This morning we got up a bit earlier, around 7:30 and we were able to get ready for the day much faster than the day before. Instead of going to a restaurant for breakfast, we went to a little grocery shop and bought a yogurt, then a café to get a pastry. We sat down to enjoy our food, then we headed on our way to the trail from Corniglia to Vernazza. Corniglia is the highest up of all the towns, so we figured the hike wouldn’t be bad because it should mostly be downhill. I don’t think I’ve ever been more wrong in my entire life. There were endless stairs. I have never seen so many stairs in my life. And it was so hot. But the view of the sea and the coastline from the trail was amazing and worth all the sweat and sun burns. The hike to Vernazza took us about an hour, and once we got there our first thought was to fill up our water at one of the spigots that are all around the towns, and to then get some food. We walked into a pizzeria and each got a slice of Pizza. The pizza in Italy is literally the best Pizza I’ve ever had. I know I said that once already, but it truly is delicious. After we had finished our pizza we wandered around Vernazza a bit more, including walking up an old tower to see the town from a greater height, but we were ready to start the hike to Monterosso. Emerson and I wanted to take the trail at a bit faster of a pace than Mira and Hannah, so we went on ahead on the second leg of our hike. I had thought the hike from Corniglia to Vernazza was brutal, but that was nothing compared to the heat from the sun at noon while we hiked for another hour and a half up another endless set of stairs. By the time Emerson and I got to Monterosso we were both very soaked with sweat, but we found a nice place in the shade to wait for Hannah and Mira.
Once we were all back together again we went in search of something cool for Mira and Emerson to snack on and another spigot to fill up our waters. With those things accomplished we went to beach and spent the rest of the afternoon sunning on the beach and swimming in the ocean. It couldn’t have been a more relaxing time, which was much needed after all the hiking we had done earlier in the day. After we were done at the beach we explored Monterosso a bit more, but since this is the touristiest of the towns, we didn’t really want to pay for the cost of having dinner in the area. Instead, we decided to go back to Manerola and we had dinner at the restaurant across from the one we had eaten at the day before. This time I got anchovie spaghetti and Mira, Hannah, and I all split a small bottle of white wine. Our entire time in Italy I don’t think I had a meal that I didn’t think was absolutely delicious. After dinner we attempted to find some shops to buy souvenirs at, but unfortunately they were all closed for the night already. We then decided to go back to Corniglia and we sat on the benches near one of the restraunts we ate at previously that had Wi-Fi so that we could check in to our flight for the next day and look up directions to our apartment from the airport in Paris. When we had finished with internet, we went back to the apartment and took turns taking a shower and packed up the majority of our things. Around 10pm we went out and got Gelato for one last time in Italy, and as per usual it was fantastic. We stood with our Gelato and enjoyed the moon shining on the sea and the stars that were starting to twinkle in the sky. Once we had finished our Gelato, we headed back to our apartment and collapsed into bed after another long day of being in the sun and hiking.