These Boots Were Made For Walkin'

The last I wrote we were in Valencia on our way to Barcelona. We got to Barcelona and spent that evening and all the next day touring the city by foot. It was a great day but pretty tiring. We spent all day walking from early breakfast until we caught our 7pm train. The street vendors were pretty cool and the food was good but I was quite disappointed for this night's stay. Jason and I haven't really been on any sightseeing tours, but there were two places in particular that I wanted to see in Barcelona. One was this massive gothic cathedral which was covered in construction cranes, and the other was the main symphony hall - which was sold out of all tourist tickets. I was so disappointed. Next time I guess.

Anyhow, the next morning after our overnight trainwe arrived in Milano and our priorty was getting to Cinqe Terre. Cinque Terre are five very small towns situated just sligtly north of a medium size town, La Spezia. In order to succeed with this plan we had to run to buy tickets to Genova where we would then tranfer trains that led into La Spezia and then jump onto a train for Riomaggiore, one of the five Cinque Terre towns just north of La Spezia. It would end up being long day of traveling for not having a place to stay. Once we arrived in Riomaggiore, in order to get to the centre of town we had to hike up..up... and up. It would be the first time we regret the weight of our luggage. It would also be the first time we check out the backpack straps on our bags....I give them an A, but they were still heavy going up all those stairs.
We ended up renting a one bedroom apartment for a pretty good deal. It was bright, airy, and clean, and had REST all over it, and that is just what we did. Being our first night in Italy we set out for an awesome Italian dinner and picked up some groceries at the market for breakfast and dinner for the next day and planned our hike of Cinque Terre.
Now when planning your hike you have a few options. You can choose any portion of the five towns since the regional train stops at each one, or you can hike all of them starting at Monterosso to Riomaggiore. The whole hike is 9km (5.6miles) with varying degrees of elevation. Of these five the first two towns have moderate climbs which wouldn't be too difficult on any normal day. Except today wouldn't be normal. Perhaps I should back up for a second. When I say most people climb all five of the Cinque Terre towns, that is mostly true and the hike takes anywhere from 4-5 hours. What some may not know is that there is a small town the size of La Spezia called Levanto that is just north of the northest town Monterosso and is included on the hike map if you wanted to include it on your hike...well we did and so we began our hike of Cinque Terre first with the 11km (6.9miles) and 1300 foot climb of Levanto. So when I say that the first two towns of Cinque Terre have moderate climbs, starting with Levanto made them wickedly exhausting. We were absolutely wiped out by the time we made our way back to the Via dell' Amore in Riomaggiore.
On the Via dell Amore we locked our Masterlock to the bridge, kissed our keys, and threw them as far as the rest of our energy would allow. Mine hit a rock before ending up in the water. Jason's made it just fine. And now, we are secured to the area forever and will have neverending love. Sweet.
It is worth noting that to have ended up staying in Riomaggiore by chance was pretty fortunate. After all day hiking through all the towns, we found that Riomaggiore was our favorite and the most peaceful and romantic of the towns - well, maybe except for the church bells that happen to go off sporadically for minutes at a time constantly throughout the day.
Our long exhausting day ended with two hot showers and a homecooked meal of fresh gnocchi with fresh pesto, fresh baked bread, olive oil, and a 2,60euro bottle of Italian vino. It was perfect.
The next day we toured each town , this time by taking the train an stopped for lunch, layed on the beach, and soaked in some Mediterranean sun. Tomorrow we start our busy travleling again so this evening we will end our stay in Cinque Terre with another fresh homecooked meal and some Italian TV. Fully rested, a little sore, (missing Charlie), and ready to venture on.
Will post more pictures later...still having trouble.....sorry.

Distance hiked: 20km/12mi
Days Traveled: 17
Distance Traveled: 16,696km/10,435mi
Countries Visited: 6