After Genova (che casino!), we dutifully followed our GPS to get to Vernazza, one of the Cinque Terre (5 lands). I had booked a place outside town again — with free parking and stunning views. 

But what we didn’t know is that there were a lot of curvy, windy roads and (thankfully straight) tunnels from Genova that we would have avoided had we gone through Parma. Not to mention when we got into the region, because our place was so high up, we had some very interesting single lane mountainous and sometimes (honest to god) through-fields driving. At least it wasn’t terribly crowded on a Tuesday. 

The place was actually a small BnB of the old fashioned kind though I found it on the Airbnb site. So it included breakfast but was just a room and bathroom and with another 5 or so rooms. The host, Bruno, could even make dinner for you if you requested it, and offered us aperitivi upon arrival. And they had a field nearby with plants and animals.

The only snafu was that I had asked for the room to be set up with two single beds since I cannot share with my huge son. (Two months ago and via texts I thankfully still had.) Somehow that slipped through the cracks and we got upgraded to a larger room with a balcony and amazing views that they had set up with a nice cot for a different threesome coming through. 

Although it was after 4 once we got settled, we set off to investigate the towns closest to our place. We were going to take the car but Bruno said it was better to just walk down their pathway to Vernazza because parking is impossible down there. Airbnb reviews said it was do-able (!) though many people commented on it being difficult — two Dutch young women reviewers said it only took “20 minutes if you were in shape.”  

IDK WTF these people were talking about. In shape my ass!? Barely a path in many parts— and at varying times, brambles (we both got scratched), rocks, leaves, dry and wet parts, crumbling steps and of course —very steep!! 20 minutes my ass. I think we took closer to 35. I was slow because I was afraid of falling —so went particularly slow in areas without railings (oh and there were lots). 

Quite the hell-walk. I was cursing Bruno the entire way down. 

Anyway Vernazza is indeed beautiful — if you’ve seen my painting done by my gf Joan, it’s from my photo of Vernazza port 30 years ago. It hasn’t changed much but felt much more crowded. I guess when Paolo and I went in the early 90s, it was known to Italians and Germans but not the Americans so much!? Also I don’t remember when we went but it was probably earlier in the year. 

We walked around Vernazza but decided to visit and eat in the next town. Vernazza was hilly and crowded mostly.

We trained over to Monterosso (the first of the 5 lands — Vernazza is second). I don’t recall the trains running as often and easily between the towns when with Paolo but I’m guessing we took some?! Though I remember renting a small boat with him (when I took the Vernazza photo from the water) and hiking some. 

We headed to Monterosso for dinner because they seemed to have better restaurant reviews. The trains run frequently, relatively cheaply and take under 5 minutes between adjacent villages. It goes through tunnels so a direct and unobtainable path via car or foot. 

Dinner was good though I don’t remember what or where and I’m sure it involved pasta. Luca kept track of ratings and navigated us to places which across the cinque terre often involved waits or looking at second/third and other choices! Definitely if you wanted to eat around 8 (his earliest acceptable eating time).

We then trained back to Vernazza because although we saw cabs in Monterosso, it would have been a 40 minute windy drive back up to our BnB and we thought it would be easier to grab a 15 min cab ride. Luca saw that one needed to call for a cab since cars aren’t allowed in Vernazza but figured we’d do it once there. Of course by now it’s almost 11, everyone’s gone and no one answered the phone. 

So OMG! We felt we had no choice but to WALK BACK UP the hell-walk. IN THE DARK. It was absolutely awful though I walk faster up than down (not as worried about falling and literally at times using my hands on the stone steps in front of me like I’m crawling up). I think we made it up in 20-25 mins (take THAT, Dutch girls!) though gasping for breath and sweating heavily. And of course swearing heavily. Luca had to cast his phone flashlight backwards for me so I could see and at one point the “path” diverged but thank god he remembered which way. There is seriously zero chance I would have made it alone. I guess I would have slept somewhere else!! Or gone back to Monterosso for a cab. My arthritic knees, poor heart, and general stickiness were a disaster by the end. The only good things were that it was cooler with the sun down and though sweating profusely I kept my coat on and didn’t get as scratched. And since it was pitch black I just followed Luca’s light and couldn’t see the steepness so wasn’t experiencing fear of heights issues (like when I was in the Cēsis castle ruins with the winding staircases and a stupid lantern with single candle — could not see enough to fear heights). Anyway bravo Luca (although perhaps it was his idea to go back to Vernazza?). As I write this I realize — my son’s Chinese (and sorta western) name actually means “light in the middle of the path” — indeed! My light.

Obviously the next morning we took the car. Meantime very thankfully our beers had cooled in the room fridge, we both took showers, and we sat with new (Canadian) guests outside in the cool of the beautiful night. They were very nice and funny and it was a relief to wind down with the beers and convo after that intense and scary walk. They told us they’d found parking near Corniglia (the third town) and told us about their adventures (to Italian towns I had barely heard of and never visited but they REALLY hate crowds and had fled Rome after like 5 hours. Though they were heading to Venice the next day to meet friends and I can’t imagine how awful that would be, crowd-wise?!). Net, I’d recommend the BnB but not that path walk. Unless you’re part goat. Or apparently Dutch?

