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Cinque Terre Italy: August 28, 2013
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Early Wednesday morning, Alyssa and I got ready, packed a backpack, and headed down to the hotel’s restaurant for breakfast. We were so early that the staff wasn’t prepared. However, we were on a strict time schedule because on this particular day, we were to depart on a tour bus for the Cinque Terre region. After hurriedly eating one of the best European hotel breakfasts I’ve experienced, we were off in a cab to meet up at the Santa Maria Novella train station for the tour.
*A little side note: In May, when I first started planning the Italy trip, my cousin
suggested that Alyssa and I do a Cinque Terre hiking tour that leaves from
Florence; she even provided the link to a tour company. In the two other times I’d been to Italy, it had never been on my radar to visit, but I’d seen pictures and it looked so beautiful.
At the train station, we met up with one of the guides, Julian, and he pointed us to a big bus. I wasn’t expecting there to be a big turnout, so I was pleasantly surprised that the bus was filled. As the bus made its way outside of Florence, Julian and his brother Alex, the other tour guide, proceeded to give us a run down of what the day would entail. The big group would be split up into two, and Julian would be our guide for the day. I also found out that the Cinque Terre region consists of five villages that we would be visiting.
After a two and a half hour drive (and a bathroom stop), we drove through La Spezia and stopped at our first village of the Cinque Terre, Manarola. After a short walk, we reached a train station and were all handed train tickets that we would use all day. The train ended up being extremely stuffy and hot inside, but thankfully we only needed to go one stop, which was the next village Corniglia.
We were warned on the bus about the 300+ stairs that we would need to climb in order to reach the restaurant for lunch. I was definitely sweating by the time I made it to the top! I think I was also one of the last ones too make it up, ha! During lunch, Alyssa and I were seated with a couple named Pete and Waldi. It turned out that we had followed similar paths as them, living in both Orange County and San Diego. I laughed so hard during lunch and it was so great to meet such an awesome couple. I was so glad that we ended up at the same table as them!
Next up came the grueling hike. I consider myself to be in shape, but for some reason this was difficult for me. I purposefully wanted to be last 1) so that I didn’t hold up the entire group and 2) I really wanted to enjoy the scenery without being rushed along. It was such a beautiful hike! 
The hike took about 1 hour and 20 minutes and we finally reached the next village, Vernazza. Tired, sweaty, and one of the last to arrive, we jokingly blamed our lateness on getting lost. Waldi and Pete were drinking beer and said that they were on their third beers already! Of course, they were joking. Alyssa and I also each bought Moretti beer and it was so refreshing! We explored the town a bit more by the water, drank another beer, and then met up with the group to catch the train to our next destination: Monterosso.
In Monterosso, we had about an hour to spend so Alyssa and I drank wine while she ate a panini. We also enjoyed some gelato, strolled around the village, and bought some souvenirs. At close to 5:00 pm, we boarded a boat that would take us to our last stop: Riomaggiore. Whoa, that boat ride sure was choppy!
At Riomaggiore, I had just enough time to visit an ATM and walk around a little before boarding the train to La Spezia, where our tour bus was waiting. The drive home was really quiet and mellow, since the majority were sleeping from a long day. Once we reached the Florence train station where we started our day, we said our good-byes and took a cab back to the hotel. I’m so glad that my cousin had suggested this hiking tour because if she hadn’t, I would have never thought to go!
Our cousin and her family and friends had arrived in Florence from Venice earlier that day while we were gone, so we weren’t sure if they were still out exploring. Alyssa and I enjoyed a really good dinner of Osso Bucco at our hotel’s restaurant, and our cousin messaged us saying that she, along with her husband and little son, would be meeting us there. Even though it was late at this point, we all drank a bottle of wine, chatted in the lounge area, and admired the amazing view of the city lights. It was the perfect end to the perfect day!
