Vernazza-Corniglia, Day 3
Day 3, Vernazza - Corniglia, is said to be a 3 km hike one way on the blue route, but first the climb up the steep hill to the top of the town where I had lunch the day I arrived. And then the stairs just keep on coming. Up and down, so many stairs. And this is considered the easy route?!? I decided I would leave mid day hoping to miss the morning rush and then hang out exploring Corniglia until late enough in the day for the trail to empty out. Mid-day still felt fairly crowded but doable without losing my mind.
Leaving Vernazza going the opposite direction of yesterday. This hut is the Park Service stop to make sure you have your access card for the blue route. All the other routes are free access.
Corniglia is the only one of the 5 that is built up on top of a cliff, 100 meters above the sea. It was originally an ancient Roman village with a long agricultural history. Coming in I walked through vineyards which surround the town on 3 sides, as well as olive trees, and lemon groves. Approaching Corniglia from above also offers views beyond to what will be my town #4, Manarola.
The church of San Pierrot SAN in Corniglia was built in 1334 on a pre-existing XI century building. It has a Baroque style, with some Gothic and Ligurian elements.
I found the town completely charming and thought the views on the hike were spectacular.
As wonderful as the entire day was, the highlight was on the hike back to Vernazza. At the 1/2 way mark is a bar with a deck that has the money shot as far as a view goes of the coastline. I saw it on my way there and totally checked it out, it was just too crowded for my taste. On the way home...completely empty. Not a soul. AND they had the best fresh lemon vodka slushee I've had yet. It's hard to believe I'm not still there.
We've all known for a while that wine gives me super powers. Well apparently freshly grown frozen lemon slushee vodka does as well. The last 1/2 of the hike I had wings on my sneakers and practically skipped down hundreds of steps!! I think I'm cracking the Cinque Terre hiking code!!
Today my Fitbit clocked over 7.5 miles. Seems a bit more then they said it would be. As for tomorrow, the Blue Route is closed for the last 2 legs so even if I wanted to experience it...it's been out of commission since the horrible flood of 2011. It's either train or hiking the high route to explore Manarola and then Riomaggiore the next day.
Back in Vernazza as they are preparing for dinner. The chef is awaiting the crowds, and they always come!
