Manerola, Riomaggiore, and Corniglia

We woke up this morning around 8am and started some hot water to boil while we alternated taking showers. It took us a while to get everything figured out, but around 11:00 we finally left to get brunch before we started what we planned to be a long day of hiking. For breakfast we all got yogurt, bread with a selection of jams, and a cappuccino, which seems to be a very Italian style breakfast. The breakfast was good, but a bit smaller in portions than we were used to getting in Germany. Regardless, we started on our way on the trail to Manerola, which is the closest town south of Corniglia. We didn’t make it far before we were stopped by signs that informed us that the trail was closed due to rockfall. We were pretty bummed that we wouldn’t get to hike to Manerola, but we decided we could train there and then still hike from Manarola to Riomaggiore, which is the farthest south town.

When we arrived in Manerola we looked around the surrounding street at some of the shops before climbing the stairs to the top of a bridge. From the bridge you could see more shops and restaurants lining the way to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The water was an amazing turquoise blue, with sailboats of various colors floating lazily at the shore. People had already claimed their spots on the beach with their umbrellas and were swimming to get away from the intense humidity in the Italian heat. I was already starting to sweat through my shirt, despite the lack of physical labor we had done. Hannah was determined to get a slice of pizza, so the rest of us sat and people-watched as we waited for her to get her pizza. She gave us each a bite, and let me tell you, it was so worth the wait. There is nothing in the U.S. that compares to the Pizza we had in Italy, and I had it multiple times in our short visit. After Hannah got her pizza we walked around Manarola for a bit longer before we started our trek to Riomaggiore. Again, we didn’t make it far before we discovered that the trail to Riomaggiore was also closed, so we also had to take the train to Riomaggiore.

Once the train arrived in Riomaggiore we explored the city before we decided we were much too hot and sweaty, and we wanted nothing more than to be in the water. So, we climbed over the rocks and found a nice place on the coast to put our things down. I had already changed in to my swim bottoms before we got to the beach so I changed into my bathing suite top over my clothes and got in the water as fast as I could. Hannah and Mira had to go

find a more sheltered area to hold up towels for each other while they changed, but eventually they joined Emerson and I in the water as well. The water was incredibly refreshing and it was so nice to not feel sweaty, even if that meant we were also being covered in salt by the sea. Eventually we got extremely hungry and we went back in to Riomaggiore to get dinner. I had the most fantastic linguine with mussles and calamari and I hope it is not the last time I have seafood pasta in Italy in my life. Once we were done with dinner we decided to head back to Corniglia because we thought we would be meeting up with our host so he could give us a router for Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it, so instead we got gelato at a nearby shop and after that sat at a bar that had free wifi and had a glass of wonderful tasting white wine. I didn’t think I was much of a wine person, but after trying the wine in Italy I am absolutely a fan of good wine.

After we had finished doing what we needed to on the wifi and had finished our wine, we went back to our apartment and all took turns taking showers again after a long, hot day. Feeling much more refreshed after a shower, I took my laptop outside on our Terrace and typed up a few blog posts and watched the sun fall below the mountainous coast and the stars begin to fill the sky.