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<\/a>Day 2 in Cinque Terre we decided to take another stab at visiting Vernazza, since last time the train went straight through to Riomaggiore. There is a hiking trail which leads between our town over to Vernazza,then on to the next town and so on. The first two trails are said to be difficult hikes and the last two gentle level strolls. So, of course we started with the hard one.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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There is a tunnel which leads between the beach section, where we are staying, and the next part of town. We walked though, found a local market to load up on water, then headed for the trail, just south of the railroad. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n After about an hour we made it to the edge of Vernazza, there is an overlook of the town and a curious sight; a collection of locks strung across a cable, as we were commenting about how peculiar it was a fellow hiker passed by and told us it was a local custom, We descended the last few hundred yards into the town. It looks hardest hit by the flooding and mudslides, this house was the first to greet us into town.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The town itself seems to have more historic buildings than most of the 5, an old church with clock tower, a castle (closed right now for some reason) overlooking the town and it’s signature harbor. We were all hot from the hike so after a quick bite to eat we decided to take the train back to Monterosso to rest up and spend a little more time in the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n Having waited for the sun to descend a ways in the sky, and a quick stop in for some gelato, <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This “hike” was nothing like the first, a wide paved stone promenade gently flowed around the coastline with covered sections and more lock displays off affection.<\/a>The trail began to ascend immediately, and what was initially cobblestone and wide, became narrow and dirt, sometimes only 2 feet wide as it hugged the mountainside. <\/a> The trail leads you from beautiful terraced orchards, quickly into the wilderness where the only sounds are babbling brooks, the ocean waves below, and the occasional lizard scurrying out of the way.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>whenever people fall in love they secure a lock along the path as a symbol that there love is sure and secure.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>we hatched a plan to visit the last two towns of the five. We were going to start in Corniglia then hike over to Manorola. We missed the needed train by mere minutes, so we changed our plan, hopped the train for Riomaggiore again and began the hike over to Manorola.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n