Day 6 - Cinque Terre

Go, go, go....it seems like that's all we've been doing! Got up early so that we could meet our tourguides near the train station at 7:45AM. Barely got coffee and a quick bite. So tired....but I guess we'll sleep when we're dead.

Got on the bus and were greeted by Freddy and Fabian. Freddy ended up being assigned to our group and we couldn't have been happier. He was a Philadelphian who finally got tired of the rat-race and ended up in Firenze. The drive to Cinque Terre was rainy almost the entire way there.

We got off the bus and were treated to an incredibly cold wind. Everyone was way under-dressed and shivering. Both tourguides said that it was the coldest that they had ever experienced with a guess that it was in the low 50s with a 15mph wind. We were a group of about 25 people as we started down the trail towards our first destination. Let me try to paint a picture of this: we were walking down a lush, green ravine and, on both sides, were steep cliffs where the locals had built dry stone wall terraces in order to grow their crops. The dry stone wall means that there is no cement or other material to hold the rocks together. This allows water to flow down to the terrace below. The path in the ravine eventually ended up being the main road into town - walked down some steps and, there was the center of the village.

We checked things out in the village for a while then hopped a train for a 3 minute ride to the next village. About the trains here....they are fast, clean and relatively cheap and, in this area of Italy, it seems there are more tunnels than open tracks as the train follows the Sea and has to go under the cliffs.

At the next stop, we needed to climb a flight of stairs up the cliff to get to the village-proper. The stairs were about 13 stories winding back and forth up the cliff. Let's just say that I was a bit winded after the climb and nobody was cold anymore. We explored the tiny village a bit then a walk to the beautiful Ristorante where lunch was served. Awesome lunch and, during lunch, I was getting a bit anxious about whether or not I would be able to make it to the top of the mountain for the trek to the next village. It hadn't rained yet but was super cold and seriously threatening to rain. Sandra and I debated whether or not to pussy out and take the train with all the old people or make the trek that the guides were making out to be potentially treacherous. They pointed out a pink house far into the distance and a good ways up and into the mountain mists. It really looked like a long ways away.

After lunch, I decided that "I fear no hike!" And off we went!!! Yes, the trail climbed up into the mountains but I guess lunch gave me the fuel I needed to drag my sorry ass up the hill. Seriously, it was really no big deal. Along the way, Freddy was giving us a complete rundown of all the flora and fauna and explained how, at the right time of the year, he would pick wild asparagas to bring home for dinner. He pointed our a few asparagas plants but explained that it wasn't the correct season.

Sandra and I were cooking along the trail and ended up a ways in front of Freddy. It was about 15 or 20 minutes before Freddy caught up and, when he did, he called Sandra over to him and said, "here, this is for you" He had found a perfect baby asparagas spear for us to try. It was amazingly sweet with the best flavor ever. Nothing like store-bought asparagas.

We finally made our way to the next village and treated ourselves to a little gelato and a break from the trek. After a bit, a short train ride to the next village where we had a little wine and some crostini with pesto then a bit of fresh fried seafood. The wine was seriously hitting the spot and we ended up making friends with everyone around us, as we tend to do.

I love the fact that Italy is completely free of the government restrictions that abound in America. For example, there is no such thing as an "open container law" when it comes to alcohol. Grab a bottle of wine, pop the cork and head out. We certainly weren't very elegant but I'll tell you what, nothing is more romantic than swigging from a bottle of wine with your lovely bride on the shores of the Med.

Before we knew it, the bus had pulled back into Firenze with a load of tired hikers. We hoofed it back to our hotel room, cracked a couple beers, tried to write a bit in the blog then off to bed.