Where the heck are we now?: More of the Cinque Terre

One of the highlights of our visit here has been the hiking so to continue our hike from Vernazza to Cornigla...

The clouds were rolling in and we were stuck on a very high mountain trail with no where to go but to continue on to the next town.

Then the rain came pouring down and the trail looked like this. It was treacherous going as everywhere we put our feet on a stone they would slip, both Don and I fell at different times but luckily only got a few bruises.

We could see the town in the distance as it is the only village in the Cinque Terre that is not by the water so it is higher up than the rest so up we went again and hoped we would get there in one piece!

We were now into the olive groves...

The farmers put netting between the trees so when the olives are ripe they catch them before they reach the ground.

The sea below

Small villages higher up

Beautiful wine country

Mending the stone fences which is very important as they protect against landslides down the mountains.

We finally were getting closer to Cornigla...

Coming into Cornigla, we were glad to get there as by this time we were sore and just drying off from the rain and also covered in mud.

A few pictures of this little town...

Pretty little cafes

Old alleyways and some hot chocolate...

Being " suckers for punishment" the next day we hiked back from Manarola to Cornigla so here is the view of Manarola from the top...

The second day we hiked it was clear and sunny and we were way further up in the hills.

Here was our destination for the day

This time we were far enough up to walk through the vineyards.

Some of the views below

The farmers use this conveyor-like machine to bring supplies up and down the mountain.

We walked around private houses with beautiful flowers..

And nice gardens...

There were always signs of red and white to point the way...

Oh no, more steps down... I would rather hike up a mountain than down any day.

But again the views were worth it, though as we walked over a couple of days I couldn't help but think that the East Coast Trail in Newfoundland is just as beautiful, different water and different landscape but a treasure that has yet to be discovered unlike the trails of the Cinque Terre.

The next day tired from hiking we went back to visit some of the towns we had just walked through...

The promenade in Monteresso

Sailing off the coast

This is where they bury their dead

Every town's Main Street is up hill.

Everywhere people are enjoying the views.

A final view of Manarola looking up...our house is the yellow one with the green shutters and awning almost at the top.

Then to top off our stay here we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner the Italian way with lots of courses and lots of wine, but no turkey all fish. We ate in an old farmhouse in a little village above us, we took the little bus up and the chef's wife drive us back down because it was too dark to walk. It was a fantastic evening.

This was the first course...

Different kinds of fresh, local fish served on a base that we thought was brewis. When we asked she called it fisherman's bread and when we told her about brewis it was the same thing only theirs was handmade instead of in a Purity bag.

We finished with this but had a number of fish courses in between including fish ball soup, fried fish, and spaghetti with black ink and squid.