(Vernazza, Italy)
On the same day that I punished myself by walking from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare…and back again…I decided to make the trek from Vernazza to Corniglia. In retrospect, the logic is not clear. However, the best I can do is say that if Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare was the most difficult section, I probably thought the next most difficult section would seem like a piece of cake.
Wrong. The sun was still very warm overhead and the first segment out of Vernazza ended up being nasty. It might have been slightly more gradual, but I’m sure that it went higher up. To summarize: it was a hot, endless climb that made me think a reward of gelato was not going to cut it this time.
To be fair, I didn’t make it easy on myself. As with the day’s previous hikes, I ended up doing the trail faster than the “standard time”. However, I also thought that if I stopped for too long, my legs would stiffen up and I wouldn’t be able to get moving again. I decided to press on…forgetting that this would merely delay the stiffening to another time.
The terrain was definitely different from the Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare section. I was treated to an impressive display of cactus, followed by a variety of citrus trees. I’ve never seen lemon trees before: I certainly made up for it on this segment! I commemorated the occasion by taking a photograph of a lemon tree and a clementine tree standing beside each other.
Although it was little more than an hour after departure that I reached Corniglia, it seemed like much more. I wasn’t expecting much: my guidebook drew an analogy betweeb Cinque Terre and the Beatles…and suggested that “Corniglia is Ringo”. However, I thought it was a charming little place with crazily winding and narrow streets and an abundance of gelato.
It was hard to decide on a reward but I ultimately remembered my fascination with the lemon trees. When I saw one of the gelaterias also offering a “granita of local lemons”, I was sold. The granita was like a slushee but with a proper fresh lemon flavour. It was delicious and I was seriously tempted to buy another one.
I also needed to get back to Vernazza for dinner…but there was no way I was going to walk back. That’s just crazy talk! While Corniglia has a train station, it is located below the village. How much below? Well, Corniglia is the only Cinque Terre town that is not located right on the water. So there are *365* stair steps leading down to the train station…plus an inclined street or two. At least I had the sense to take the train from Corniglia rather than to Corniglia…I would have had to climb those 365 steps before even starting my hike. I passed some very sad looking people on the way down.
As a base for the Cinque Terre, Corniglia loses points for its poor transit connections (although you can take an inexpensive shuttle bus from the main square to the train station). But it is still appealing, especially if you really want to get away from it all.
After all of that walking, a dinner treat was in order. I went to Trattoria da Sandro and had a vegetable-filled ravioli in a walnut sauce. I had never had walnut sauce before, let alone on pasta, but it was very good. Given the calories burned during the day, having apple cake for dessert just seemed like the right thing to do.
Coming soon: the ultimate vertigo experience!
