Pauline
Forums Admin
Friday May 18 2018
Woke up to bright sunshine for the first time in a week! Sunny and warm, 71F. Sunny all day.
Our last full day in Levanto. Breakfast at the cafe just before you get to the train station again. This is the only one that has wholewheat (integrale) cornetto and their coffee is good. There was a long lineup for tickets in the train station. We bought the Cinque Terre + Train passes again. We were on the train to the Cinque Terre by 10:30. We arrived in Monterosso and found another cafe for a second breakfast, sitting at a table outside in the piazza. Okay, now we were ready.
We joined the stream of people walking towards the start of the trail. They can't all be doing the trail!! They were.
For the past few years, since the big mudslides, the first two legs of the Cinque Terre trail have been closed - Riomaggiore to Manarola to Corneglia. This week the thrid leg, Corneglia to Vernazza, was closed for maintenance. That leaves one leg of the Cinque Terre trail open. Vernazza to Monterosso.
They really need to make this trail one way. And to get the other legs open.
It was a two hour walk, starting with a very steep climb mostly up concrete or rock stairs, for over 45 minutes. The climb we did a few days ago, from Corneglia up, was much easier even though it went to a higher level. That trail was more gradual. We were nose-to-tail going up the steps. There were also people coming down. It was a zoo. Part way up, two guys were playing music beside the trail, looking for donations. I didn't see them get any as we all huffed and puffed our way up. There were many Americans, but also Italian and French and etc. Many young Americans. But lots of oldies like us too. No one could go fast because there was not room to pass. The slow pace made it not so hard to keep going.
Once at the top there were parts of the trail so narrow, on stone ledges beside stone walls, that oncoming people could not pass, so a bottleneck would occur. It was like being in a traffic jam! At one point there was a very large man, who in his younger and thinner years must have been a good hiker, walking very slowly and causing a backup. A few younger people raced past us and him. Finally he stepped aside and we all got to pass. That is what this hike was like.
The trail is basically up-up-up, flat for about 30 minutes, then down-down-down. We did the trail 15 and 16 years ago (we walked the whole Cinque Terre trail in one go one time, split over two days another time) and it was crowded then, but not as bad as this.
At a few points on the flat bit we were not surrounded by people. But then the downhill pushed us all together again. We could keep a good enough pace and there were places to step aside to enjoy the view and take photos and it really wasn't that bad.
We arrived in Vernazza at 1pm, perfect time to find an outside table at one of the many restaurants around the harbor, but most restaurants were full, or almost full. The main street is lined with food shops - street food (fried everything in a cone, like you get in Naples), foccacaria, panini, gelato, etc. - and crowded with people eating, looking for food. Steve turned to me and said "get me out of here" so we headed up to the train station (the restaurants away from the water were not as crowded), caught in the next train (they run frequently), and were back in the apartment by 2pm. It was so calm walking through Levanto - no crowds, just a town heading into siesta. I made us a nice lunch.
The day was too gorgeous to ignore, so in the later afternoon we did another walk on the pedestrian/bike trail to Bonassola for gelato. In the last several years we have had gelato only once on a trip. This was my third gelato in 12 days!! Steve's second, but he is always better at showing restraint.
Dinner at home and now we are packing up. We don't have to leave until 11am tomorrow, so I don't feel rushed. We will be able to have our last Barolino trip. Then it is north to the Piedmont!
When this trip is over I am going to put together my thoughts comparing our stay in Levanto to our two recent stays on the Amalfi Coast.
Woke up to bright sunshine for the first time in a week! Sunny and warm, 71F. Sunny all day.
Our last full day in Levanto. Breakfast at the cafe just before you get to the train station again. This is the only one that has wholewheat (integrale) cornetto and their coffee is good. There was a long lineup for tickets in the train station. We bought the Cinque Terre + Train passes again. We were on the train to the Cinque Terre by 10:30. We arrived in Monterosso and found another cafe for a second breakfast, sitting at a table outside in the piazza. Okay, now we were ready.
We joined the stream of people walking towards the start of the trail. They can't all be doing the trail!! They were.
For the past few years, since the big mudslides, the first two legs of the Cinque Terre trail have been closed - Riomaggiore to Manarola to Corneglia. This week the thrid leg, Corneglia to Vernazza, was closed for maintenance. That leaves one leg of the Cinque Terre trail open. Vernazza to Monterosso.
They really need to make this trail one way. And to get the other legs open.
It was a two hour walk, starting with a very steep climb mostly up concrete or rock stairs, for over 45 minutes. The climb we did a few days ago, from Corneglia up, was much easier even though it went to a higher level. That trail was more gradual. We were nose-to-tail going up the steps. There were also people coming down. It was a zoo. Part way up, two guys were playing music beside the trail, looking for donations. I didn't see them get any as we all huffed and puffed our way up. There were many Americans, but also Italian and French and etc. Many young Americans. But lots of oldies like us too. No one could go fast because there was not room to pass. The slow pace made it not so hard to keep going.
Once at the top there were parts of the trail so narrow, on stone ledges beside stone walls, that oncoming people could not pass, so a bottleneck would occur. It was like being in a traffic jam! At one point there was a very large man, who in his younger and thinner years must have been a good hiker, walking very slowly and causing a backup. A few younger people raced past us and him. Finally he stepped aside and we all got to pass. That is what this hike was like.
The trail is basically up-up-up, flat for about 30 minutes, then down-down-down. We did the trail 15 and 16 years ago (we walked the whole Cinque Terre trail in one go one time, split over two days another time) and it was crowded then, but not as bad as this.
At a few points on the flat bit we were not surrounded by people. But then the downhill pushed us all together again. We could keep a good enough pace and there were places to step aside to enjoy the view and take photos and it really wasn't that bad.
We arrived in Vernazza at 1pm, perfect time to find an outside table at one of the many restaurants around the harbor, but most restaurants were full, or almost full. The main street is lined with food shops - street food (fried everything in a cone, like you get in Naples), foccacaria, panini, gelato, etc. - and crowded with people eating, looking for food. Steve turned to me and said "get me out of here" so we headed up to the train station (the restaurants away from the water were not as crowded), caught in the next train (they run frequently), and were back in the apartment by 2pm. It was so calm walking through Levanto - no crowds, just a town heading into siesta. I made us a nice lunch.
The day was too gorgeous to ignore, so in the later afternoon we did another walk on the pedestrian/bike trail to Bonassola for gelato. In the last several years we have had gelato only once on a trip. This was my third gelato in 12 days!! Steve's second, but he is always better at showing restraint.
Dinner at home and now we are packing up. We don't have to leave until 11am tomorrow, so I don't feel rushed. We will be able to have our last Barolino trip. Then it is north to the Piedmont!
When this trip is over I am going to put together my thoughts comparing our stay in Levanto to our two recent stays on the Amalfi Coast.
