My hike day through the Cinque Terre. Gesundheid!

Yes, it does sound like a sneeze gone wrong, and although I did need some ‘Gesundheid’ after the flu took me down, the Cinque Terre is not supposed to be something to sneeze at. The ‘ 5 lands’ or towns are on many a tourist’s bucket list. Here is how I survived my day at the coastal towns of the famous Cinque Terre. 

After a night in a space movie with a cactus in my throat, the morning broke with cats and dogs pouring down.
But I was there and, sick or not, rain or not, I was going to hike some of the Cinque Terre. After all the drama to get here, there was no way that I was going to wait out the rain or the flu at the hostel. So when breakfast started at 7 am I was there psyching myself up to go out into a wet world while feeling like curling up in a ball.

Riomaggiore

After some breakfast focaccia, I was off to the train station for the short ride to Riomaggiore, the first of the ‘5 lands’. A short walk from the station and I stood watching the scene that every person who has ever been had taken a photo of. So, I did what all do and made a happy snappy.

As I stood there, the first thing that came to mind was why in the world is nobody painting anything. I honestly don’t know the appeal of peeling paint. But then someone said that it is part of the Italian charm. Charm schmarm! Go paint your house already! I must be a real pleb for not understanding the art that is ‘historic buildings’.
I must admit that maybe the rain and the throat cactus skewed my view. Just maybe.

The original plan was to hike from town to town, but as luck would have it two of the in-between hikes were closed, the shortest two. Just my luck again. But, truth be told, on that particular day I was not too disappointed that the day’s hike got cut short. I just went back to the station and got onto a way to crowded train. Man, us tourists are way too many! Luckily it was just a short ride to Manarola.

Manarola

Same cute type town, same peeling paint. More tourists though, braving the bad weather. I walked a bit, took some pictures and knew that if I did not dose up with one of my precious few ACC’s I would not last the day. So, there I was feeling like death warmed over with a fizzy tablet in my hand. I had plenty of water but never thought of taking a cup. So, I ended up eating the effervescent tablet. I know it’s not advised but ‘’n boer maak ‘n plan’, and I did chase it down with a lot of water. But I can now say that through experience I can name one of the reasons why eating it is a not so good idea. BUT, the escaping bubbles had a very soothing effect on the cactus.

Anyway, after the unconventional dosing, I was off the ‘land no 3’.

Corniglia

Unlike the other 2 towns, the train station is nowhere near ‘in town’. You really want to have to see this town to get off at this station. My already racing heart fell into my shoes when I saw the stairways zigzagging up into the town. But I wanted to see the towns of the Cinque Terre and that I was going to do. I followed the crowd up and the picture ahead of me made me think of the people on the Tower of Babel for some or other reason. I had to frequently stop to catch my breath. What a disappointment. I trained and was fit before the trip, but this one stretch of stairs almost had me in tears. And the cactus had grown again which did not make for an easy climb.

Flip! Finally, to the top and into town I found a way more level area. No steep streets or stairs. Just normal straightforward walking. I don’t know how to exactly explain it, but the town felt different from the previous 2. Maybe because it was less crowded (I guess a few other tourists decided to skip the town and the treck from the train station).

It is here that I first notice all the Atteni al Cane and Atteni al Gatto signs, with cute cats and dogs on them. I made a mental note to buy some along the trip, but I never again saw similar ones. It seems as if the region influences the art. So if you see a nice souvenir, buy it otherwise it will be tickets!

I wandered along here and found that the people here are citrus besotted. It seems that the climate here is good for citrus and you can see it in all the products offered.

If I remember correctly I ACC-d up again, to be able to do a hike. So, between Corniglia and Vernazza was the first open hike. The first 2 got destroyed by rain and mud slides and were closed for renovations. But I planned to hike so I thought that I will do that one as the one from Vernazza to the ‘last land’ was much longer and all things considered, the shorter one was the only one that I would have survived.

I went on a search for a path marker and found it a way out of town and off me and my cactus went. This hike goes up and down through olive trees, past accordion-playing musicians and through a random halfway eating stop.
I walked as slow as I could trying not to anger the flu beast while still trying to take in the beautiful view.

