Some hiking in the Cinque Terre

We had a great breakfast at our hotel and headed out for some hiking. The weather was nice and sunny.  First stop was the office for the Cinque Terre National Park, where we'd get our passes to walk the trails, and our train tickets for the local train connecting the 5 towns. The clerk we talked to explained that 3 of the 4 trails connecting the 5 towns were closed. He said we didn't really need to buy a complete park pass, but since the additional cost was minimal, we did. I explained that we hoped our purchase would help the park complete the work needing to be done to stabilize the hillsides, and whatever else was needing attention. I got the feeling our Italian clerk didn't think like that! Why would you pay more, when you didn't have to!

Marchesa (nice scarf!) and Il Padrino with the beach of Monterosso behind them.

Giuliana (another nice scarf!) and Laura overlooking the beach at Monterosso

Giovanni and Marco headed out to hike some of the trails. Our host at the hotel indicated that one of the trails looked closed, but he said you could duck under the chain across the trail and hike on through. The work crews wouldn't stop, or question you. There are trails along the waterfront (but those were the ones that were mostly closed), and many others higher up on the hills (which weren't closed), so still lots of hiking possibilities.

The other 8 of us took the local train to Riomaggiore, the southernmost town on the Cinque Terre. Marchesa spotted a trail going around a cliff and suggested we try it. 

Looking back on the harbor in Riomaggiore from the trail

A beautiful day to walk along the trail

We elected not to climb the rocky steps to meander through the residential part of town

All of the five (cinque) towns along here have beautiful views from dozens of spots along the lanes, up the hills and around every corner, it seems.

After walking the trail and venturing up the steep lanes of the town, we headed back down the hill for a late lunch at Il Grottino. It was a charming place, with rough stone walls, and the food was good too. Marco and Giovanni ate elsewhere on their hike.

Interior of Il Grottino restaurant in Riomaggiore

After lunch we took the train to Manarola, the next town up the road from Riomaggiore, where Marchesa, Il Padrino and Ricardo stayed down near the water and had gelato, while Giuliana, Laura, Principessa, Caterina and I walked up to the top of the main road and visited the church. The view from the top of the town was spectacular.

The view looking down from the top of the town in Manarola

Inside the little church at the top of Manarola

We hill climbers wound our way back down to the bottom of the town and met the others there. On the way back to the train, we checked with Marco and Giovanni. They were also in Manarola, but at a cliff-side bar having a drink. Some of the group wanted to hike up to meet them. 

We'd already done plenty of hiking in this town, but just had to check out the bar on the cliff.

The view from the bar was spectacular. Worth the extra huffing and puffing up another hill.

The prettiest view of Manarola!

We hopped the train back to Monterosso and had a little time to sit on our balcony at the hotel and have a drink before dinner. The owners of the hotel were very gracious, and provided wine glasses so we could drink the wine we bought at a little store nearby. They also have a fresh orange juice machine out on the terrace. It's a great place to gather and relax. 

Thirsty visitors enjoying the terrace at our hotel

The view of the street below from our terrace

Our host, Giovanni, suggested we have dinner at l'Osteria tonight. The restaurant wasn't far from our hotel, still within the old part of town. On our way to the restaurant, we spotted our host on the sidewalk outside of a bar, having an end-of-the-day drink with his buddies. We all speculated about how fun it would be to have your favorite meeting place within a block of home. I guess it might be dangerously tempting too!

l'Osteria was a charming place, and dinner was good.

Good food, and did I mention charming?