There are a load of cliches surrounding Cinque Terre. The water is blue. Like an unbelievably stunning turquoise that I could easily write about. The towns are adorably quaint and colorful, and I could write about that. The cliffs that rise magnificently out of the ocean are almost too powerful to appreciate (until you jump off one), and I could easily ramble on about that too. Or I could talk about the blue trail. The hiking trail that over the course of about seven miles takes you from town to town with a stunning view of the ocean (for the price of €7.50). Most people who visit Cinque Terre hike the blue trail or take the train. But I took the "path less travelled", or some shit like that, which actually made all the difference (there's that cliche). Originally I had planned on hiking the blue trail, but the idea of beer in each town sounded way better than the entry fee so, with the help of a few bar tenders, my group of merry hikers and I started on the free red trail.
There is a reason why the red trail is free. To get to the start one has to walk up Via Roma for about an hour, which is basically straight up the back of a mountain. And where the blue trail brings you right along the coast, the red trail takes you up into the mountains that surround Cinque Terre and create Italy's most famous national park.
So we literally hit the road and headed up to the red trail where (after multiple failed attempts at hitch hiking) we were finally greeted with the familiar sight of trail markers leading into the pines. Yes pines, not the first thing you thing of when Italy comes to mind. For the first time in a month I was back in my natural habitat. Heading up that first mountain, I could have been in New England. The trees, the sound of black flies buzzing by, it was very homey. It was not the Cinque Terre I had heard about from so many of my friends, but it was exactly what I wanted. It was my woods (something Florence is lacking).
There were hints of Italy speckled through my otherwise New England forest. Along the trail there are old and beautiful churches (both abandoned and in use), and occasionally you would come around to the front of the mountain to see the Mediterranean open up in front of you (which is always dope no matter how many times you see it).
There were hints of Italy speckled through my otherwise New England forest. Along the trail there are old and beautiful churches (both abandoned and in use), and occasionally you would come around to the front of the mountain to see the Mediterranean open up in front of you (which is always dope no matter how many times you see it).
See it all though. The amazing thing about this trail is you get to climb these massive mountains and climb down to the towns that make up the National Park. So please skip the train and save the blue trail for when your parents come and visit and hike the red trail. (And nothing feels better than after hiking for three hours than taking a break in the ocean with a beer which I highly suggest). So do Cinque Terre, explore, take the long way, "go forth".