The Cinque Terre

Sunday May 15
We took an early train to Levanto, which would be our base for two days in the Cinque Terre. It had stopped raining but we expected a day of rain and the sky looked as though the prediction would hold true. Luck was with us because when we arrived, there was no rain, and we walked the short walk to our hotel and checked in.

Since the weather seemed to cooperate we decided to go to Monterosso and hike the two hardest hikes. When we came up the steps from the train we were met with a sunny sky and a beautiful blue Ligurian Sea.

How fortunate for us! We found a wonderful little outside restaurant and had lunch (can you guess what we had?) next to the ocean.

By the time we finished though, the sky was grey and a little rain had started, so we decided to take the train to Riomaggiore, as the sky looked sunny in that direction. It turned out to be a good decision, because when we arrived, the sun was shining, so we walked the easy walk on via dell’ Amore to Manarola, enjoying the scenic views of the cliffs and the rocks down to the ocean.

Manarola was a lovely village and we walked around enjoying the people and the shops and taking advantage of the photo opportunities. Eventually we started walking the second section to Corniglia, and after fifteen or twenty minutes the path was closed, with signs indicating that it was unsafe. Once we looked around, we could see where there had been a rockslide blocking the path had occurred. So we walked back to Manarola and took the train back to Levanto. Our feet needed a rest anyway, as tomorrow we would be doing the more strenuous sections from Monterossa al Mare to Vernazza and then to Corniglia. We heard later from Carlo, the owner of Hotel Primavera, where we were staying in Levanto, that the section of the path has been closed for a year. Interestingly, no signs indicated the situation before starting that section of the trail.