Update from our roaming reservationist who is . . .

Posted July 15, 2011 by Jeremy
 

…hiking the Cinque Terre! Miles and miles of winding, climbing and dipping trails through five cliff side towns on the Northwest coast of Italy isn’t good for the legs and back, but it was worth every step. Just an hour’s train ride from Pisa, I represented All-Outdoors again with my green tee-shirt. We started off hiking from Riomaggerio, the first of the five towns. Eight hours later, we descended to a beach in Monterosso and looked back at the most beautiful coastline I’ve ever seen in my life.

Along the way, we stopped for lunch in Vernazza and met some people from the States. Our server for lunch was also originally from Morocco, our last stop on this voyage. I asked him about the river rafting there because I’ve heard it’s pretty intense; unfortunately, he had nothing to offer me. However, one of the Americans we chatted with had heard of the Tuolumne River and told me he wanted to come from Chicago to raft in California when he could.

The last stretch of the Cinque Terre hike (from Vernazza to Monterosso) was the most brutal, but also the most interesting and stunning. Besides the hundreds and hundreds of marble steps, vista points and winding pathways through thick forest, we found random natural wonders that must be decades, if not centuries old. My favorite spot was a man made bridge we ran into at one point, with a tiny waterfall and stream running through it. I’m not sure if I’m ready to come home yet, but seeing that rushing water definitely sparked that hunger in me again to get back on the river!

 
 

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