Tony and Karen left at 7:00am to do the hardest walk early in the morning from Monterosso to Vernazza and we would meet them at Riomaggiore.
Well the plan was to catch the 8:15 train to Riomaggiore, but that didn't happen 'cause we missed that train due in some part to the confusing information by our tour guide and had to wait an hour for the next. And it was getting hotter all the time. It eventually got to 35°!
Eventually we got there and not only found Tony and Max but also Kevin and his group so we were finally all together. We had some coffees and breakfast for Tony and Max and then after a walk around town did the walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola.
The walk runs along and through the cliff face giving fantastic views of the ocean and the towns all along the way there are padlocks fixed to anything permanent. The story is that once upon a time a couple wanting to prove their eternal love fixed a padlock to a bridge and threw the key into the ocean. Now there are thousands of padlocks along the length of the walk, there's even a lovers chair along the way and a guy playing the accordion!
When we got to the next town Tony and Jude had a swim while Karen and Max went shopping. Kev and his group were going back to Corniglia. We jumped on another ferry, skipping the their town and got off at Vernazza for some lunch (focacias), after the girls went shopping, Tony went for a swim and I did a bit of spotto in the shade. Even young Jude dipped a toe it. Later in the afternoon we caught another ferry back to Monterosso. It only takes about 30mins between each town on the ferry and view is spectacular (video to follow)
The towns are all very small and built on the side of the steep hills, Monterso has a promenade and at one end you walk through a tunnel to get to the rest of the town and our hotel. In Vernazza they winch the fishing boats straight up and they line the street.
Tonight we are going to a restaurant in Vernazza with Tonys mate Kev and his crew.
Dinner was great, the restaurant was right on the beach and the meals beautiful I had a chicken and vegi stuffed pasta with a walnut sauce YUM and Judy had the special, a seafood pasta. We were finally back home about 11 very tired again.
Postscript: On the 25th October 2011 (just 12 days later) storms and torrential rain caused extensive floods and mudslides along this stretch of coastline and in Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare the streets were filled with rocks, mud and debris up to 12 feet deep. Three people drowned in Vernazza and one in Monterosso. We didn't hear anything about this until well after we got home. |
