We casually strolled around the port before jumping on our train bound for Florence. The trip thankfully wasn't a long one, & we arrived two hours later. Checking into our hotel, we dropped our bags & headed out straight away to find one of the replicas of the statue of David, & dinner afterwards. We walked into the heart of the city, past a beautiful church, & arrived at a square with the statue, & a whole ensemble of orchestra music. After snapping a few pics & enjoying the soft Italian music, we walked down a series of back roads until we arrived at a cosy little restaurant at the front of a house.
Dinner consisted of a large salad, a tasty prosciutto pizza, & a delicious, crisp Tuscan white wine. After settling up, we walked a little further until we reached a river. Wandered aimlessly across one bridge & back over another, we eventually set our sights on home & bed.
After a great night's sleep, we woke up & were all packed by 9. Thinking that we could get breakfast in our hotel until 9:30, we ducked out of room to grab some nourishment. However, the woman who was on shift had other ideas, & was already nearly packed down when we asked if we could eat. She aggressively started to get things back out & feeling uncomfortable, we told her not to bother & left to find somewhere else. We did find a place for a brioche & a coffee, & after heading out for a quick look at the second Statue of David replica, we returned to gather our things from the hotel, before walking to the train station & boarding the train, bound for The Cinque Terre.
Scoring a cabin all to ourselves, we set off & after another few hours, reached our destination, Levanto - a town just past the fifth fishing village of Monterosso. Exiting the station, we wandered up towards the hills - luckily taking a left before having to ascend - & reached our bed & breakfast, 'Fattore.' Meeting the friendly owner, Christian, we dumped our bags & got onto wifi to track down Cristina's whereabouts. Unsurprisingly, it was beachside, at a bar right at the edge of the ocean. We set off back down, through town, & reached the joint. We met Cristina & were introduced to her friend from home, Patricio. We wasted no time in ordering an Aperol Spritz each, & it shortly arrived with some complimentary nibbles.
Patricio asked if Sean wanted to head out for a surf, & Sean jumped at the chance without hesitation! Cris & I watched on, (even borrowing someone's binoculars!) as the two new mates hit it off attempting to catch the Mediterranean's unusually giant waves, they ventured back in after a good hour & we were back to drinking & socialising.
As the sun set over the hill, we begun to feel hungry for dinner. We left the bar & headed home for a quick change. Walking back to town, we stumbled upon a tiny pizza restaurant that was packed full. Thinking it must be great, we waited patiently until the elderly waitress ushered us to a table. After waiting patiently again to order, a hot, fresh & delicious anchovy pizza was placed on our table. We devoured the meal with an average local white wine & then headed to another bar for another Aperol Spritz each & a cigar.
We got a hold of Cris again & agreed to meet at another café bar. The cocktails were strong & tasty, & we drank & laughed the night away with inappropriate chat! We decided to call it a night after a few cocktails each, & stumbled home at 1am.
We woke the next morning drearily, the cocktails definitely came back to bite us. After slowly getting out of bed, we got our things together & headed out to visit Vernazza, one of the Cinque Terre. We hopped on the train & after a short while, arrived at our destination. We checked out a few of the stores, had a delicious sandwich at a place called 'lunch box,' & climbed up a tower which provided magnificent views!
After taking in the beautiful scenery, & itching to get into the deep blue - if a little rough - ocean, we headed back down to the marina. Sean jumped off a ledge where huge waves were crashing onto, & then we both dived into the much calmer marina.
We splashed around for a little while, then decided to head back home, picking up a few supplies for a salad dinner at home on the way. I tossed together a delicious, healthy salad, & still feeling rough, we decided against having a drink with dinner. After dinner, we hopped into bed to watch the BBC news, & shortly fell asleep.
The next morning we arose still feeling the effects of the two nights previous, but pulled through, dressing in comfy, active gear & headed to Levanto station. We purchased a Cinque Terre national parks card which we required in order to hike from one village to another, & hopped on the next train bound for Riomaggitore.
We disembarked the train & walked down towards the marina. Stopping briefly for a café macchiato whilst taking in the sights of the bustling bay, we finished & walked over towards the allegedly picturesque Lover's Walk. Unfortunately, the path was closed due to landslides which was a massive shame, however we did check this beforehand so as to avoid even greater disappointment.
Figuring that the next walk would start in the next village along, Manarola, we hopped back on the train & in no time we arrived. Walking down towards the beginning of the cliffside trek, we bypassed it for now in search of a pristine swimming spot. We found one of the edge of a rocky boat ramp, & we wasted little time in stripping off into swimmers & diving into the crisp, clear blue water. The swim gave us a massive renewed energy, & after we climbed out & dried off, we were straight up to the cliff trail with our sights set on Corniglia.
Oh, if only the trek was as flat as the inconveniently closed coastal paths!! We soldiered on up the mountainside under the unforgiving hot Italian sun through grapevines & up raggedy steps. Our only tiny bursts of energy came in the form of the local white wine grapes Sean kept picking sparingly straight off the vines! After a couple of hours of sweating & pushing hard, we reached the cliffside village of Corniglia.
Because the marina required a lot more effort than the others to reach, we opted for a delicious gelato in the town centre, before continuing on our journey. Thankfully from Corniglia, the coastal path was open, so no surprises at all in the fact that we didn't hesitate to join it. Funnily enough, the walk was still quite steep, (I fell hard and fast) but thankfully more so coming the other way! We praised a higher power as tourists passed us up the hill panting & sweating, knowing all too well how it felt.
We reached a familiar looking village in Vernazza after a good hour & a half, and stepped up the pace towards the ocean! We jumped into the deep blue and it was refreshing and crisp. We found a spot on the rocks and sent the good part of the next hour enjoying the Rays and splashing around. After a much needed rest and romping, the late hours of the afternoon aroused our appetites and we climbed back up the through the town to a restaurant we had passed on our descend. We had a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean from 🌱 & service with a smile. The food came out promptly and we were super satisfied with our tasty seafood cabonara and tomato/olive stuffed mussels! The sun was beginning to set and with my bung knee (from falling) we opted for the train to take us to the last village of Monterosso.
The last time I had been in the village with my sister was 8 years ago.. And after far too much limoncello, we stripped off and skinny dipped!! Opting for a far more sober experience of it this time we walked around the bustling little town that seemed to attract the dressiest of the 5 villages! Women were kitted out head to toe in designer tack, face full makeup and Stilettos on cobble streets.. Good luck with that! Limping and resembling a drowned rat after a day of hiking and swimming Sean and I decided to head home on the train.. Not before taking a moment or twenty to be captivated by the gorgeous full moon over the water!
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