[47] ... terre ...

I woke up at 8:30 am. We headed downstairs to the breakfast that cost us 4,50 euro. It consisted of bread, croissant, cereal, banana, and orange juice.

I went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day because everyone is kicked out of the hostel by 10am. We left the hostel at 9:30 and began our day.

First, we walked down towards the place where we had the beer and looked at the ocean. We walked around the trail and saw the city of Manarola from the perspective that you'd see if, if you were to ever google it. We continued on walking towards the next town over, Corniglia. We saw on a sign that a trail card is needed to proceed through the towns. At the checkpoint for those cards, we purchased ours. A two day pass costing 8 euros each. We figured that Corniglia was close. An hour later we arrived. We climbed the 382 steps that must be done while at Cinque Terre. While there, we had lunch. I had a piece of pizza and a water. We went through various shops and said ciao to everyone. All the people we came across were very nice.

We hiked on, and came across a less traveled trail to our right. We followed it, of course. It led us to an abandoned structure, resembling the foundation of a house, however; the archway in the front was still intact. We took photos in front it. Inside, we found a pitchfork. Again, more pictures. As we were leaving we found a friend. His name was Mr. Praying Mantis, and he was excited to see us, as apparent from the stance that he took when we got close. I took a picture.

We found our way back to the main trail and followed it for about 3 minutes before finding a sign for the beach. We could see the ocean from the trail and knew that the beach was about 150 meters below us, but we followed the trail anyway. We went down, around, down, across a path that was about 1 foot wide, if that, down, to the side, around some plants, down, through a vineyard, down, down, through an abandoned tunnel, around, down and finally made it to the beach. It was a rocky beach, full of a smooth round rocks made of multiple colors. We spent about 40 minutes down there, looking at them all, relaxing. I took my shoes off and stood in the water, even though it was cold. It was amazing to have no worries, to just stand there and contemplate.

We finally made our ascent back to the trail, exhausted and thirsty. We were hopeful that the next town would come soon, yet again we were fooled. 2 hours later we arrived in Vernazza. The trail to get there consisted of mostly downhill stairs. I felt sorry for the people walking from Vernazza to Corniglia because they had to ascend them all. We arrived to Vernazza at around 3:30pm. We made a reservation at this restaurant that is supposedly well-known for tourists who travel there. They didn't open til 7. We walked around for a while, checking out souvenir shops and local markets. We then sat for a bit, and each of sketched. It's pretty amazing how much I've been sketching again while I've been here. I guess Italy brings out the art in everyone. As we sight saw, we found a restaurant that had the same things we were going to get at the other (we looked at the menus...and prices) for less. We then canceled our first reservation. I got some local wine from the area. A white wine that the lady described as dry, in which I though 'ew,' in which I bought because it was the cheapest bottle that had the name of the area.

We finally sat down for dinner at around 6:30. The host took our drink orders. We asked for apple juice, and he brought back a bottle of about 8 ounces. 3 euro. The owner of the restaurant brought us each a surprise. Rice mixed with cheese and baked, cut into squares and served to us. I think that's the proper name of it. They were good and it was nice that he did that. And now for the main event. Anchovies in a lemon sauce. When ordering, I was hesitant. But, I love trying new things and anchovies are popular in Cinque Terre. They looked just like minnows that I used to fish with growing up. They tasted better than they looked. The sauce in which they were cooked made them tender and the olive oil, pepper, and tomato that accented it, made the experience even better. Next up, and the second dish in which I was a virgin to, stuffed mussels. They were so incredibly good. Definitely not what I expected in terms of texture. A great dining experience. Even though it was expensive, it was well worth it.

After dinner, we boarded the train to head back to Manarola. Upon our stop, though, the door didn't open to let us out. We ran through the cabin to the other door and were too late. We were taken to the first town, Riomaggiore. We then walked to Manarola which was about a 20 minute walk. So in the first day, we hiked 4 of the 5 towns. We made it back to the hostel at about 9:30pm. I showered, read some of my book, put the ipod on, and was asleep by 11:15.