4-29-10 Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore to Monterosso-day 25

4-29-10 Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore to Monterosso-day 25

I really have not done my homework on any of this trip...in case that has not been obvious. I am learning as I go..
I checked out of my strange little room with wood fish in nets and three bed in it...found the owner handed him my keys... and got a coffee and the surly-est place i'd been in italy. Tourism souring the locals at least here. I was afraid this was what the Cinque Terre experience would be like... fortunately it was not. I showed my 5 euro walking ticket at the trail entrance..and proceeded to walk along an easy flat stretch of road. It was sealed to car traffic. There was railing and you could see the ocean bellow. The rocks were interestingly craggy you could see the layers as they were formed in the lava flow and pushed to the surface someplace in wave forms.. agave type plants and other little wild flowers as well as planted ones were to both sides. There seem to be a fair amt of northern european and italian tourists. The first section had a tunnel which had been heavily graffitied but it looked interesting, layer upon layer of peoples messages..and some descent drawings as well... the first stop was only two kms away and was an easy walk Manarola, I did not stay long there just for a drink it too was built in tiers. I was sort of running into the same hikers again and again. There was a giant group of Austrians? That I was walking in time with for a while. Most of them seemed in their 60,s and 70,s all had walking sticks some had two. That and the fact that the map said 12kms would take five hours should have been a warning...

I should mention between towns the cliffs either have patches of evergreens or there is terraced gardens of mostly grape... I was carrying a 15kg (or little less?) pack.. I was the only one..most people had little day bags. They stayed at one town took the train-bus-ferry to another spot and then hiked back. I did not have the time luxury to do that. The next town Corniglia, was a little further away, the trail was still along the ocean and had succulent plants overhanging the cliffs and the bright blue water bellow..getting into Corniglia no probs. The little church was locked up, this town too, small +charmingly tiered, painted in fruit sorbet colors...very nice... found an ice-cream place had water and lemon sorbet and directions to next trail head, which is not always clear... I kind of doubted the directions though and asked twice more since it was leading away from the water and also I was walking on a road for a bit.. but sure enough...found the next ticket check booth.. the trail was much more narrow and rougher + chunky rocks, then it rose for a while out of the town..which would be typical for the next two towns as well only the distances got greater and the hills to climb up and down more extreme. Getting to Verrnazza was definitely a work out.. past some italian teen ages on a class trip, and the girls were acting like they were dying going up hill. I had to laugh.. by contrast the elderly Austrians continued to plot on without complaint though too, you could see some were struggling stoicly.. at this point it seemed people started getting chattier... I found myself mostly speaking german to people who would ask me questions.. my bigger pack made me stick out. And I too was huffing and puffing up hills ..sweating a lot

..i met a nice italian french elderly couple who spoke german to me, he was picking herbs and wild asparagus along the way and his french wife chastised him joking that, this was typical italian 'always thinking about food and picking from the plenty of nature'. I of course, started talking to some of the austrians I was the 'Maedel mit dem schwerren Rucksack' I was the young woman with heavy back pack. I had to explain that I was traveling by foot the whole way and was bringing all my belongings... a french lady stopped me and told me she had done the pilgrimage from her home town in the middle of france and wished me all the best of luck. Three middle aged danish women sat me down for break and chatted with me... then a man from the black-forest, germany, joked with me...i was wondering whether this would be like when I actually hit the official start to the Capistrano walk? Lots of friendly chatting people you'd see again and again. It definitely made for a nice change since I had walked in silence and alone for days..Vernazza had the usual pretty but the lay out was even more photo-genic than the other towns with its harbor and castle tower adding elements of interest. The place was pretty packed with slightly annoying italian teen-ages who were in mobs taking over whole streets making it hard to pass. They had absent minded teachers not paying attention... I got a slice of pizza here and of course more water.... instinct told me not to rest too long I had the final leg to go.. I had decided that I would stop in Monerosso the last of the five terres. Because these 12km were hard work. This leg of the hike, proved to be the hardest. Steep steps, and I dont like steps going up for what seemed like ever... I had sweated a lot that day and I was beginning to feel the excretion.. in a way I am glad I had no idea what I was facing especially with my pack... but on and on I went.. taking frequent breaks on the steep climb up.. I notice too that I only took a very few photos unfortunately none of the steep steps...probably because I was too focused... eventually this climb too leveled off and then descended again to Monteroso and again steep down hills are not that easy either.. I was foot sore when I arrived in town.. I plopped myself down at the first cafe and sucked down an over priced ice water with delight. I ran into some of the people I had before and we were all glad to have made it. I noticed that the austrians must have stayed in the last village because I saw only few people trickle in... I found the tourist office and got directions to the cheapest room they knew of, there was no pilgrims place here either. I gladly took the room. Showered and found food before I mercifully returned to room... this night I really slept badly I was fine till the middle of the night, and I lay there for an hour and again early morning... I had developed a bit of a head ache I think from not enough water the day before... so I decreed it would be a light day the next day..and well it sort of was...