June 25 and 26 - Sunday and Monday
Cinque Terra
We left before 0800 for the trailhead in Monterossa to hike over to Vernazza. The brochure said it would take an hour and a half - no problem. I must have walked up, oh, about a million steps along the course of this trail - I couldn't imagine doing that for a living although I could take comfort in knowing that I would have buns of steel. Since I don't go up and down those steps for a living once again I found myself sweating profusely, Jon was even huffing and puffing at one point (finally!). Jon does want to make the point that he was carrying the backpack - whatever. We past vineyards and lemon orchards, panoramic views of Monterossa and the Mediterranean Sea which were so beautiful - none of the pictures do them justice. We had purchased a three day pass for the train between the Cinque Terra towns and access to the trails which expired yesterday. We kind of cheated and hopped on the train for free since not once had anyone checked tickets while we had been riding between the towns while our ticket was valid and we figured we would pay for access to the trail at the trailhead. Since we got there pretty early no one was manning the booth. We also thought that since it was Sunday, perhaps we wouldn't have to pay at all. We passed an elderly woman working in her vineyard as this is what she had been doing everyday for years, which she probably has. We did see quite a few cats and Jon had a long conversation with the cat in the canopy that we happened upon along the way. I think we interrupted a morning snooze. I must say that canopy looked pretty comfortable!
We arrived into Vernazza just before the first boatlaods of tourists docked. We walked down to the water and found a spot to sit for a while and watch the toursits start streaming off boat after boat that docked. They just kept coming and the town quickly filled with people. It was getting hot again and the water was looking really inviting. Jon went in for a dip while I stay behind with our stuff - my suit was still drying from the day before back at camp. After a walk around town, some really good gelato and some more pictures we decided we had had enough of the crowds and hopped on the train back to Levanto. Jon wanted to make sure we were back before 5pm for a World Cup game - priorities, ya know. When we arrived in town we made a beeline for the local outdoor/camping store. I had been eyeing these kid size camping chairs since we arrived in town. Not having something to sit on was really starting to get old and sitting the ground was becoming less of an option with the camp grounds having little to no grass and, well, bugs and other crawly things that get on you when your sitting on the ground. Eating in the tent wasn't good either because you would always end up with crumbs either in the tent or the sleeping bag. I had seen a couple from Germany with small camp chairs and these were the closest thing I could find. I sat down in one and it was pretty darn comfortable worth the €5 pricetage but Jon had a good point when he said it would be extra weight so I waited a couple days to think about it. I couldn't take it anymore and told Jon I needed to sit on something - with a back on it. So I went and got the chair. I didn't get one for Jon because I was under the impression that he didn't want to add more weight to our bikes but when he saw mine he said that he might as well get one too. We now have matching yellow chairs which look like rockets when packed on the top of my bike bags (yes, I'm carrying them both). It'll be worth it though - I just know it. It's the little things like not sharing your dinner with ants that are making this trip even more enjoyable.
Jon had been having a lot of fun the past couple days watching the World Cup at the campgrounds as he has been joined by Germans, Dutch, Swiss and of course Italian football fans who are just if not even more passionate about the game.
We decided to have a work/regroup/plan/relaxing day on Monday with the intentions to leave Levanto on Tuesday.
June 26 - Monday
A work day. We uploaded pix from the Cinque Terra and started to make plans to go to France. Provence or Loire or both? We decided to go to the Loire and to do it by train. Which trains and when was the question. How easily would we be able to get to the Loire with our bikes? Since the internet place was also a travel agency Jon spoke with the gal at the desk. Because you can't ride directly to Paris directly, we had to take regional and intercity trains which would take longer. After spending sometime looking to trains to get us to our destination she said it was too hard and it would be easier if we "sold your bikes" and suggested that we look on the internet ourselves.
Great. Thanks for nothing.
Well, we knew there was a train leaving for Genoa at 0741 the next morning we planned to start our trip north to Tours, France on that train and begin our tour of the Loire Valley.
