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Ouuuuuuuuuuuuch!! My leeeeeeeeeeeeeeegs!! Walked the whole of the Cinque Terre hiking trail today. From Riomaggiore to Monarolo to Corniglia to Vernazza to Monterosso! Phew! And the direct ocean path from Monarolo to Corniglia is currently closed to we had to take a LONG detour up & around the mountains, which added at least an extra hour, a km or so, & God knows how many stairs onto our journey. It's not a particularly long walk…it's just very, very steep! There's a lot of walking up ridiculously steep stairs which go on forever, only to come right back down on the other side of the mountain (FYI: coming down turns out to be pretty much equally as painful as coming up due to all the work your legs have to do to stop you tumbling off the mountainside, made even more difficult by all the loose stones you're walking on!). It's the kinda trail that I'm pretty sure wouldn't be allowed in Australia, because there's a lot of shear drops & not much in the way of barriers to stop you from falling…you really have to keep your wits about you!
That being said, the scenery is incredible. It is worth every sweat drop & searing leg pain to look down from those mountains into the clear, blue water. And the terrain & vegetation varies so much as you walk through different areas. At first you're among rocky cliffs by the water, then vineyards grown in long, flat terraces carved into the mountains over hundred of years by the Italian people, & even areas that resembled a rainforest, where you can't see the sky for all the lush, green, overhanging foliage. Again, it's one of those things you can't really describe or capture in a photograph, you kinda just have to see it…
Anyway we stopped in Corniglia for lunch & were falsely lead to believe that the hardest part of the walk was over…I would beg to differ! I don't know if it was the fact that our legs were already hurting, or just the compounded exhaustion, but the second half felt harder to me…But we kept our minds occupied by singing Sound of Music songs, discussing various completely random topics (when we were able to spare the breath to talk), & thinking of a fruit for every letter of the alphabet (Z & X…any suggestions??). There was also much consumption of delicious gelato to replenish our spirits & keep our blood sugar levels up :P (a la "Olivia the pig goes to Venice"…for those of you who know it hehe). When we finally made it Monterosso Esther & Jess went for a swim while I dabbled at the edge…no amount of sweat or hard work could make that freezing cold water any more pleasant if you ask me! I couldn't bare to put my shoes back on because my feet were throbbing & blistered so I walked home bare foot…And now I'm trying desperately to stay awake at least until 8:00PM hehe which means I have one more hour to go…wish me luck! :)
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