A hike, two train rides, and a swim

Today we hiked the trail from Vernazza to the next Cinque Terre village, Corniglia.  First we purchased our Cinque Terre National Park day passes, which are required if you want to get past the checkpoint hut at the start of the trail.

Steep and rocky, the path went up and up, past the cliffside restaurant where we had lunch yesterday, and up some more.  We were walking on one of the ancient routes between villages, which at one time were only accessible by sea. It was getting hot!

Brad waits for me on the trail

We admired the views down the cliffs to the blue Mediterranean Sea, the stone walls and terraces, grape vines, olive trees, flowers, prickly pear cactus, lemon and lime trees and more.

A lizard ran in front of us, then posed on the rock wall

Sometimes the trail was fairly wide, other times it was narrow single-track. As time went on it was crowded here and there with other hikers.  Imagine our surprise to go around a corner and find a small cafe on the side of the cliff.  The good news was: they served ice cold slushies made with real oranges, iced coffee, and had a bathroom for customers, the bad news was we were only half way!

What a treat to stop, sit in the shade and slurp cold drinks. 

The view out the window of the cafe; we could see our destination

We arrived in Corniglia, found a delightful small cafe with a patio in the shade, had lunch and headed for the train station.  We wanted to take the ferry back to Vernazza, and since Corniglia is the only town without a harbour, there's no ferry service.  So we walked down a very long brick staircase from the town to the train station, bought tickets from the machine, waited on the platform in the hot sun, squeezed into a crowded car, and jumped off at the next town, Manarola.

Down at the harbour, at the ferry ticket kiosk, we were shocked when the young person told us the ferry wasn't running from Manarola because of the rough seas (it looked calm to us), but it was going from Riomaggiore, the next town to the south.  We weighed our options, and decided it was time for gelato, the train back to our home base, Vernazza, and a swim.

A great way to end the day - swim then step into the arch for a fresh water shower, and sit on a rock to dry off in the sun