Worth the hike!

Ah Cinque Terre. So many steps, so little time – but if anyone was going to do the whole shebang in a day it was going to be us. We’d gone to this amazing seafood restaurant the night before and imbibed quite heavily. So… we were hungover, it was raining, and when we got to the train station we were told that the paths were closed because of the rain. Arghhh!

Plan B: We’ll take the train to each town and walk around them. It doesn’t quite have the same cachet, but what could we do?

A lifeline: At Riomaggiore the guide said the last two trails were open (the hardest) so the day was not a total washout. 🤗

Not a feral cat

The trek: Sheesh! What a climb – but what an amazing experience and incredible views. On the way we came across a cat refuge for wayward cats which warmed the cockles of our hearts. We weren’t game enough to pat these ferals, but the cats in the towns were fair game 🙂 When we finally dragged our sorry asses into the last town there was no other option but to dive into the beckoning sea. I appreciate the beautiful beaches of Perth on a whole new level after negotiating my first pebble beach – ouch! But what a fantastic end to a day.

And even with only two trails we walked 25,000 steps and were in all manner of pain the next day. We also had our first alcohol free night of the entire trip which is about a significant achievement as hiking the trail for us 🙂

PS: We continue to ignore the road rules and enter pedestrian areas. I blame Google maps Siri. We are also the slowest people on the roads as both the French and Italians blithely ignore speed limits.

Eat: Il Frantoio