All that said, walking around the cinque terre is in general tough. I looked up on my phone and the day where we walked back up, we clocked 92 floors of stairs (and yes that’s FLOORS not steps). But the following day, when we walked around the last three villages, we clocked 120 floors! This rivals (but does not beat) my hell walks up Scottish hills (135) and, longest of all walks, Cynthia’s 145 floors in Sintra, Portugal. Maybe I’m just 5 years older but these seemed more difficult because some steps were really steep (like 1/3 my leg length), not at all gradual, and most of the “steps” are in semi-disrepair. 

Anyway on our full day, we drove down to Corniglia (curvy switchbacks not as bad as Amalfi but these roads are narrower and driving past another car involves pulling off hillside roads. Though it was only 15 minutes. Glad I wasn’t driving). Luca scored free parking which was amazing though we had to walk a bit to the town. There was a long walk from Corniglia to the next town, Manarola. It’s one of the longest walks and I didn’t want to do it after my poor knees from the night before. Btw this is what one site has to say about the Corniglia-Manarola walk … “This one is rather difficult and is not for the unfit or the faint hearted.”

Call me faint-hearted!!!

As I’ve said each of the towns has a train station connecting them with at most 5 minute rides … but Corniglia, being built up, has a station that famously has large set of stairs that lead to the station. We had to go down them and at the end of the day back up… it’s 33 flights or 377 steps. Didn’t take a photo but here’s a link —

https://images.app.goo.gl/G1uSN1vvtG6UVLMN7

Thus while I missed the hell walk to Manarola, I didn’t get off scot-free! In any case, we trained to Manarola, and I think had lunch!? It was also very hilly (sigh) but at least paved or real stairs so though my knees were aching it was ok.

After going around Manarola we had only one more town to hit — and hadn’t yet taken any of the famous walks between towns. So I agreed to walk with Luca to the last town, Riomaggiore. Sigh.

Btw I remember walking with Paolo in flip flops and seeing people with hiking boots and even a few with poles and remembered thinking — hmm, next time I’m here, better shoes would be helpful. So this time I at least wore structured shoes (Eccos but not hiking boots) — which it seemed should have been good enough. But of all things, the TWO pathways between Manarola and Riomaggiore that are closest to seaside and easiest to walk, were closed due to landslides/maintenance work. 

The only one left was marked very difficult and essentially, though not terribly long, went STRAIGHT up one side and then basically straight back down another (though the downside was shorter and easier — I was glad we went from Manarola to Riomaggiore and not the reverse direction because as I’ve said, I kind of prefer uphills to down.) That said I think it took us almost 2 hours. And of course as we’re going through this I’m questioning (often out loud) just why people think this is fun and all want to do it???

We stopped often to let other people go by (these pathways and stairs were not meant for lots of traffic!) — and catch our breath. Had chats with various people about the hellishness of it all! And shockingly, saw several older looking women, a few in dresses and totally inappropriate shoes (tho no flip flops — more like old fashioned low heeled dress shoes) walking with younger family members. Clearly they got bamboozled that this would be a fun family adventure. Honestly. They did not look happy but somehow did it, which made me think I could too.

From Riomaggiore, we took a ferry from that town to the first, Monterosso. It stopped in all ports but we figured we’d take the longest ride (same price regardless) and enjoy the views. Then train back to Corniglia and our car. (Train rides are also all the same price btw; there’s an all day pass but you need to take more than three rides to be worth it and unlike other trans, grabbing a ticket at the machines was always available, easy, and quick. Though again, my credit card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees!!??)

The boat was surprisingly full. We were at one end of the 5 towns but hardly any people got off at any stop and it was full when we got on. I’m still puzzled about that. Where the heck were they coming from and where were they going to!!??! That said, a German tour group was obviously near us — an older dude taking up way too many seats clearly experienced a tumble — he had huge cuts on his legs and rips and blood on his shorts!!?? I knew my paranoia about falling was justified!!! But I was sitting next to an extended French family so who knows where all these people were heading to/from?  

Anyway we got off at the 5th town (or 1st, depending on how you look at it), ate dinner again in Monterosso (they’re the biggest town with the best food?) and trained back to our car. I think what put us over the top with the 120 flights was that 33-flight walk back upstairs to town from the station.

And last of coincidences, but as we were walking through Corniglia to the car, we ran into a young couple we had met on that day’s hell-walk (from IN). They had managed to clean up and look refreshed while we were still in our sweaty walking clothes!

In any case we made it back to our BnB, washed up and chatted with another new set of guests — from Liverpool (but who did not seem like big Beatle fans — sorry Leonard) — and slept well.

The next day it was time to get going for the reason we had returned to Italy — the wedding! But that’s for the next post.