and I understand if you don't want to continue, but I have to take the trail as far as I can, so if you want to board the train in this town and meet me at the last town I understand."  But my wife, being the trooper that she is, made it very clear that if I was going to continue hiking this trail, she was going to be with me every step of the way. So we made our way to the entrance of the trail from Vernazza to Corniglia.
 Now this Hike was rated not quite as dangerously tough as the previous one but considered more physically demanding. My quads and calves were already sore from the morning hike so I wasn't sure how it was going to be worse, but in hind sight I can tell you easily. Vernazza was a port on the sea while Corniglia was a town up in the mountains. We climbed up, up, and then up some more.

Then we climbed down a bit and up some more . It continued up and down for almost two hours and then at the end, for good measure we climbed these stairs.

 Just for good measure, most of the steps were loose stones just set lightly in place, so you never had real good footing. I am always telling Joani that I feel the most alive when there's a little bit of danger added into our adventures and I'll tell you honestly, I felt extremely alive this entire day. We got into Corniglia

in the late afternoon, were happy to have a little sit down, get a cool drink and rest from our hike. All in all, it was a terrific day.
 On a more somber note, we hiked the trail in April 2011 and in October 2011 the region had the worst landslides in recorded times. Vernazza and Monteresso were hardest hit and devastated.They have been slowly recovering over the last 6-7 years and there are still parts of the path closed.
 Even so, I would still recommend visiting as these are some of the most beautiful seaside towns you'll ever see. Just don't visit in the rainy season.
 The next day it was on to Venice but Oh did I love Cinque Terra!