In planning, I saw myself happily skipping along the paths and working on my tan. But the reality was a freezing cold day, with rain and mud. And on account of the flu beast, no happy skipping, instead I felt like a winded old lady on her last legs. But I did take a selfie or 2, otherwise, how do I prove my presence there, and I have to say that it seems that I have a good poker face 😊.

Halfway through the hike, the rain started up again in full cats and dogs mode. Luckily, I also packed my shocking yellow raincoat to go with my shocking pink umbrella. Nobody could say that they did not see me. And then the end was in sight. Vernazza was on the horizon, but because I did not have wipers for my glasses it was a bit of a shower doory view.

Vernazza

I descended into the town by the sea and the rain was still pouring. I did a sweep of Vernazza but found nowhere to escape from the rain. The only places were inside, or at restaurants. Therefore, I only did a quick cursory walkthrough, took some happy snappies and headed towards the train station to catch the train to the last town.
I felt like we were in an overstuffed cattle train. I still am not sure if it was because of tourism or rain that the trains were almost bursting at the seams. Luckily all the train rides were super short, so there was not really time to go full-on claustrophobic.

Monterosso

Monterosso was the last town of the Cinque Terre and it seemed to me like the biggest one and the one with a ‘beach front’. But it was a miserable beach day and all the umbrellas were tied up and the shore was deserted.
By this time, I was ready to call it quits, and therefore just walked up and down the oceanfront road.

I was just on my way out when I saw a familiar face. Which had me focus on the surrounding faces and saw that I did indeed know these people. It was the people who sat in front of me on the plane and who I started my Istanbul tour with. Small world. They were just getting in schlepping their bags through the rain. I was so happy to see fellow South Africans, that I charged them again. Swopped a few words and off we all went in separate directions to get out of the rain.

I was supposed to see them in Naples again as we were all coincidently on the same flight out. Unfortunately, I never did because of the consternation at the station that day. But I will get to that story in due time.

And then I was done. Op soos ou brood. I had to go home, get dry. Have something warm and get warm. But for some or other reason I had to wait a long while for the train going back so I sort of build a tent with my raincoat. I bundled up on a bench in my ‘tent’ and waited for the train. When it finally came, I just had to suck it up with the rest of the cattle all the way back to La Spezia.

Hostel sweet hostel.

First thing I did was aim for the huge pharmacy on the same block as the hostel only to find it closed. I thought that they were on a loooong lunch break (although it was already 4 pm), but back at the hostel, they told me that everything was closed because it was a public holiday. Tough luck again. (If you don’t believe that I have tough luck after all my previous stories and this one, just hold onto your hat. A lot still happened on this trip).

But I was back. Got dry and fed and most amazingly we were just 2 people in the room. No more space movie sounds and snoring. Just quiet. I was super happy that my bunk buddy also felt the need to go to bed early. And I happily fell asleep…..and then it happened. Frenchies!!

What a rude awakening we got, when in the middle of the night, a gang of ‘super cool’ French girls ran in. They went through there like bulls in a china shop. I faked sleep as to not have to respond to them. So, there are some disadvantages to hostel living, but I survived.

I was very excited to see the Cinque Terre and to hike between the towns. That is why I literally went out of my way to get there. But although the towns are pretty, I am not sure that it was worth all the trouble to get there. But having said that I did not have the best 2 days. First, all the stress to get there and then the bad weather and being sick.

But there I was. I went there. Done that one hike. Got no T-shirt. (I got no ‘I love Italy T-Shirts’ anywhere 😊). And truth be told if someone asks, I will tell them not to go that far out of the way and rather spend the extra travel days somewhere else. (I lost 3 days here, travelling there and onward and the 1 day exploring). But all in all, it is still something to cross off my bucket list.

If you made it all the way to here, you might as well go check out my ‘how 2‘ .But be warned, it is in Afrikaans, You can mail me to get the ‘how 2’ ‘crib notes’ in English.

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