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July 27, 2016

From WOOF to WOW: Hiking the 12km Trail in Cinque Terre

This morning was not my favorite. Honestly, it kind of stunk. Maybe it was being sore from the big hike earlier in the week. Maybe it was the fact my body was annoyed with being on the go for so many days in a row( yes mom, I took vitamins everyday). Maybe it was the fact that it was windy and cold again this morning and MAN WAS I TIRED OF THE WIND AND THE COLD! (Yes, I realize this was a trip of a lifetime so I shouldn’t let the weather get me down, but seriously, can a girl get a 64+ degree day without the wind?!?) Or maybe it was just one of those off mornings. Whatever it was, it was not fun.

Thankfully after a filling breakfast, espresso and the realization of HELLO IM ON VACATION IN EUROPE WITH MY HUSBAND, the attitude adjustment happened and I was ready to face the big hike day. Originally we had planned this hike for the day before but after the impromptu Five Lands hike we knew we needed a break in between and I’m so glad we planned the break. This hike was on a whole different level than our precious hike and the soreness set in quickly.

We started in our town of Riomaggiore and immediately began with a steep incline. P and I looked at each other and thought “what did we get into” but then incredibly views come out of the clouds and we realized we made the right decision. #wheninItalyalwaysgohiking #getupandmoveitwillbeworthit

Here in Cinque Terre they mark their trails by numbers and red/white lines. The lines become your best friends as they helped you figure out which path to follow along the trail. Some of them were shaped pretty funny.
The monorails were prevelant in this part of the town too. Crazy how steep and high they have these guys!
There were also a lot more man made pieces on this side of the SVA which was interesting and fun to check out.
We rocked out the front part of the hike and were highly surprised by how steep and difficult the descent turned out to be compared to the start. There were a lot more rock scrambles than anticipated and the path became quite narrow with steep drops on the side. There was no fear for safety, but there were a few comments about how much we wished we were wearing our hiking shoes. Some of the terrain reminded me more of Arizona or Nevada than the Italian coast. And then we found the highest point and wow, what a view!
The descent that lasted forever was not very well marked, but thankfully our instincts kept us on the right path. We were both very happy to see the town getting closer and closer.
And finally we reached the end of the trail and it as time to find the ferry boat and a gelato store.

Normally the ferry would have taken us along the coast back to Riomaggiore but because of the (stupid) wind it was not traveling along the coast. So we hopped a ride to La Spezia and then walked to the train station from the marina. Not what we planned but it worked!

It was a long fun day and we were ready for food and rest. While the day didn’t start out on the best note it truly was a fun last day in beautiful Cinque Terre. Not gonna lie, I was super sad to say goodbye to this beautiful place. I'm so grateful my BOFF suggested it to us and I hope one day to get back.


What we ate: I wasn’t hungry most of the day, but here’s a snapshot of some of the food.
For dinner we grabbed a bottle of win and two pizzas and ate them in the palazzo outside our lil Airbnb. It was a warmer night than normal and we enjoyed hanging out and seeing life in Riomaggiore. We also met some Americans touring Italy and had a fun conversation with them. We found out they were from Michigan but we didn't hold it against them ;)!

13 comments:

  1. The views are most definitely worth the trek - that and the food you get after that long hike! xo, biana -BlovedBoston

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  2. Wow those views are amazing!!! Absolutely beautiful!

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  3. Those views are so pretty I could cry- and that gelato looks so good I could also cry, haha. Was it hard in terms of finding your way? That's one thing that makes me so nervous about hiking anywhere- especially if it's not very crowded/populated?

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  4. Oh those views! How gorgeous! I still could kick myself for not hiking that when I was there. This is making me want to go back, one of my favorite stops in Europe! Glad you survived the hike and got some great gelato to treat yourself for all your hard work!

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  5. Cinque Terre is next on my list and seriously that hike was impressive! The views I still can't get over them!

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  6. Those views! wow!!! i would have loved to do something like that when we were in europe but back then, we were in a different place (more in the place of not exercising LOL) but now? for sure hiking would be on our agenda.

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  7. I adore ya'll - you rock! (and ya'll make it look easy!) ;)

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  8. You guys sure did Europe right - look at those amazing views! A filling breakfast and espresso too, yes please :-D
    Green Fashionista

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  9. Love your attitude and love that it ended up being a great day. And I laughed out loud at the vitamin comment to your mom, lol!

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  10. It's funny that we were in the same place, did the same things, and at times, it looks TOTALLY different!! I do wish we had done the ferry boat thing though!!

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  11. Wow such gorgeous views! What a fun adventure and go you for getting your workout on while on vacation. The desserts were well deserved!

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  12. What a bummer that you had a bad morning, but OH MY GOSH those views! Stunning!!!

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  13. ugh i know we *shouldn't* let things like the weather get us down on holiday but it can really ruin your time! especially when you all are so active on your holidays. those markings are pretty hilarious! being on a monorail that steep/high would freak me out lol. that view though! i totally don't think i could do any of the hikes you all did, especially if you all remarked you wished you were in hiking boots.. i don't even own any! but those views. wow!

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