 Part of the deal I made with my sister when she said she'd hike Kilimanjaro with me last year, was that she could pick the destination for our next trip. Next on her list just so happened to be the Cinque Terre coastal trails. This trip checked all the boxes: beautiful scenery, ridge-hugging trails, delightful seaside villages, Italian food (fresh mozzarella cheese, olive oil, fresh pasta, parmesan cheese, pesto, fresh-from-the-boat fish - basically all of my favourite foods), wine and Aperol spritz, luggage transfer - it didn't take a whole lot of convincing to say yes. Tack on an impromptu Italian cooking class along with a few days in Florence and Tuscany with one day in Milan for a shoe shopping spree, (when in Milan!) and it was a (near*) perfect Italian adventure.  Hiking the Liguria Coast trails was a new experience for me. I'm used to through hikes that take you from point A to point B. This is not what you do along the Liguria Coast. Instead, you hike a short distance from one village to the next, sometimes heading north and other times heading south (or is it eastward and westward?). And, in between, you take the very frequent and inexpensive local train to get you to the start or return you to your home base. The one common thing we experienced every day was the extraordinary heat and humidity. It was hot! We adapted our plans a bit from the itinerary set by the tour company as we weren't doing a through hike so it was easy to make last minute changes to our days. We decided that this was holiday than hike and we truly wanted to enjoy every day. Heat exhaustion was something we didn't want, so if we opted to take a train, or sometimes ferry, instead of hike, we did. Day 1: Hike from Camogli to San Fruttuoso Home base: Camogli Our day started with a short taxi ride up to the church in San Rocco where we started on the trail to San Fruttuoso. What a beautiful introduction to the mountains! The trail meanders along a forested trail. Then, you see the top of the spire of the monastery in San Fruttuoso as you begin your descent. There's not much in San Fructtuoso except a monastery and a few restaurants - it's only accessible by foot or boat. Maybe it was the jet lag, or maybe it was that we were hot, but after a lunch we opted to take the ferry back to Camogli instead of continuing on the Portofino (which we heard is vastly over rated and very expensive, so I don't feel we missed anything). Taking the ferry also gave us the first chance to see the coast from the sea and it's quite something to see. I highly recommend getting out on the water. The ferries run frequently from town to town. You can purchase a one-way or return tickets or a day pas. Drink up: If you enjoy a good cocktail be sure to check out The Living Room. Tucked up a street or two away from the water in Camogli, this bar offers a delectable choice of cocktails you can't find anywhere else. A lovely spot to have a pre or post dinner drink.  Day 2: Hike from Bonassola to Framura and from Bonassola to Levanto Home base: Bonassola Before we started our hike we checked out of our hotel in Camogli and hopped on the train with our luggage and dropped it off at our hotel Bonassola, which was only a 3 min walk from the train station. The trail from Bonassola to Framura was quiet and forested, but despite the overcast weather, it was another hot, humid day - the kind where you fan your face while you walk to make a small breeze. The original plan was to walk through to Deiva Maria but, like the day before, we opted to stop at the half way point and hopped on the train back to Bonassola. But our adventure for the day wasn't over. Because we were not hiking on Day 3 (see our alternated plans below), and had only done half of today's hike, we took a stroll along the old railway tunnel that connects Bonassola and another seaside town, Levanto. This was super cool! Both figuratively and literally. It was also lightly raining so the tunnel provided cover most of the way and the open sections offered tremendous views of the sea and cliffs. What a brilliant way to repurpose an existing infrastructure. The walk between the two villages took us about 20 min. Levanto is a lovely town full of history. Had we stayed with the itinerary and hiked the next day we would've missed spending a delightful afternoon exploring the town. You'll find many directional signs pointing to the various medieval buildings, along with plaques in English, that make it easy to navigate its narrow streets and learn about the town's long ago history. I recommend starting in Piazza della Logia as you can do a whole loop up to to Sant'Andrea Church and the Castle behind it, back down to the narrow streets of Borgo Antico with houses still featuring the stone arches of medieval warehouses. Then find "Le Grotteshe" - an ancient hidden piece of art, albeit not a great one, but an example of a painting that would show those approaching the village the kind of people they'd find inside. You can find this at the intersection of Via Garibaldi, Via Guani and Via M. Vinzoni. Shopping tip: Levanto isn't officially one of the Cinque Terre villages and so if you're looking to buy some locally made pesto or other uniquely local gifts, this is the spot to find them reasonably priced.  Day 3: A Chef for a Day Home base: Monterosso The forecast called for rain so instead of hitting the trail (we didn't come to Italy to hike in the rain after all), we hit the kitchen at the Cinque Terre Cooking School to play Italian Chef for a day. What a fun day! I love to cook and learn how to cook new things so this was right in my wheelhouse. The school is up in the hills outside of Monterosso so they pick you up in the morning and return you afterwards. This cooking class is great for all ages - there were several young children there who really enjoyed kneading bread and mixing the stuffing for the vegetables. Our Chef, Rusti, gave us step-by-step instructions and kept us entertained while quizzing our cooking knowledge - did you know you cover sweet bread with icing sugar because the icing sugar doesn't burn and it protects the bread from burning too? I'm ashamed I didn't know that before. We made stuffed vegetables, pesto, gnocchi, sea bass, and sweet bread. We may have drank wine while cooking too. When in Italy, am I right? But that wine did provide a little fortification in gumption when it came time to filleting the whole sea bass (I will spare you of photos of the actual filleting - you're welcome). You eat what you make so at the end of the class, you sit on the outdoor terrace overlooking the panoramic view of the sea and mountains and enjoy a complete lunch with a 3-course meal and dessert. Miraculously (or a credit to our cooking skillsand Rusti & his amazing team) everything turned out delectably. Next: Part II - Click for Days 4-6
*Near perfect vacation. It didn't start out perfectly thanks to a horrendous Air Canada debacle (delayed, then cancelled, then delayed, then a 2am arrival 16 hours after our original arrival time). We finally arrived in Camogli 24 hours (a full day!) late. Thankfully we had booked an extra day at the beginning to allow for jet lag and because we did that we were able to start our hiking tour as planned. Travel tip: Always add an extra day at the start of your trip or tour to allow for lost luggage or delayed flights. If you're lucky to arrive on time, then you get a bonus day!
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