Hiking Cinque Terre

Dinner with a view

After getting all culturified getting all culturized visiting culturally significant areas in Madrid, Barcelona, Rome and Florence, Anne, Mark and Bren headed north for some pure Italian Riviera relaxation.  To the north and west of Florence is an area called 'Cinque Terre' - which is an Italian phrase but translates (roughly) as "you're in for a lot of hill-climbing, fat boy."

There are five towns in the Cinque Terre area and the trio stayed in a resort on one side, near the town of Riomaggiore.  The place they stayed was built into the side of the hill on the outskirts of town.  After checking in, they headed in to town for provisions and prepared a lovely Italian dinner, which Anne did a lovely job preparing.  The next day they woke up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and ready for some hiking.

There is a hiking trail starting at one end of Cinque Terre National Park, continuing through the five towns that constitute the area, and concluding at the other end.  Anne, Mark and Bren drove part of the way from the hotel to the first town and parked.  They walked the remainder of the way and began the hike in a picturesque little town called Riomaggiore.

It's white shirt day!

When they got to Riomaggiore, they began the hike along the main trail in the Cinque Terre National Park.  Unbeknownst to them, the trail between the second town (Manarola) and the third (Let's call that one ... ThirdTown-ola) was closed for repairs.  As they approached the area where the trail was closed, they noticed a large number of people walking the other direction on the trail, but none of them said anything.  So, our trio continued along.  When they reached the point where the trail was closed off, they realized that they, too, would have to turn back.  They initially wondered why no one said anything about the closure as they passed as a courtesy to prevent them from making the needless walk to a dead end.  That seemed odd.  The response by Anne, Mark and Bren?  On their way back, they also did not tell anyone approaching the trail closure that it was a dead end.  Maybe it would have been better to warn these hikers, but come on, when in Rome...

Hey, Mom!  I'm in Cinque Terre!

Since the hiking trail was closed down, the only way to proceed was to take the train that connected the towns of Cinque Terre.  The next train would arrive in an hour, so the trio headed into town for a quick bite to eat to pump up their blood sugar levels for the hike ahead.  And remember, when in Cinque Terre, eat like the Cinque Terrians do (which, apparently, is while sitting on a staircase).

Since part of the trail was closed, our Italian explorers needed a new plan of attack for Cinque Terre.  The train stopped at each town, but they did not know how much of the trail was closed for renovation.  It would have been quite unpleasant to stop at the next town (ThirdTown-ola), realize that the trail was still closed and have to wait an hour or so for the next train.  Eventually, they decided that they would ride the train to the fourth town (Vernazzo), hope that the trail there was open, and then do the 90 minute hike to the last town (Monterosso al Mare), which had a nice beach where they would be able to rest and refresh.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the word "hike" - it is one of those rare words with two different etymologies.  One, from the Latin, comes from a root word 'hyke' meaning "walking through nature for pleasure."  The other, 'hiike,' from the Greek, means "walking great distances as a form of punishment or torture."  ***Editor's note: see below.

Obviously, as demonstrated by the two different takes on the definition of "hike," walking great distances through nature is a wildly different experience based on your point of view.  For example, if you are an athletic, adventurous female who enjoys nature, beautiful views and fresh air, like Anne and Bren, you may enjoy hiking a tremendous amount (as the Latin definition suggests).  On the other hand, if you are a male carrying around an extra 100 pounds or so who enjoys florescent light and re-circulated air conditioned air over anything found in a forest and has a clear and long-standing position regarding all of nature (Pave it!), hiking might be a little lower on the "enjoyment" list and a little higher on the "tightness in the chest" list - more along the lines of the Greek definition.

Answer: About this many.  Question: If Mark were to fall forward while taking this picture, how many victims would they find at the bottom of the mountain?

But eventually, all three members of the trio, those who were enjoying the hike and those who were merely surviving it, made it to end of the 90 minute, medium-difficulty hike and took a celebratory self-portrait.

Champions!

After a long, hot hike through the woods, it was time for some rest and relaxation on the beach.

The photo below demonstrates just how much trust there is between Bren and her uncle Mark (a cynic might point out that the photo points out how misplaced that trust may be).

"No, seriously, it's a tradition to take a picture with a coin in your hand the first time you go to the sea - it's for good luck, just like that pigeon in Rome .... good, now hold it just a bit more to the left - not your left, my left...."

Uncle Mark is so immature.

After the hike and a brief splash around in the sea, Anne, Bren and Mark hung around town.  They sampled the local lemonade (a bit tart, as the local custom does not involve adding any sugar at all) and shopped at the local crafts fair.  Then they returned back to the hotel in the side of the cliff to watch the sunset.

The cat really seems to enjoy a nice sunset.

***Editor's note: this entire paragraph appears to be made up with no actual basis in Latin, Greek or etymology itself.