Florence to Cinque Terre

Friday 17 June 2011
We stopped in at Pisa on our way to Cinque Terre, we got some good shots, I came runner up in the competition on our bus for best lame Pisa shot. We were dropped off in La Spezia and had to catch a train up to the first town of the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore. We trudged up this massive hill with our shitful heavy bags to the office. There was no extra beds for Katie who didnt want to stay in the third town Corneglia, so we paid a little extra and got a triple room together with Jenny. It was really nice to have our own space rather than a cramped dorm room and be together with some new friends. But our room was up in the clouds, there were so many steps and I was ready to piss on my bag and set it on fire by the time I reached the top. We were a little hysterical by the end of it :)  we explored the whole town pretty fast, and got the most rich and amazing chocolate gelato of the trip. There was a great little deli there, where i practiced my improving Italian and ordered a bunch of stuff for our seaside picnic dinner, we had pesto, bread rolls, salami, roast pork, olives, cheese and tomatoes, it was sensational!! Katie kindly shared her Tuscan wine with us which was fantastic, Really good day :)

Saturday 18 June 2011
We hiked the Cinque Terre today. We got an early start and reached the second town Manarola by 9.15, but the track to number 3 Corneglia was blocked due to a landslip, so we had to wait just over an hour for the train to take us there. We killed some time in a little cafe there, i am getting a nasty coffee/pastry habit. The train station at Corneglia was at the bottom of 382 steps, which I did not enjoy climbing. Katie was well pleased she decided to switch hostels. We didn't see much of Corneglia town, and kept hiking through to Vernassa. This was the most challenging section of the hike, lots of scrambling up gravelly steps, and it was quite narrow in parts. But the scenery was spectacular. The sheer cliffs down to the water made for beautiful photos. My Dunlop volleys got a real workout and when we reached Vernazza my shirt was wet. Gross!! We had lunch in little Vernazza town, olive focaccia and more gelato naturally! I stood in dog poo on the way to the fifth and final town monterosso, and it stunk up the walk for a while. BOO!!! The whole Hike took us about 3 hours plus the time we spent in each town. Once we reached the end we went for a swim in the painfully pebbly beach, only for about 5 seconds coz the waves were angry and trying to eat me. Definitely earned my afternoon siesta today, and after we woke up we went for a nice meal at a restauranto. I had been dying for gorgonzola gnocchi the whole time I was in Italy, and hadn't found it, so I was really excited they had it on their menu for my last night in Italy. DELICIOUS!