This morning we wanted to do some hiking along the Cinque
Terre trails so we head down to the tourist office for some advice. The girl at
the tourist office clearly saw us as an inconvenience to her day and we left
still a little unsure of where we should be going. From what we can gather, all
of the coastal trails are closed due to the large rainfall we had last night except
the coastal trail from Monterosso to Venazza. The coastal trails are the walks they
charge people to do but it seems pointless if the rest are shut so we decide to
do the free walk which is longer, up higher and away from the coast. We start
wandering up the hill but we can’t find the start the of the trail so lucky for
us there is another tourist office right opposite where we think the trail start
point is and we go in and ask. Lucky we did because the lady there tells us
that part of the longer route is closed as well so if we had of done that we
would have wasted hours. In the end we decide to do the coastal route from
Monterosso to Venazza which means turning around and heading back down to the
beach. We check in with the boat company to see if the boats between the five
towns are operating but they too are closed due to the conditions. We’re not
sure what conditions they are talking about because as far as we can see, it’s
as flat as a tack out there and it’s a beautiful day. Anyway, we head to the
start of the trail and right from the start there are steps, and lots of them.
I’m not talking stair type steps; I’m talking bits of rock one higher than
another with mud all over them. The trail is very hairy, you are walking along
a path that at times is no wider than about a foot or so and there could be a
30-40 foot drop. Couple that with steps and more steps it is quite an arduous
walk. I also read somewhere that the trail rises up about 200-300m above sea
level. The walk from Monterosso to Venazza is estimated at 2 hours long but we
are Scroops and there is no way we are going to except that. This walk is a
real challenge but we take it on as a challenge we have to win. The trail is
packed with people from all over the world of all differing ages, we see people
in front of us and that instantly means we HAVE to pass them. The walk to
Venazza was extremely tough but the rewards were some amazing views. We get
there in good time and have a wander around the small but very pretty village
before finding a restaurant near the sea front to have some lunch. We tuck into
some amazing pizza while Kris and I also have a couple of alcoholic beverages.
I think it may have been those alcoholic beverages that made us make the stupid
statement “hey kids, lets walk back”. The kids were super excited and I
distinctly remember Mia screaming out “Yeahhhhhhh!!!!” After a couple of hours at the restaurant we
make our way back through the village to the start of the trail. We get about
13 steps into the 1,000,000,030 steps your required to do on this walk and Mia
says “I’m tired......” I look at her at say “you were the one screaming
yeahhhhh.........start walking”. With a couple of drinks under our belts we
were feeling the pinch but once we got a roll on we were off. I said to the
kids “come on guys, let’s go for a Scroop world record” and we all pushed hard
and eventually did the trek in 1 hour and 15 minutes, YEAH, in your face 2
hours!!! During our walk home I had decided to get a haircut. There is a little
hairdressers just down the road from our apartment so I said to the kids
“that’s it, I’m getting it shaved off” They didn’t believe me so I stopped in
and had it shaved. It’s been a while since I have had my hair shaved and the
kids couldn’t believe I’d done it. Anyway, we get back to the apartment
slightly exhausted and very much in need of a drink so we make our way over to Mario’s
wine bar for a wine. We hang out there for a while until its nudging dinner
time and then we move down the road to a restaurant. We all order spaghetti bog
so they bring it out on one big plate so we can serve ourselves rather than 4
separate plates. What an awesome idea! A couple more drinks and we are plum
tuckered and we head back to the apartment for a well earned sleep.
The start of the coastal trail from Monterosso to Venazza
Steps......
More steps.....
The view back to Monterosso
A little bridge over a waterfall on the trail
Some of the steps along the trail
The view down along the way
The view over to Venazza rom the trail
Reward.....pizza
Mia is trying to get through a tricky bit of the trail on the way back
My new hair do courtesy of "Fashion Style"
It's been a tough day, now it's home to bed
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