2012 Italian Holiday: May 2012

No trip to Cinque Terre would be complete without hiking a trail or two. Normally, all five towns of the Cinque Terre are connected by trail, but following the torrential rains that occurred in October of 2012, the lower trails have been damaged and it was not possible to make the entire hike on those particular trails while the girls were visiting the area.

Riomaggiore to Manarola

Wanda and Cathy started their trail hiking with the "easy" trail, the Via dell'Amore (pathway of love). This is the trail between Riomaggiore and Manarola. It is an easy walk with minimal climbing and is wide enough for strollers and wheelchairs. If you aren't a photographer, you could easily make this walk in about 20 minutes. Obviously, for Cathy and Wanda it took a bit longer. This is a lovely route and an easy walk for those who can't or don't want to tackle one of the more challenging trails.

Along this trail they saw graffiti and padlocks locked to wires, cables and fences. Here's the story....Closing a padlock with your lover at a spot along the trail, preferably a bridge is a common ritual in Italy. Over the years prior to WW II the trail had been closed various times for landslides and actually was closed more than it was open. Following WW II it was reopened and established as a lover's meeting point for boys and girls from the two towns. After an extended closure in 1949, the trail was reopened for a Christmas marriage. If you plan to go with your sweetheart, be sure to take a lock along to add to the extensive collection.

Along the way there were incredible views

Graffiti was abundant on the walls, rocks, flower pots and agave

Agave Carvings

To start their hiking adventure, they took the train to Riomaggiore and walked the Via Dell'Amore to Manarola. After exploring Manarola a bit, they walked the trail toward Corniglia as far as they could, but this trail remains closed due to part of it being washed into the sea from the floods. As they reached the end of the trail, it started to sprinkle, so they pulled out their clear plastic ponchos and headed back to the train station for the ride back to their apartment in Corniglia.

Once back in Corniglia, the girls hoped against odds that the bus wouldn't be full with an overflow crowd of tourists, but no luck, so rather than wait for the bus to make the round trip and stand in the rain waiting, they opted to hike up the hill in effort to return to their cozy apartment and wait out the rain.

Monterosso to Vernazza

Thursday was the day for the more rigorous trail. Cathy and Wanda decided to hike the only other open lower trail, the trail between Monterosso and Vernazza. The dilemma of the day was that they wanted to go to the market in Monterosso that morning. Advice they received had been that hiking from Vernazza to Monterosso would be the easier route. Okay, they are on vacation, so getting up at the crack of dawn to hike from Vernazza with the hope of arriving in Monterosso before the market closed down was risky at best. They really wanted to go to the market, so they decided to hike from Monterosso UP to Vernazza.

While in Monterosso, Cathy purchased a terracotta pot which in hindsight wasn't overly smart because she had to pack it in her backpack over the mountain. Yes, I said over the mountain...as in the bear went over the mountain. They had no idea what was in store!

They paid their park entry fee to hike the trail at the trail head. Up to that point it had been a pretty good climb! It only got better! Yes, that is sarcasm you detected. The views were lovely and Cathy and Wanda stopped often for photographs (an good excuse to rest).
They trekked up steps, over uneven stones, tree roots, steep grades and more uneven steps. They grumbled and fussed. The trail was barely butt wide in spots and if you met someone, one of you had to retreat to allow the other to pass.

Okay, this isn't so bad........

The vistas were beautiful!

Then came the steps....lots of 'em!

No! No! Not MORE Steps!!

Root Riddled Trail

Stones across a stream

A relatively smooth flag stretch along one of the hillside terraces by the vineyard

Evenly terraced hillsides

Challenging Steps...No choice but to go on up....Will they ever end?!?!

Are We There Yet?????

More beautiful vistas

Yes, there seemed to be someone living all the way up here! Not sure how they navigated to/from home. Look closely and you can see the trail in front of the house.

Some workers working on repairs on the trail from the mudslides.

Peaceful Waterfall

Fellow hikers taking a R&R Break

Wanda, doing her "I am woman, hear me roar" impression.....she's gonna conquer this mountain!
Do or Die!

First sighting of Vernazza...so close, but yet so far.....

The trail led past a house that had been ripped in half by the torrential waters coming down the mountain.

It was a somber moment to actually see the power and devastation of that fateful day.

Three locals lost their lives.

Steps down into Vernazza...the end is near!

Getting closer.....

OMG, Wanda and Cathy Did It! Three hours with rest and photography breaks and they finished the trail.

Hallelujah!!!

Vernazza welcomes them with the buzz of heavy equipment working to restore their town.

The girls were starving, so they found a table at an outdoor cafe and enjoyed a

Pizza for lunch!

Yes, they whined and complained.

Wanda said there was no way she'd pay a trainer the amount of money the vacation cost to put her through the rigor equaling the trail, yet on vacation, she did it to herself.

Cathy echoed agreement.

Despite the tired feet and sore legs and bums, they can proudly say that they did it!

They completed the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza!

The View

Daniella

Mid week the girls found themselves making a late morning journey, by train (seriously, this was the only option), to Monterosso. Upon arrival, they followed directions specifically and soon found themselves climbing the many steps to Cathy's friend Daniella's home. They were to visit for the day and enjoy lunch with Daniella.

Daniella has a lovely home with an outside kitchen (Cathy was drooling) with the most amazing view of the sea. On a clear day you can see Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Upon arrival, there was a bit of haze, but it burned off and showed the view in all it's glory.

Outdoor Kitchen

Speaking of glory! There is no better words to describe the amazing lunch we had while there. It was absolutely glorious. Daniella outdid herself! Both girls helped Daniella prepare the lunch they shared while they chatted and Daniella told them about the house renovations she and her husband had made, landmarks within view as well as when market day was, the best route to take on the hiking trails, etc.

Following are our photos from the visit with Daniella.

Nothing store bought from Kansas or Indiana dares rival the freshness of the vegetables from the markets

Work table where Cathy and Wanda helped Daniella prepare lunch.

You all know Cathy and Wanda are not slouches, they were willing to work for their lunch. They rolled up their sleeves and gave Daniella a hand!

Wanda picked basil leaves for fresh pesto while Cathy paused to enjoy a cappuccino!

...and as you can see, she got a little "frisky" with the basil.

Does anyone know if basil has catnip like properties for humans?

Cathy and Daniella would bet money it does based on the group photo debacle

(if you want to know, you'll have to ask Wanda, we're not telling)!

Cathy chopped the tomatoes (yes, despite the fact she's not a fan).

Honestly, who could resist these beauties!

The fresh fish headed for the oven, stuffed to the gills (I know bad pun) with garlic, rosemary and fresh slices of lemon. Mr. Fish was sprinkled with sea salt a dousing of white wine and then spent around an hour in the oven.

The pesto was partially made the ancient way with a mortar and pestle and when the girls' arms tuckered out they switched to the more modern implement, the food processor.

The remains of the pesto in the food processor bowl was augmented with some sun dried tomatoes, among other ingredients, and turned into a red pesto. It was served as you see here simply on some toasted bread, topped with arugula and a healthy drizzle of olive oil. This was so delicious!