Belgium Birdie: Cinque Terre (Italy Spring Break)

[Monday March 7^th – Wednesday March 9^th]

The train ride to Cinque Terre was a couple of hours and was our most exciting ride thus far. At the end of the trip the train was mostly going through tunnels so it was very dark and we were all very sleepy. But then all of the sudden the train came out of the tunnel and the three of us were instantly against the window peering out! All we saw was crystal blue waters and the train was literally right on the coast of the mountain. It was a breathtaking view and we were very much awake after seeing it!

Cinque Terre means “five cities” and it is a collection of five coastal cities that are built into the cliffs of a mountain. Our hostel was located in the city of Monterosso and we picked it because it is the only one with a beach. We arrived in Monterosso in the late afternoon and the water was even bluer than what we saw from the train! The city had such a small town feel and was so peaceful. We picked up the keys to our hostel from the adorable manager that gave us a map about all the hiking trails and told us about some of the best restaurants in town, insisting that we should go to his brother’s restaurant if we had time. Our room could not have been cuter; it was an individual three person room with spacious beds, a private bathroom and an ocean view! Our plan was to do a big hike on Tuesday since we had all day, but we wanted to warm up our legs and went for a short hike Monday night after getting situated in our room. The hike we chose started in Monterosso and went to the top of the neighboring mountain, and my oh my was it a mountain! We were all chatting during the hike until we got to this one part and all you could hear was huffing and puffing because it was a straight up hill of rock climbing with huge steps that seemed to continue forever. After about thirty minutes the trail leveled off and at the same time there was a break in the trees and we saw the ocean on the other side. We ran to the edge and saw the sun setting over the water and it was absolutely breathtaking. We all were in awe and sat down just taking the scene in. Such a surreal moment and definitely one of the most beautiful things I have seen. We all knew it was something that we would never forget and waiting until the sun was completely set before walking back down the mountain. We grabbed a quick dinner and went to bed early on Monday because we knew we had a big day ahead of us.

Tuesday morning we woke up at 6am in order to watch the sunrise! Unfortunately the sun rose behind one of the neighboring mountains but the three of us still sat on the beach and admired the sky because it was a brilliant shade of pink and orange. Around nine in the morning we took a train to one of the other coastal cities because it was the start big trail. Our intended hiking trail was a five hour hike that passed through all of the five coastal cities. Sadly all of the trails were closed except between two of the cities because of rock slides. We were really disappointed for about a minute but then realized we were in Cinque Terre and would make the best of our time! We started out on the one trail that was open and it was amazing. It was a much more casual hike than our endeavor the day before because it was very flat and did not scale the mountain instead it was a path along the side of the mountain. In each direction we looked it seemed like a postcard and the water was so crystal clear that you could see all of the rocks at the bottom. Since the only trail open was supposed to take thirty minutes we decided to take some excursions along the path and for one of them there was an access down to the water and we went climbing on the rocks! When we finally reached the second and final town of the hike we went exploring and it was just as adorable as Monterosso. All of the houses were different bright colors and were built into the mountainside. After hiking back to the first town we took a train to Monterosso because we wanted to hike in the opposite direction. Our second hike of the day began with the hike of the previous day so we got our exercise in again! However this time we did not stop at the top of the mountain and continued to hike along the mountain and down to the other side because we wanted to reach the town of Levantos which was another beach town. Two hours and twelve kilometers later of steep hiking we made it! It seems almost too clique but we were walking along the trail and all the sudden the trees separated and we saw the magnificent beach. We strolled along the beach and enjoyed the best gelato we had of the trip. While on the beach we realized that everything really does happen for a reason because if the first trail wouldn’t have been closed we would have never had the opportunity the hike to Levantos which was our favorite trail by far! Overall we got some amazing pictures from all the hikes and more importantly memories we will never forget.

Exhausted from the long day of hiking we came back to our room and took showers before grabbing dinner. Since our hostel manager was so helpful and nice we decided to try out his brother’s restaurant, Ely’s. There seemed to be no people out on the streets after dark, but we found them all at the Ely’s! The brother was so sweet and he served us himself as well as gave us a 10% discount. Tricia, Laura and I collectively bought two different pizzas and a pasta so that we could try everything. It was by far the best meal in Italy and we ate every bit of it! Afterwards he told us that his mother-in-law made each dessert from scratch, so how can you say no to that? It was delicious and the perfect ending to our amazing trip in Cinque Terre.

Because our initial hiking trail was closed I am taking that as a sign that I have to go back one day! I absolutely loved it and would definitely recommend it to anyone that is traveling through Italy :)