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Waking up to a perfect blue cloudy sky, gentle sea breeze and mid 20 degree temperature..it couldn't get any better.
As the easy (flat) trail between Corniglia and Manarola was closed, Agnes advised us that the alternate (hiking) trail between these 2 towns would be equally as rewarding, for the amazing sea views - Agnes said it would only be a 20 minute uphill walk up the mountain, then a plateau all the way till we reach Manarola before trekking downhill. We took her word for it and headed off, just before noon.
Our legs were slightly sore from yesterday's trek, and today was quite sunny, so we got sweaty as soon as we started.
It took us closer to 40 mins to make it to the top. We were walking slowly, and taking pictures on the way of course.
Agnes wasn't kidding about the views. They were AMAZING, all the way. Very calming and totally worth the immense physical exertion. What I loved the most were the endless neat rows of crops and grapevines dotted all along the cliff/mountainside. We wondered how the farmers were able to irrigate and harvest the crops, being in such a difficult location.
It's worth noting Andie's blonde moment: "I think I lost my sunnies!", met with my reply: "it's on top of your head dude". Haha.
We actually found the downhill trek towards the town of Manarola to be more strenuous than the uphill trek. That's cos our calf and thigh muscles were overworked and strained from yesterday, and there were a GAZillion stone steps going down. It took us a good 20-30 mins just going downhill - at a fast pace too. Couldn't imagine trying to go the reverse direction!
We finally made it to Manarola at about 2:30pm. After having a simple foccacia and using the free wifi for a while, we set off towards the famous romantic coastal walk linking Manarola and Riomaggiore, the last village.
Waves were absolutely smashing against the cliff and rocks off the Manarola seaside. Like yesterday, there were a bunch of crazy Italian guys jumping into the sea and swimming around the rocks. The waves were extremely ferocious and the guys attracted alot of attention from us onlookers.
Another bummer today though: the coastal walk to Riomaggiore was closed!! Dammit. The alternative was to take the train. Letdown # 2: the next train would come in an hour's time. That would mean we'd have to rush back to Corniglia for our dinner reservation for "A Cantina de Mananàn" - the homemade eatery with an ever-changing menu using only fresh seasonal produce. And Riomaggiore was meant to be the prettiest of all towns as well! Disappointed.
Oh well. Guess I'll have to revisit Cinque Terre again :)
We got back to our apartment at 6pm, had froyo (YUM), freshened up, strolled around the picturesque town for the last time then headed to dinner.
The restaurant has alot of character. It's only open from 7:45pm to 9:15pm, seats about 25, and has a splendidly interesting and funny waiter. We had heard about him from the nice American couple 2 nights ago. We asked what was good or popular, he answered with a quote adapted from Shakespeare: "to be or not to be...everything's good here!". It was a little stressful ordering, so we simply said we'd like seafood, settling with a seafood (anchovies and octopus) appetizer platter to share and grilled fresh local fish for main. We were tempted by the fresh pesto pasta the next table had, so ordered that after we were done with the main (pastas are always meant to be a first course, before the main though). It was always a great laugh speaking with the waiter, who was always speaking with an air of impatience (like you're wasting his precious time), but in a very cute hearty italian way.
We finished off the meal with a tiramisu and a schiaccetra (sweet raisin wine).
The whole meal was a complete delight!! Nothing to fault. Hearty (but healthy tasting) true italian food!
Gonna miss Cinque Terre when we leave tomorrow!!
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