| A look back at Vernazza from the trail to Monterosso |
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| Glenn's Cinque Terre Journals 05-25-02 Saturday morning and we awake to the sounds of the ocean waves breaking over the rocks along the shore. These are the same sounds that we went to sleep by. The plan for today is to hike the 1 1/2 hour trail from Vernazza (the 4th town) to Monterosso (the 5th town), check out the town, and then rail to Riomaggiore (the 1st town) and hike to Manarola (the 2nd town). We would then rail home to close out the day. (The trail along the water between Manarola and Corniglia was closed due to some police investigation of a death which explains why we skipped this section of trail.) As mornings go we did our usual preparation for the day including packing the day pack for a hike and some time at the beach. As we headed out for the day our plans quickly changed as we realized that the town was preparing for a wedding which was to be held at 11:00 am this morning. We decided to delay the hike until after we had at least seen the start of the wedding including the bride and groom. The town had certain sections adorned with beautiful greenery and flowers and the restaurant located in the plaza was setting tables and preparing itself for the reception dinner. There were definitely plenty of bottles of vino to be had. We waited along the shore sunning ourselves while we waited. Around 10:30 am we found a decent viewing location in the plaza and watched all the nicely (some interestingly) dressed people arrive for the wedding. Then, just after 11:00 am the bride came down the stairs from the castle, walked across the plaza and into the church. She was beautiful, as all brides are, and this was a great place for a wedding. The involvement of the town was fantastic as it is hard not to include everyone with the size of the town as small as it is. Once the bride and groom had entered the church we took off up the trail to Monterosso. The first 15 minutes or so (Erin may say longer because it felt longer)were all uphill. I don't mean the casual incline. What I mean is 15 + minutes of steep stairs including some that were barely wide enough for me much less myself and the traffic coming from the other direction. Once we had completed the initial ascent, and we were perfectly drenched with sweat, the remaining uphills and downhills were less strenuous. Conveniently most of the rest of the way was downhill. Along the path we met a few folks including Becki and Taylor. We had seen Becki and Taylor on the train into Vernazza but hadn't spoken as they had gotten off in Manarola. Becki recognized us from the day before as they were heading along the trail the opposite direction towards Vernazza. We chatted for a moment before heading on to Monterosso. Along the path we also met a couple of young ladies that made as aware of the Lemon festival that was happening in Monterosso. We are always up for a festival, even if it is lemons. Once we arrived in Monterosso we went into town to check out all of the excitement from the lemon festival. We arrived in town during siesta so it was pretty quiet at that point. We also went shopping for a new bathing suit for Erin as the strap on hers had broken in Positano and she was without for the moment. Luckily we found a bathing suit that fit and for a reasonable price. We then bought panini's and sat to enjoy them on a bench along the street into town. Next we were off to the beach to enjoy the sun, water, and read our books for a little while. (Continued on next page) |