Day 17&18

Day 17, Friday, October 6, 2006
Today was our first day on the beautiful Italian Riviera, also known as Cinquo Terre National Park. We are staying in a very small, very high village called Biassa, about a 12 minute bus ride from the first village in the Cinquo Terre. The drive reminded us very much of that high, twisty part of the Port Alberni highway on Kennedy Lake, but much steeper and much more spectacular. The Mediterranean Sea loomed far below us, and grape vineyards covered the cliff sides from the sea to the highway and above. How the farmers gather those grapes is an entire story and description in itself, and I’ll just let you look at the pictures and imagine for yourself.
My first impression of the little villages in the Cinquo Terre was that they much resembled their inhabitants, looking and feeling old and fragile, and full of history and many happy stories of days gone by. The colorfully painted buildings are built so close together that they appear to be leaning on each other for support, and are huddled closely to their small harbor mouths on the edge of great cliffs covered in vineyards springing up almost instantly behind them.
Our first few minutes took us on the path between the first and second villages, oddly named Via dell’Amore (walk-way of love). I say oddly because if I were to imagine a walkway which deserved the name Amore, I would not picture this path. It begins with an iron like gate, with an iron heart bent into shape situated above. Mostly under the cover of a tunnel, graffiti and thousands of names scratched by lovers of the past entirely cover almost every inch of wall space on the left, and on the right the view of the ocean is lovely but often interrupted by the distracting graffiti, the man playing the accordion which echoes loudly throughout the walk, or by the hundreds of couples walking hand in hand and trying to pretend like they are having the most romantic moment of their lives thus far.
It makes you wonder how the path came to own such a name and how it looked and felt years and years ago and how that differs from what it is today.
The trail from the second town to the third was much more pleasing and much more rugged. It twisted and turned on the edge of the steep cliffs, and there were many points of interest and places to stop and take lovely photos along the way. The flora and fauna of the area are quite lovely, many bright pink and purple flowers, lizards, and beautiful little birds hopping about. The hot sun sparkling off the Mediterranean and the cool ocean breeze act together to create the perfect atmosphere for an afternoon stroll along the vineyard covered hillsides.
We spent several hours on the sandy beach of Monterosso, where we succeeded in adding significantly to our tanned shoulders, before heading back on the train to our lovely little hostel.

Day 18, October 7, 2006

We awoke to overcast skies this morning, and we gathered around our small window wondering if our plans to spend the day finishing our hiking and soaking up the sun would be ruined. Once buddy at the front desk assured us it most definitely would not rain (perhaps only to get us out of the hostel for the afternoon), we headed out hopefully with our swimsuits and sunny dispositions in tow.
The first drops splashed over the brim of my hat about 6 minutes after walking out the front door. By the time we were on the rugged trail at the point we left off yesterday, we were giggling about how funny it would be if it really started to pour and we were way out in the middle of no where on a slippery path that would most likely turn into a complete mud puddle if given the chance.
Haha. We weren’t laughing half an hour later. Or an hour and a half later, when 5 sopping, hungry tourists stumbled onto the street of Vernazza. The rain was bouncing off the sidewalks and everything else, and every nook and crany out of the rain was jammed with red and blue poncho’d people, sighing and exclaiming in various languages about what “bad luck” this was. We looked at each other, and without another word set out to find the nearest Gelato shop, where we satisfied our craving and spent a half hour watching the people rush about on the streets. We had no intention of considering the day ruined, and bounced from shop to shop collecting picnic lunch items and a few other various odds and ends, until we were completely positive the rain was here to stay. We then decided that a cozy afternoon at the hostel with a bountiful supply of yummy food and good movies was sounding very appealing, and we made our way back to town #1, Riomaggiore. That’s presently where we are actually, tucked away in small Coffee shop, sipping delicious cappuccino and waiting for our bus. Besides being decidedly damp, I’m feeling good that we got our beautiful hike in today, (much more spectacular than yesterdays, just wait until you see the pictures!) and I’m quite happy about how our afternoon has turned out.
Tomorrow we’ll coming back here and hopefully finding and internet point to upload these stories as well as reply to some of your emails.
Our time here in Italy is rapidly running out, and I feel as if we’ve barley scratched the surface of this beautiful country. But, that just leaves a reason to come back I suppose… And I’m quite sure I will one day. Our itinerary takes us from the Cinquo Terre on Monday, when we will make our way south to the hill town of Orvieto, where we are spending 3 nights before heading finally to Rome for our last 5 days. From there we will see the city sights as well as take a day trip to Pisa and wherever else our feet take us.
Love you all, I can’t believe how soon I will see you. I’m finally excited to be here, but almost equally as excited to return home to you and share all of these stories in person as well as hear your stories of this fall as well. Take care
Ciao!
-Kait