{"id":1557,"date":"2017-10-18T11:10:17","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T11:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/?p=1557"},"modified":"2017-10-18T11:10:17","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T11:10:17","slug":"the-trip-to-cinque-terre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/2017\/10\/18\/the-trip-to-cinque-terre\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trip to Cinque Terre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before coming over to France on this trip one of my plans while Bunny was busy in her class was to get to an area of Italy called Cinque Terre. \u00a0It is a series of little towns (actually 5 little towns which accounts for the name) along the western coast of Italy. \u00a0It is only a 3 1\/2 hour drive from Nice. \u00a0So on Wednesday Oct 11th I decided I would try to make it over there. \u00a0Bunny went off to calls and I packed up and started out on my way to Cinque Terre. \u00a0I really wasnt confident I would make it or where exactly I was going but I was going to drive there and see whatever I could see. \u00a0My destination was a town called Vernazza. \u00a0The 2nd town in the line from the northern most town. \u00a0My plan was to walk along the trail which connects all of these towns for as long as I could. \u00a0I was planning to come baack that evening but if it got too late I would just pull over and sleep.<\/p>\n

I left around 9:30 am which with stops puts me in around 1:30 pm or so \u00a0with stops. \u00a0Right away I got turned around in Villefranche and had to turn around in a bus stop which garnered honks from a bus driver going to other way. \u00a0I finally got on the A8 going towards Italy. \u00a0about 2 hours into the trip I took a wrong turn and got onto another highway. \u00a0I really thought about just turning around and going back at that point but I decided to continue driving and see how far I get. \u00a0I got a little farther and stopped for gazola (diesel) and a bathroom break and once again thought I should just turn around but I once again decided to keep going .<\/p>\n

I finally arrived and parked in a lot just above the town of Vernazza. \u00a0I made it. \u00a0Its 2 pm and I parked and walked down into the town. \u00a0It was PACKED with tourist. \u00a0This area is apparaently very popular. \u00a0One of the store owners told me that this is light compared to the August and September crowds. \u00a0Well I continued to walk the town and tried to walk to the town just to the south of Vernazza called Corniglia. \u00a0I got just about 500 yards down the trail and found a shack with a gentleman in it wanting $ 7.50 euros to continue on. \u00a0I am not sure why that just seemed wrong but I just couldnt seem to want to pay that just to walk a trail. \u00a0It was 3:30 pm and I thought maybe this guy gets off at 4 pm and I could walk the trail “after hours”. \u00a0I bought a placemat and walked back to the car. \u00a0It was 4:30 so I walked back to the trail head and the guy was still there. \u00a0So I thought I would try the northbound trail to Monterosso. \u00a0I got 500 yards into the trail and found another booth with a gentleman in it wanting $ 7.50 euros. \u00a0Well it was 20 mintues til 5 pm and I thought maybe he gets off at 5 pm. \u00a0Well 5:05 rolls around and he is still working. \u00a0I am not sure why I didnt just pay the $ 7.50 euros. \u00a0At this point I think I was on a quest not to pay the toll. \u00a0So I went back into town and found a vantage point where I could see the booth for the northbound trail. \u00a0Well 5:30 pm rolls around and sure enough he closes up shop. \u00a0Well off I go to walk the trail “after hours”. \u00a0I made it to a point where I could see the northern town of Monterosso in an hour of walking. \u00a0The sun was under the horizon and I figured I didnt have enough time to walk into the town so I started back to Vernazza. \u00a0I got halfway back and it was dark. \u00a0Luckily I thru a flashlight into my vest pocket just before I walked out of the apartment. \u00a0It really came in handy. \u00a0Im not sure I would have made it without that flashlight. \u00a0I back into Vernazza and got a couple pieces of pizza and start my long drive back. \u00a0I was 8 pm and I was looking at 3 1\/2 hours of driving. \u00a0The trip home was uneventfully except for a freeway being closed in Geonoa. \u00a0See below. \u00a0I got back around 1 pm. \u00a0I wanted to see that part of Italy and I did see Vernazza and got a little taste of Cinque Terre. \u00a0It was worth the trip.<\/p>\n

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Vernazza<\/p><\/div>\n

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Vernazza from the Northbound trail<\/dd>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n
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Vernazza with Cinque Terre coastline at dusk<\/p><\/div>\n

Once I got into Genoa the freeway had construction and e were re-routed into the city center. \u00a0I was directed towards another route via my Garmin. \u00a0I came across a toll booth and paid the toll and then then onramp to the alternative freeway was just ahead. \u00a0I paid the toll and drove ahead and the on ramp for the alternative route was closed so Garmin directed me into Genoa. \u00a0I followed my Garmin and found myself back at the same toll booth paying another toll. \u00a0The on ramp to the alternative route was still closed so Garmin re routed me into Genoa again. \u00a0This time I found my way into a line to get on a ferry. \u00a0Not sure where it was going but I was pretty sure I wanst suppose to get on a ferry. \u00a0A nice pliceman who didnt speak very good english directed me back to the freeway. \u00a0Well I followed his directions and here I was again at the same toll booth. \u00a0I paid my toll AGAIN and went on thru. \u00a0This time the alternative route had opened up and I was able to take that on ramp and I was on my way again. \u00a0But it ws hilarious and scary at the same time getting lost in the city and then finding myself at the same toll booth 3 times. \u00a0I was REALLY gald to be back on my way home….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before coming over to France on this trip one of my plans while Bunny was busy in her class was to get to an area of Italy called Cinque Terre. \u00a0It is a series of little towns (actually 5 little towns which accounts for the name) along the western coast of Italy. \u00a0It is only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1557"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1562,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1557\/revisions\/1562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffy-sherlock.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}