Cinque Terre: Thursday

Wednesday, we drove from Levico to Florence, deposited the car, and caught a pair of trains to Vernazza, on the coast in Liguria.  Vernazza is one of the Cinque Terre, a set of five villages situated in close proximity (by foot or boat) to each other along the coast. Up until about a hundred years ago, the only real way to get from one town to another was via some footpaths that followed the coast (or by boat).  Then the train line came and connected them through a series of tunnels that hug the coast.

When we were visiting Italy a couple of years ago, rainstorms caused massive landslides in this area, which did significant damage to these towns.  In fact, you can find videos online of rivers of mud coursing through the streets of at least two of the towns we visited (Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare).  A lot of work has gone in to saving and reviving the towns, where tourism is, it appears, the major (only?) industry.

Vernazza was just beautiful.  We were so glad we had chosen to stay here.  It was a unique mix of small town (seriously, we saw the same curly-red-haired toddler playing in the street at least once every day).  The locals all greeted each other warmly by first name. But it's also clearly driven by tourism.  The vibe was just so welcoming and warm that it was amazing.

Thursday morning, we got up early and decided to hike the coastal trail from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare.  This turns out to be one of the most difficult (if not the most difficult) and almost assuredly the longest of the four coastal trails.  The hike was not easy, and it was hot.  But it was definitely worth it, and I think everyone (even Maya) was glad to have done it in the end.  The trail deposited us right on the beach in Monterosso al Mare, so after lunch, we dove right in to cool off.  As a bonus, we didn't have to hike back; we just caught the ~5 minute train back to Vernazza for dinner at a lovely restaurant overlooking the sea.