… and a birthday!  Ben has celebrated his birthday in many different cities, but never so many in a single day.  Today’s destination was Manarola, the fourth of five villages that constitute the Cinque Terre.  That meant that our journey, which started in Monterosso, took us through Vernazza and Corniglia along the way.  Each of the three legs of hiking was 2-2.5 hours, with pretty strenuous ups and downs (300-400 m of elevation change in both directions per leg) – we’re really proud of our kids!  The upside of all this ascending and descending was the fabulous scenic views revealed around nearly every turn in the path.  Photos can’t do it justice, but we’ve tried…

Birthday cakes as we know them were not readily available at the local bakeries, but the hotel owner whipped up an amazing substitute on short notice that was presented during breakfast.  Shout out to the Albergo Marina in Monterosso for this lovely start to the birthday.  Thus fortified, we hit the trail (along with scores of others) for the first leg to Vernazza.

Vernazza too was packed with tourists but we discovered a secret passage under the rock leading to the locals beach where the kids had a chance to splash and collect rocks.  Meanwhile, Susannah explored the tower on the hill, capturing a few more views from above.  By this point our water bottles were already empty (it’s really hot in the Mediterranean in  July!) but Nick cleverly stumbled upon the public water fountain in the middle of town so we could refill them all.

  
Corniglia is different from the other four, because it is perched on top of a rocky promontory rather than nestled in a valley close to the water.  It’s a bit more isolated because the ferry doesn’t stop here and the railway station is 400 stair steps down.  We appreciated the relative quiet as the kids ate gelato #2 in the square.  The main street ends in a terrace with commanding views up and down the coast.

   
    
 
We weren’t sure whether the third leg of the trip would be by train or on foot, but everyone rallied for the hike.  The “low” trail between Corniglia and Manarola was washed out in 2011 and is still under repair so we took the high road, as it were, passing through the village of Volastra on the way.  (Funny story – somehow in this town of perhaps 20 buildings we managed to lose our way and go in a complete circle before we regained our bearings.)

The last part of this trail coming into Manarola was our favorite of the day with the sun shining low over the Mediterranean and the trail making its way down a ridgeline overlooking the sea. Above we had passed through terraced vineyards as far as the eye could sea.   The work needed to make and maintain this terracing is truly impressive – hard to believe wine can actually be affordable.

We’ll say more about Manarola tomorrow after we’ve had a chance to explore, but what we can see from our seaside window is utterly charming.