A year ago or so the area was almost wiped out by massive rains that caused extremely damaging mudslides. Some of the hiking trails weren't even open yet. Pictures of the devastation were posted in the train tunnel and it was hard to believe that we were in the same place. The residents worked extremely hard to clean up and bring back the tourists.
I can't say that our trip was all that eventful. We took in the 5 villages, we hiked...even though it was SO hot. We laid at the beach. We had afternoon drinks on the deck of our hotel which was high on the cliffs and overlooked the ocean. We ate sardines....a specialty of the area. And they are not at all like the canned sardines I remember my dad eating with saltine crackers. :)
The most popular hike....well walk actually is between the town of Manarola and Riomaggiore. It's called The Lovers Walk. Since it was our anniversary we joined in with the crowd and put a lock on the fence. We didn't have a marker with us so we placed the lock in a location where we could find it again and next year for our 2nd anniversary we will go back and write on our lock of love.
On our last day we discovered the village of Corniglia and it instantly became our favorite village. It's higher up in the cliffs and a good hike from the beach making it a bit quieter than the other villages. The streets are curvy and narrow with little shops and apartments along the way. We took pictures of the B&B signs so we can book to stay at one of them next year.
The trip is best described through pictures....although they don't even do the area justice. It truly is beautiful and I can't wait to return next summer.
