4-28-10 La Spezia to Cinque Terre -day 24

4-28-10 La Spezia to Cinque Terre

I had forgotten the night before to find out when breakfast ended..so an older woman who was running the front desk was a bit put out, since I was a few minutes after breakfast end time... early check out and early breakfast! Breakfast ended at 9am. I checked out and then walked with the map I now had to the train station, since there also was an open tourist office. I had to climb steep stairs to reach it but it was well worth it. I got a map of Cinque Terre and a general idea of how things ran.. it sounded like today would be best if I just made it to Riomaggiore and then from there the next day take the coastal hike across all five terre's. I was surprised to find out Riomaggiore was fifteen or so kms away because it looked close on the map..but I also noticed the map showed the street as snaking which by now should be a dead give away that we are talking steep uphills and downs... sure enough... also the street snaked so that as I rose up I also faced Riomaggiore from higher and higher altitudes which felt like I was not really leaving..

I had to walk again along a side of the road. With blind turns... on the upside..it was under evergreens which smelled nice and gave shade and walking on fallen pine needles added to the scent... I was wiping my brow a lot cuz it was still hot and a work-out climbing up.. I took breaks when I could..not a lot of cafes on this route... I hit a cross in the road were one option was to go into Biassa.. later I realized had I gone down that road a bit I would have come to a walking trail head..instead of the road.. the walking trails are actually more direct routes it seems than the car road which really snakes a lot...but what I later noticed from the higher trail in the cinque terre, that they are wicked goat trials with some really deep plunges... and I have to say the Cinque terren's are not height phobic..they built teared gardens along rugged cliffs.. and as beautiful as it looks .. I think at least for this first part I was safer on the road.also following the road i had to walk through two tunnels with thin side walks next to the road.. the first one did not have any sound buffering in the middle and was very long...it made cars whipping past me sound like screeching demons from hell added to that the dimly lit tunnel it was quite the little experience.....i stopped at a small town Campi for simple lunch and water and then descended very very steeply into Riomaggiore ..my toes did not like it a bit...

I found the tourist office and found out all the different kinds of passes you can get, some allow you unlimited use of the buses and the train.. the train runs along all five towns and right along the water so it prob is great views.. most people get a hotel on one end and then take the train to the other and hike back on the most popular trail. Trail 2, it runs along he coast and costs 5 euro for one day you can get two and three day passes. The whole thing is 12kms and if you did not need breaks,which I do..you can walk it in five hours. There is also a ferry boat which looks very popular judging from the crowds an it, it stops at four of the five towns.. so entering Riomaggiore looking for cheap lodging..the town is steeply tiered and as most people already know houses are painted in cheerful pastels. I was shocked at the number of tourists...for the first time foreign tourists seemed to out number locals. Most of them looked north european and a lot had little day packs,sensible shoes, and not one but two hiking sticks... I found a run down looking place and got an alright price for a room, it looked like it was really a dorm room, it was a bit creepy in that I had to descend really steep stairs in a narrow dark hallway every time I wanted to go to bathroom.... I showered and lay on the bed a bit ...then decided I should at least check the church that I saw on the way in and maybe the main square...so off I went again, the church here too had a similar feel to laSpezia, simpler more wood carving..black and white stripped trim and checkerboard floor............ there was a doll like madonna with actual fabric clothes and lots of flowers being offered to her, this seemed a bit different from what i'd seen. What paintings there were, were smaller than other places. It was a pleasant place and I was alone in it. ..then out again..the town had a rocky beach at its very end... I climbed back up and decided to stop at a deli to get some food for the room. I was tired as usual and I wanted to be well rested for the hike the following day. Over all the people working here did not seem as friendly as I was used to.. I blamed it on the insane amts of tourists that must come through here yearly.