So! What a great day! Jody and I met up at 7:30 this morning, had a
little coffee and pastry, and then were on the Cinque Terre trail at
8. Fairly immediately, the stone stairs carved and/or deposited onto
the hillside begin. And go on. And on. AND ON. Yeaaah, I was out
of breath, sweating, and thirsty within about 20 minutes. It probably
didn't help that I hadn't had much water the day before, had slept
like crap, and had sugar and water (no coffee for me) that morning. I
know, I know.
About halfway through this first leg of the hike, Jody heard a really
loud rustling on the hillside opposite the small valley. We stood
there, looking and waiting, and then two adult wild boar appear out of
the bushes, followed by four baby boars, and another adult. So cool!
Of course, I think we had both consumed some "cinghiale" back in the
Chianti region, so there may have been a twinge of guilt as well :)
We continued on the trail. When we got to the area above where we had
seen the boars, I all of a sudden heard a bunch of REALLY loud
rustling right below the trail. So, being the outdoorswoman that I
am, I ran like a little girl, squealing, to where Jody was, and then
started clapping my hands loudly to scare them away. 'Cause even
though the trail was about 4 feet above the brush, well hey, I don't
know - boars might be able to jump that high!! But - having seen them
really makes the hike all worthwhile.
We made it to the next town, Vernazza. The map time for this portion
was 2 hours, but we did it in 1 hour 15 min. We took a couple of
photos, drank a bunch of water, and continued on to the next leg. The
wonderful thing was, at this point, we were the first of the day to do
this portion of the trail. We had passed the only other 2 ladies
early on, and it made for such a peaceful, great experience (even
through all the panting).
The next leg, for me, was just as challenging. While the elevation
was as high, it was slightly more gradual - but still a ton of steps
and switchbacks - and my fuel had just totally run out. But of course
we made it, accompanied by more incredible views, more people
(unfortunately), and then emptied into the lovely town of Corniglia.
This leg too, was supposed to be two hours, and we did it in another 1
hr 15 min. There, we grabbed a quick bite, and then continued on to
Montarola (the 4th town, or I guess 2nd, depending on which way you're
traveling!)
This one was much easier, but with lots more people. It was beginning
to warm up, but we had renewed energy with a snack (and a beer, for
Jody, she's my hero - I couldn't do it yet!). We got to Montarola,
about an hour and 10 min later, and were going to continue on to the
last 20 minute stretch to the next town, but realized we'd have to run
in order to make it and then get on the last boat for a couple of
hours there. So, we decided to forego the last 20 minute stretch,
known as "lovers walk" (I think), in favor of a couple of beers while
we waited for the boat at this town. It was lovely. Besides, who
wants to walk an easy 20 min stroll where hundreds of people have
carved their initials and names in love, blah, blah, blah :). Ha!
After the hike, I went back to my hotel, read my book, laid on my
terrace for a bit, tried to take a nap...Jody, Kelly, and I decided to
have dinner again tonight. We had a whole fish, seafood pasta, more
pesto, wine...Not as good as last night, but still good. They leave
tomorrow, and so we made plans to have dinner together in Seattle
before I move to Boston - yay! They're such great ladies, and added
so much for me to this portion of the trip. What a wonderful
coincidence that I met them here - lovely!!
Tomorrow will be a beach day, maybe a boat to one of the other towns.
A simple day. Ahhhh...
Love you all,
L
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