Admiring the port of Vernazza before starting our climb.
From the top of the trail, Vernazza's beauty shimmers.
However, in the beginning, our day started ominously under a heavy downpour in Lucca. Our mentor and guide Angelo nearly cancelled the trip because of dire forecasts except for one which he chose to trust (bravo, Angelo!). We set out early in the morning in Angelo's car bound for Viareggio where we caught trains up the coast to La Spezia in Ligeria, just across the Toscano border, then to Vernazza, the next-to-last village, if walking from south to north. Although it is possible to hike from the southern-most town up to Monterosso in a long day, we didn't have that much time, and the drenching May rains had forced some trail closures between the middle villages.
Our hike between Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare is the longest leg between Cinque Terre villages and considered the most difficult. Once we climbed above Vernazza, following the ups and downs of the trail clinging to the cliffs wasn't bad, except in stretches where slick rocks and muddy ground threatened to send us hurtling down into the sea if we misstepped. Another challenge was passing oncoming hikers on what is essentially a one-person-wide trail. As the day wore on, and we drew closer to Monterosso, the hikers we met head-on became an unbroken stream. In order to keep the human chain moving, a kind of elegant dance developed in which those of us going one direction would stand aside (often flattening ourselves against the rocky hillsides or pooling in little "turn outs") to allow those going the opposite direction to pass. Calls of "Grazie!" from those passing through received spirited replies of "Prego!" We were all speaking and walking in Italiano!
With so many hikers on the trail, finding a spot to capture the scene proved difficult (but not impossible)!
In 2011, Cinque Terre suffered torrential rains and mudslides and nine people were killed. Vernazza and Monterosso received the most damage and are only now recovering. One of the reasons heavy rain causes such serious consequences is that cultivation of the hillsides in vinyards and olive groves has waned, resulting in greater erosion. Recent generations raised in Cinque Terre have not embraced their parents' difficult work of tending the terraced fields and have left. Government incentives to keep the land in cultivation are encouraging, and conservation efforts are underway to rebuild retaining walls, but hillside sloughing is evident everywhere and severe weather exacerbated by climate change makes one fear for the future of this precious place. The thousands of tourists help sustain the economy, but the environmental impact from tourism, where the trails are approaching human gridlock, contributes more worries about long-term sustainability.
Evidence of a new retaining wall supporting a hillside between Vernazza and Monterosso.
Whizzing home on the train, we again passed the famous marble towns of Massa and Carrara hugging close to their majestic marble mountains. On our right, the Ligurian Sea sparkled and danced.
Here, from the speeding train, is a shot of what lined the route for many kilometers. I took this thinkning of Caro, friend and sculptress who can transform a fine piece of marble into fine art with a streak of soul.
Ciao!
Our hike between Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare is the longest leg between Cinque Terre villages and considered the most difficult. Once we climbed above Vernazza, following the ups and downs of the trail clinging to the cliffs wasn't bad, except in stretches where slick rocks and muddy ground threatened to send us hurtling down into the sea if we misstepped. Another challenge was passing oncoming hikers on what is essentially a one-person-wide trail. As the day wore on, and we drew closer to Monterosso, the hikers we met head-on became an unbroken stream. In order to keep the human chain moving, a kind of elegant dance developed in which those of us going one direction would stand aside (often flattening ourselves against the rocky hillsides or pooling in little "turn outs") to allow those going the opposite direction to pass. Calls of "Grazie!" from those passing through received spirited replies of "Prego!" We were all speaking and walking in Italiano!
With so many hikers on the trail, finding a spot to capture the scene proved difficult (but not impossible)!
In 2011, Cinque Terre suffered torrential rains and mudslides and nine people were killed. Vernazza and Monterosso received the most damage and are only now recovering. One of the reasons heavy rain causes such serious consequences is that cultivation of the hillsides in vinyards and olive groves has waned, resulting in greater erosion. Recent generations raised in Cinque Terre have not embraced their parents' difficult work of tending the terraced fields and have left. Government incentives to keep the land in cultivation are encouraging, and conservation efforts are underway to rebuild retaining walls, but hillside sloughing is evident everywhere and severe weather exacerbated by climate change makes one fear for the future of this precious place. The thousands of tourists help sustain the economy, but the environmental impact from tourism, where the trails are approaching human gridlock, contributes more worries about long-term sustainability.
Evidence of a new retaining wall supporting a hillside between Vernazza and Monterosso.
There may be impending human gridlock on the trail, but the resident ferral cats are unfazed.
The closer we got to Monterosso, the wetter and slicker the trail became. An older Italian man right behind us slipped and fell into a creek next to the trail and bashed open his head. A quick-thinking young woman approaching us jumped into the creek and staunched the wound and got him back on the trail where we accompanied him to his hotel ironically named "Point of Rocks."
About two hours after we'd started our hike from Vernazza, Monterosso came into view with its picturesque and pristine beach. Que bella!
Can you see the giant carved into the rockface above the beach?
Time for lunch!! Shrimp and avocados. Water and wine. And this is just the primi.
Satiated, happy, and tired hikers enjoying a little caffe con Sambuca.
A last walk on the beach at Monterosso.
We hopped the Cinque Terre "local" train from Monterosso to the southern-most village, Riomaggiore where we explored for an hour or so before heading home. Riomaggiore's steep streets reminded me of San Francisco's invigorating inclines. Just what I needed to help digest that lunch in Monterosso.
The day's fishing may have been over for these men, but I "employed" them as colorful subjects for my camera.
Whizzing home on the train, we again passed the famous marble towns of Massa and Carrara hugging close to their majestic marble mountains. On our right, the Ligurian Sea sparkled and danced.
Here, from the speeding train, is a shot of what lined the route for many kilometers. I took this thinkning of Caro, friend and sculptress who can transform a fine piece of marble into fine art with a streak of soul.
We said good-bye to the Ligurian coast as we turned inland and headed home to Lucca. Our happy day had come to an end, but the sun was still shining.
Ciao!
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