Bella Cinque Terre - September 20, Vernazza

Our next stop in Italy started with a girl named Erin. 

Erin Baumgart (now Schildroth) and I have been friends since we lived two doors down from each other in the dorms in 2003. Since then, we've shared a million memorable experiences, including being in each others' wedding parties. 

At the ISU girls reunion in May 2011!

With Erin in 2004.

One of the best things about Erin? She studied abroad for a full semester in Wales and pretty much backpacked across Europe in her off time. She convinced us that we COULD NOT miss the Cinque Terre, a string of five villages built into the cliffs above the Mediterranean Sea.

There wouldn’t be any star attractions. No famous paintings. No large and sparkly cathedrals.
Just good food, beautiful views, great people and the opportunity to relax and recharge for the last half of our trip.

We decided to stay in Vernazza, one of the middle towns and known as the “crown jewel” of the Cinque Terre. Finding a place to stay took some creativity and a little bit of luck since there are no large hotels and most of the places are owned by families who speak little English.
 

We scored a cute apartment through an odd arrangement of emailing our credit card number and receiving instructions to call a local cell phone number upon arrival at the train station. Random story: We were so unsure about this informal arrangement, the Italian mother of one of the Brendan's coworkers kindly called to confirm for us a few weeks before our trip.
 

Outside our own apartment in Vernazza. I wrote postcards on that little table while drinking local wine.

We took a two-hour train ride from Florence to La Spezia, and then another 30 minute train ride to Vernazza. As our first views of the sparkling Mediterranean teased through the windows, we knew we were headed somewhere unforgettable. 

The Mediterranean's crystal blue waters welcomed us.

We arrived at the Vernazza station with a sea of other tourists since we were traveling smack in the mid-day. We struggled to carry our luggage down the stairs and into the town proper. 

Note to self: Next time in the Cinque Terre, bring small luggage only!
 

All the towns are very small, and Vernazza is one of the smallest of the five. No cars are able to access the towns, so imagine walking down the train station steps and into a pedestrian-only street lined with restaurants and brightly colored homes, with laundry hung to dry between windows high above the sea, the entire town within 500 meters of the waters. It was simply stunning. Photos below are of Vernazza's quaint beach.

 

The Cinque Terre is a good place to visit when you’re young and strong. “Built into the cliffs” could also mean “lots of stairs EVERYWHERE”. Our apartment owner’s extremely attractive son (Sorry, Brendan, you know this was true) helped carry our luggage to our accommodations, our own apartment just a few steps away from the Castle Doria, a medieval structure resembling a lookout tower.
 

We settled in, freshened up from the morning of traveling, and started hiking on the centuries-old path in between towns.
 

Until the early 20th century, the only connection between these five towns was a walking path. Since then, a train connects the villages, but stairs are always part of the game. But no matter if you’re riding or walking, the beauty of this area was unavoidable. 

We first hiked the longest and most challenging portion between Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. Most beautiful. Hike. Ever.

The view of Vernazza from the hike to Monterosso. The tall skinny building in the photo's upper right is the Castle Doria, literally just steps from our flat.

Trailhead to Monterosso.

View from the hike. So beautiful. This, my friends, is the Italy I was looking for.

Looking down at Moterosso's large beach. This town was on the north side of Vernazza and the most "resort-ish" of the five.

Another couple we saw on the hike had asked us to take their photo at this viewpoint before kissing for the picture. We couldn't help but imitate them as they took ours.

Once in Monterosso, we explored the town a bit. Monterosso is a little more accessible and level than the other towns, and the one with the largest beach. It seems more resort-ist, but still hangs on to the small town charm of the area. We ordered gelato from a plump Italian woman who “taste-tested” the treats as we ordered. Brendan ordered the banana split flavor (her favorite!) and it was among the best that we had during our trip.  

We took the train to Corniglia, the town on the other side of Vernazza. After leaving the train station, we had to climb 342 (yes, that's not an exaggeration. See the sign and photo below!) just to reach the town!  

Stairway to heaven. Or the stairs between Corniglia's train station and town.

We had a tricky time finding the trail head, but it was nice to get lost and pass through the town on a slight detour. Corniglia was pretty, but as the only town without direct sea access it was also one of the quietest.  

The hikes were steep and a little challenging. Since the total hike between Corniglia-Vernazza-Monterosso was about 7 km, we weren't surprised that a few older tourists were struggling a bit with the steps and uneven ground.  

Except the Germans, who were crazy hiking machines.  

 

Sign showing the path between the towns.

 

Success! We found the trail between Corniglia and Vernazza.

Looking down at Corniglia.

View of Vernazza from the trail between Corniglia.

When we returned to Vernazza, we discovered that most of the nicer restaurants required reservations. Luckily, this worked out in our favor because we ended up having the best pizza of our lives (no joke) at a small trattoria. The Italian owner was a little grumpy, but warmed up after we said his pizza was the best we ever had. The crust was not-too-doughy or flat, and the perfect level of buttery. The sausage was spicy but not-too-spicy. We also ordered salads with tuna, which tasted like it had come from the sea earlier that day. The food was amazing and the serving sizes were huge, in typical Italian fashion.
 

We couldn’t bear letting the pizzas go to waste. So for the first time, we “Americanized” and asked him to box up the leftovers.

I was in love with everything about the Cinque Terre.
 

Erin, I owe you one.