Today I was planning on hiking the Azzurro trail through Cinque Terre. At 12 km, it's reported to be of easy to moderate difficulty, and connects the five villages Monterosso (where I'm staying), Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarolo, and Riomaggiore. Did you notice I said "reported"? That would be because I was forced to deviate quite a bit from my original plan, and missed a big chunk of the trail. Due to horrible flooding last year and recent landslides, part of the trail between V and C and again between C and M were closed. Instead, I had to hike up to the sanctuary trail on a series of relatively brutal trails that basically run inland perpendicularly from the sea, with extended, miserable climbs. (And, of course you also get the massive and equally steep downhill at each village too.). At one point, I was so drenched in sweat (and wearing shorts that showed every drop), I wandered around looking for a more appropriate pair of shorts that would better conceal my butt sweat. Then, failing to find any and noticing all the other ridiculously sweaty people on the trail, I decided to own it. What do you think of that for an inspirational novel, husband? "Under the Ligurian sun: one woman's journey toward acceptance of butt sweat." Clearly a smashing success waiting to happen. (And to be fair, it was back sweat. Mostly.) Then, luckily (and not), it became hot enough that my sweat evaporated and voila! no need for self-acceptance after all! (We can leave that part out of the book.)
Detours, sweat, and heat aside, the hike was so unbelievably beautiful you kind of just want to lay down and die. (Yeah, fine, E, I hear you making fun of my terrible use of the English language.) Actually, without the detours, I wouldn't have gotten to see the absolute best parts of the hike. , including a bare minimum of 900 little anole-type lizards, some crazy snake, and the most gorgeous views ever. One of the totally cool things was being able to watch each little town come and go as I yet again climbed back up to the top of some mountain. Completely awesome. Was hoping to finish the day with some kayaking, but it was too late by the time I got back. Settled for another quick swim in the Ligurian, now off to dinner.
A few pics for your amusement (out of order, of course):
4) Monterosso from way up, going
1) Corniglia from way up, coming
3) Corniglia from way up, going
2) Manarolo from way up, coming
More pics of the towns themselves eventually to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment