25.5.2000 There are five towns that make up CINQUE TERRE (from north to south): Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. There is a hiking trail that runs through all five towns that takes about a total of four hours of hiking.

Luke, Paul, Rachel, Jessica, Sandra, Christie and I decided to start at Monterosso, by taking a train there, and work our way back to Riomaggiore. This is a good idea if you go in the morning, because the hike from Monterosso to Corniglia is hard and you don’t want to be caught in the mid-day sun for this stretch. It’s also good to get the tough stuff out of the way first.

MONTEROSSO is the largest and the most resort-like of the towns, most likely owing to the fact that it’s the only town with a sand beach. I hear it’s crowded on the limited area of sand during the afternoon since everyone staying at other towns comes here to lay out. I also heard accommodations in this town are hard to come by and expensive.

The trail to Vernazza is steep as soon as you’re out of Monterosso, rising up quickly until you reach the top of the cliff side. It’s a hard hour and half hike to Vernazza. Hard enough that we encountered entrepreneurs along the path selling drinks.