We decided since we were technically in the second city to walk down to the first city and since the hike between the second and third city was closed because of a landslide we would take the train from the first to the third city. The first hike we walked along Via Dell Amore which is called "Pathway of Love" to get from the city where our hostel was, Manarola, to the first city, Riomaggiore. It was a super cute pathway and the story behind it used to be a pathway between the two villages where boys and girls would meet up. The pathway is decorated with love graffiti on the stone walls. Lover's come there and put a padlock along the fence to show their significant love for one another that will last through rainstorm and sunshine. It's quite crazy how many locks there are along these fences and kind of romantic too :)
Once we got to Riomaggiore we walked up the hill to the castle, unfortunately the castle was not open so we went to the edge of the hill and took in the breath taking sight of what was ahead to hike :) After we made our way to the train station and took it from Riomaggiore through Manarola and we got off at the third city/village Corniglia.
In Corniglia we went into a church on the hill and took quite a few pictures of the hike between Corniglia and the fourth village, Vernazza. This was probably our longest part of the hike and it took the most time, we did stop for tons of pictures and breath taking views along the way. It was a fascinating hike with vineyard hills to our right and the sea/coast line to our left with a village behind us and in front of us. Plus the path would change from tons of trees to no trees to skinny rocky paths where you had to watch your footing both up and downhill to a basic gravel/mud foot path.
When we finally reached Vernazza we were more than ready for lunch. We stopped at a cute little family owned restaurant. We all ordered pizza. The ladies running the restaurant were super nice, they asked us if we had just been hiking and we answered yes, from Riomaggiore and they brought us a ton of free water and bread because we had been hiking, it was awesome! The grandma was the cook, the mom checked up on us once and awhile, but the teenager was our main waitress. It was super super cute! I'd definitely go back there, we felt very warmly welcomed :)
After lunch we sat out by the splashing sea enjoying the sun that had recently popped out in the mid afternoon. Then we decided to go up to the castle tower. It was like a euro to get in, but all the proceeds go to local charities which was more than worth it :D It was really fun taking pictures from up there we got a great view of the city and I even played Romeo and Juliet at one point reaching down from the tower, it was really fun!
Leaving the tower we realized it was already four and we had to head out if we wanted to make it to the last town by sunset. We had a bit of a panic trying to find the trail again in the town because it was hidden down an alley way, but we eventually found it. We heard it was a two hour hike between this village and the last so we decided to book it because we really wanted to make it to the last town before it got dark. Jodine and I made sure our flashlights were on hand just in case we got stuck in the dark, but we really didn't want that to happen.
Little did we realize that the last leg of the trail would be the toughest shooting straight up and down on super rocky paths. At one point we literally had to put one foot in front of the other because the path had fallen apart. It was crazy. We hiked it so fast only stopping twice to take a breather and get water. There was one part towards the end when we were getting close that we thought the path was closed and we would have to find another way, but with a little further looking we realized it was still open. We ended up making it there in record time of about an hour and a half just before sunset which was perfect! We were super happy we did it!
The last town Moterosso, had a beach so we went down to feel the water and boy was it cold! It was fun though just to sit on the beach and take in all that we had hiked. We could see the tip of each village from the beach and it was awesome, we were really proud :) We decided to treat ourselves to some gelato and then grab some wine to cheers with back at the hostel to celebrate our day of hiking :) It was truly the most perfect day! We were blessed with amazing weather, amazing friends that kept each other motivated, laughing, and cheerful throughout the day. If I could, I'd go back there and do it all over again in a heartbeat :) All my friends who had been there were right, it was definitely one of the best trips ever!
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