Riomaggiore and Vernazza

Monday, June 22, 2015

We decide to walk to the train station this morning, google said it would only take 16 mnutes and the temperature was a cool 76 degrees.

Things are going good and we entered the train station with the confidence that "we got this". And thats when things hit a snag. We get inline to get tickets and we explain to the ticket lady our intention, to travel to Riomaggiore and return, RETURN. She says no problem and prints our tickets for Riomaggiore (or so we think). For whatever reason, I take another look at the tickets and discover we have four one way tickets not two round trip tickets. We rush to the ticket counter to get the tickets corrected before our train departs in 10 minutes. We got it corrected and ran to catch our train, Brenda had to jump the last ten feet but I caught her.

We arrived at La Sprezia  with 20 minutes before our next connection to Riomaggiore. After 3 hours on the train it was time to find out about these water closets I've been seeing all over the place. 0.70 euros gets me access to the club.Come to find out its just a bathroom.

We arrive at Riomaggiore, the first town in a series of five that make up the Cinque Terre. We follow the heard of people leaving the train out of the station.

Our plan for the day was to walk the Via Del Amora, coastal walkway, which connects the five towns of the Cinque Terre, not sure where to go, we kind of wander the streets for a while just because.

(the streets of Riomaggiore)

Following Rick Steves guide book we track down a food suggestion, Bar E Vini. Meat and cheese tray with bread and a spectacular view for lunch is our score. While dining with unknown couple number one, they inform us that the Via del Amora, or scenic coastal walking route ,was closed.

(our view for lunch)

After discussing our options with the person of information, we are informed of a secret passage that could get us to Manarola, route 531. Our options were to take the train to Manarola (the next town in the Cinque Terre chain) or take route 531. With a beautiful day and spectacular views from Riomaggiore we opted to trek the "route 531" to Manarola ("route 531" translates to "goat trail" in english). As we discovered later route 531 was the mountain trail OVER the mountain, very steep and exhausing, but awesome views.

 

(view from initial climb on left, and what the trail was like on the right)

(the view below shows the Via Del Amore, closed)

 

(left: nearing the top of the mountain, right: mountain trail intersection)

(we reached the top of the mountain looking down at Manarola in the distance)

 

(left: final steps to Manarola, right: trail head marker for route 531 in Manarola)

Two hours and thirty minutes later we arrive in Manarola after literally taking the mountain trail. Exhausted and dehydrated we turn to each other with that "who's idea was that" look. Turning to the locals for help we ask where the train station is hiding. We book a ticket to Vernazza (fearing more mountain trails lie ahead).

The days payoff was worth it once we arrived in Vernazza, a beautiful coastal town awaited us.

(the street from train station leading into Vernazza)

 

(scenes from Vernazza's plaza)