The Cinque Terre (literally translated to “Five Lands”) is a series of 11th-century medieval towns perched on the hills and cliffs along the Italian Riviera, and connected by footpaths. Each town has its own unique charm.
Since becoming a popular tourist destination, however, they have ceased to be quiet fishing and farming communities and have become quite crowded. This is the main reason a lot of budget travelers stay in nearby Levanto instead, to avoid the crowds and tourist prices! The largest (and the closest town to Levanto) is Monterosso al Mare, which has the longest stretch of beach among the five towns.
Excerpt from my travel journal, dated August 12th, 2016:
Irene, Ann, and I had breakfast at the hostel. We headed out a little later than we had planned. The sun was shining by that time (10:30) but the sky was a brilliant blue and the cool breeze was invigorating.
We took the train from Levanto to Monterosso, quickly looked around the picturesque town, and began our trek.
As we walked, the boardwalk eventually gave way to the Sentiero Azzuro (Azure Trail) and the path got rockier. We spotted some local boys jumping from the rocks into the pristine blue-green water.
The hike was harder than I thought (especially with my injured knee). It got steeper and steeper. There were lots of crude stone steps to climb, and the sun got hotter as the day went on. Still, the stunning views were well worth it!
Along the trail, we found a small makeshift stand where a girl was squeezing locally-grown lemons to make fresh lemonade (1 euro for a cup). There was a bit of a queue in front of us, so we passed the time by singing and dancing along to the oldies tunes that were playing on the girl’s radio, much to everyone else’s amusement.
Ann and Irene were great travel companions, curious and eager to explore new things. We found some wild blackberries along the path (which excited me more than it probably should have) and sampled a few. They weren’t quite ripe enough yet so we moved on.
We occasionally stopped to catch our breaths or to let other hikers squeeze past us in cramped areas of the trail.
I was struggling to get up a particularly challenging set of steps when Ann asked me why I was a Christian. She said she was a little surprised because it seemed unusual for a lone backpacker to be working for a church.
As I huffed and puffed, I told them my story – how messed up I’d been, how I found Jesus, how he changed my life – I noted how natural it was to talk about it, and how open they were to listen. I used to be so embarrassed to talk about my “faith” when I was going to Sunday School as a kid (simply because it was what my family did on Sundays) and I didn’t want to be that weird kid who talked about Jesus all the time. But after exploring the world on my own and experiencing God for real, it’s hard NOT to talk about him. When you experience something beautiful and life-changing, it just naturally comes bubbling out.
We reached Vernazza around 1:30 PM. We stopped to eat at Al Castello where we had a delicious seafood lunch: spaghetti with clams, and grilled fish. We chilled for a bit, stuffed from our meal, enjoying the slow pace of the town and its tiny alleyways.
We then began the next hike to Corniglia. By that time it was very hot, even with the cool breeze, and I knew that there was no way I could handle hiking to all five towns. My knee, bound in a support wrap, was throbbing painfully with every step, but we finally made it to the next “land”.
Corniglia’s charm was slightly different from the previous two. It’s the only town that doesn’t sit right on the coast (it’s nestled on the cliffs about 100 meters above sea level). We explored for a bit, then sat down for some well-deserved gelato at a hole-in-the-wall gelateria.
With my throbbing knee, and Irene needing to work some more, we begrudgingly decided to take the train back to Levanto. Ann and I stayed on the beach again and swam for a bit while Irene worked, then had a quick dinner of focaccia pizza at Focacceria Domè (soooo good!).
By the time we got back to the hostel I was completely sunburnt, and sporting the weirdest tan lines from my backpack, tank top, and bikini. I fell asleep around midnight.
Excerpt from my travel journal, dated August 13th, 2016:
Woke up late. Had a breakfast of bomboloni (Italian stuffed donuts) then quickly caught the train to Manarola. We were going our separate ways that afternoon and didn’t have time to hike anymore.
Manarola was picture-perfect. I wasn’t wearing my swimsuit and regretted it immediately. Irene went swimming and Ann wanted to wade, so I walked around the town instead.
I saw couples kissing, children laughing and jumping into the water. I think that was the first pang of homesickness that I’d felt on the trip. I missed my two families (Cebu and Dubai) but was glad that I’d found some new friends. I normally have a very difficult time making friends, so this was really foreign to me.
I bought some street food in a paper cone (mixed fried fish, squid and crispy shrimp) and ate while I waited for the girls.
Riomaggiore will have to wait until next time.
We caught the train back to Levanto at around 1:30 AM to pick up our luggage. We shared a taxi to the station and shared a bittersweet goodbye as we walked off to separate platforms. Next stop: Venice.
I spent a lot of time in prayer during the beautiful train ride along the coast. This whole trip, I’ve felt closer to God than I have been in a long time. I feel like I’ve stopped performing and have just started living the way I was created to.
No pretenses, no trying to please people, no trying to live up to anyone else’s expectations. Just me, imperfect as I am, loved completely by such a great and perfect God, redeemed and continually being honed and sharpened by my saviour.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1
